Alfred Shaughnessy
Writing
Biography
Alfred James Shaughnessy (19 May 1916 – 2 November 2005) was an English scriptwriter, film director and producer best known for being the script editor of Upstairs, Downstairs. Alfred Shaughnessy was born in London, his father, the Hon Alfred Thomas Shaughnessy, having died while serving with the Canadian army in France two months before. His grandfather Thomas Shaughnessy was an American-born Canadian railway administrator, who was created Baron Shaughnessy in 1916, and his mother was a second cousin of James K. Polk, the 11th US President. He spent his early years living in Tennessee, and in 1920 his mother, Sarah Polk Bradford, married The Hon Sir Piers Legh who then became Equerry to the Prince of Wales, and the family moved to Norfolk Square in London. The family had a butler, cook, footman, two housemaids, a kitchen maid and a lady's maid. The Prince of Wales later visited the house for dinner, and he drew on this when writing the Upstairs, Downstairs episode Guest of Honour. He also often spent weekends and holidays at Lyme Park, his stepfather's ancestral home. Sir Piers Legh later became Master of the Household. Shaughnessy was educated at Summer Fields then Eton, and then went to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, with the intention of joining the Grenadier Guards. However, in 1935 he resigned on grounds of conscience, once stating he didn't wish to have a career dedicated "to learning to kill men". He then had an unsuccessful time at the London Stock Exchange, and had a hectic social life, with debutante balls, shooting parties and country weekends. In the late 1930s Shaughnessy began to write lyrics and sketches, but at the outbreak of war in 1939 he returned to the Army, and on D-Day landed with the Guards Armoured Division on Gold Beach. After the war ended, he got a job at Ealing Studios, and he soon began his career as a successful writer, producer and director. In 1956, he directed the film Suspended Alibi and continued to direct and produce during the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s, he began to concentrate on script writing. His first major success was Upstairs, Downstairs. He wrote fifteen episodes and was the script editor for 66 episodes, and was meticulous in researching facts about the era. He later wrote episodes for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Cedar Tree, The Irish R.M., All Creatures Great and Small, The Saint, Journey to the Unknown and Alleyn Mysteries. Shaughnessy wrote two novels, Dearest Enemy and Hugo.
Known For
Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.
The Saint
Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend Dr. Watson.
Sherlock Holmes
The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshire town to begin his first job.
All Creatures Great and Small
Upstairs: the wealthy, aristocratic Bellamys. Downstairs: their loyal and lively servants. For nearly 30 years, they share a fashionable townhouse at 165 Eaton Place in London’s posh Belgravia neighborhood, surviving social change, political upheaval, scandals, and the horrors of the First World War.
Upstairs, Downstairs
A British television anthology series with a fantasy, science fiction and supernatural theme, similar to the American television series The Twilight Zone, and deals with normal people whose everyday situations somehow become extraordinary.
Journey to the Unknown
Manhunt is a World War II drama series consisting of 26 episodes, produced by London Weekend Television in 1969 and broadcast nationwide.
Manhunt
The Informer is a British crime drama series broadcast on ITV from August 1966 to December 1967. Created by John Whitney and Geoffrey Bellman, it stars Ian Hendry as former barrister Alex Lambert, disgraced and disbarred, who has to rebuild his life. He utilises his former contacts on both sides of the law to become a paid informer. Living well from the rewards paid by insurance companies, Lambert still has to hide his activities from both his wife and others behind a new persona in the guise as a business consultant. Two seasons were produced, totalling 21 episodes. Only two episodes are known to exist, the remainder presumably wiped.
The Informer
Starring Paul Shelley in a role reminiscent of his Secret Army character in all but name, this 12-part serial follows a team of secret agents parachuted into occupied Europe during World War II, exploring their recruitment, training, and first mission behind enemy lines.
The Fourth Arm
Ladies in Charge is a 1986 British television drama, an expansion from a 1985 pilot in the Storyboard anthology programme. Produced by Thames Television for ITV, the six-episode programme stars Carol Royle, Julia Hills, and Julia Swift. After serving as World War I ambulance drivers, three women start a private agency in London to solve problems for clients, blending mystery and drama with a lighthearted tone. They take on various cases, from finding lost items to uncovering secrets, often challenging societal expectations for women of the era.
Ladies in Charge
Thomas & Sarah is a British drama series that aired on ITV in 1979. A spin-off from the BAFTA Award-winning series Upstairs, Downstairs, it stars John Alderton and Pauline Collins reprising their Upstairs, Downstairs roles.
Thomas & Sarah
Actors rehearsing a show at a mysterious seaside theater are being killed off by an unknown maniac.
The Flesh and Blood Show
With Norma West, Annette Wilkie-Miller, Francesca Annis, Eileen Atkins. An anthology of short mysterious dramas, each with a supernatural twist.
Shades of Darkness
A psychiatrist treats a woman who is convinced that she turns into a killer leopard because of a family curse.
Cat Girl
Norman works in a jewellers workshop and fantasises (in the nicest way) about meeting the window dresser across the road from his workshop. He wants to buy her a diamond pendant but calculates it will take him over 100 years to save up for it. He is talked into betting a pound on a six horse accumulator at the Goodwood races with a slightly shady bookmaker. When he has won on the first five races, the bookie owes him over 16,000 pounds and everyone begins to worry. Everyone's future depends on a single race ... what can be done ?
Just My Luck
A starchy parliamentary delegation is sent to a remote Scottish Highlands community, where the residents are protesting the poor condition of their road by withholding their taxes, and spend a few days among the locals.
Laxdale Hall
A young boy goes to desperate lengths to save the family dog when his father agrees sell it to the local butcher.
Heart of a Child
When a USAF sergeant stationed on a base in England is suspected and then accused of murdering a woman, both he and a local school teacher must race to clear his name and find the real killer.
The Impersonator
Light-hearted and occasionally unclothed adaptation of a British comic strip in the over-the-top, on-beyond-Bond spy fantasy vein. Based on the Daily Mail comic strip.
Tiffany Jones
An innocent project transforms into a perilous nightmare when researcher Susan Roberts arrives in France in search of information on a deceased composer.
Crescendo
A British theater actress unable to get out of her contract is assisted by an American playwright when a pair of her scissors is discovered lodged in her producer's back.