Richard Cottan
Writing
Known For

This drama follows Inspector Kurt Wallander – a middle-aged everyman – as he struggles against a rising tide of violence in the apparently sleepy backwaters in and around Ystad in Skane, southern Sweden. Based on the international best-selling books by Henning Mankell.
Wallander

Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom set in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, during 1959 and 1960, and was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum amongst others. It aired on the BBC from 1980 to 1988. The series revolved around the lives of the camp's management and entertainers, most of them struggling actors or has-beens. The inspiration was the experience of writers Perry and Croft: after being demobilised from the army, Perry was a Redcoat at Butlin's, Pwllheli during the holiday season. The series gained large audiences and won a BAFTA as Best Comedy Series in 1984. In 2004, it came 40th in Britain's Best Sitcom and in a 2008 poll on Channel 4, 'Hi-de-Hi!" was voted the 35th most popular comedy catchphrase.
Hi-de-Hi!

During World War II, the Germans convert the castle of Colditz into an escape-proof prison where recidivist escapees are imprisoned under one roof. The most accomplished escape artists are gathered there, brave soldiers who view escape not only as a challenge but as a duty, in order to harass and irritate German forces as much as they can.
Colditz

Former gang boss turned respected businessman, Richie Beckett pledge money to help rebuild a pier. But Richie's mind is deteriorating, and the other outfit he runs with his sons is under attack by a vicious rival gang.
The Fear

While World War II allied officer Jack Rowe is held prisoner in Germany's notorious Colditz castle, he recruits a band of fellow escape artists in the ultimate break-out only to discover that the greatest betrayal awaits him on safe ground.
Colditz

As the UK begins its military engagement in the Falklands, a BBC news journalist attempts to climb up from his working-class roots, at any cost, lying to those around him to get what he wants, only to discover that he is the recipient of a deception far more clever than his own.
The Ploughman's Lunch

Men Only is a provocative two-part drama about the dark side of modern masculinity. What do men want, what do women want from them, and can the two ever be reconciled? Our men are a five-a-side football team from South London. Only they're too old, too slow, too under the thumb at home to waste their precious Tuesday nights kicking a ball around and losing every time. So the football stops and the excitement starts. They begin in lap-dancing bars, but soon they want more. Porn. Violence. Sex. Class A's. What happens on Tuesday nights should never go home. But one night they finally go too far, and the two worlds look set to collide
Men Only

A detailed and compelling portrait of one of the most formidable characters in British politics as she faces her final days in power. The year is 1990 and Margaret Thatcher's support within the government is wavering - her hold on the premiership hangs in the balance. Then, long-serving politician Sir Geoffrey Howe resigns over Thatcher's attitude to Europe. His resignation speech sparks a chain of events that leads to the overthrow of Britain's first woman prime minister. This modern dramatic tragedy illustrates the strengths and fatal flaws of this iconic woman more clearly than ever before and reveals how the very aspects of her character that helped her secure power are the ones that ensured her downfall. Drama starring Lindsay Duncan.
Margaret

An exploration into the man behind the film-inspired myth, from both Western and Arab perspectives. Thomas Edward Lawrence, a 24-year-old British spy, was a figurehead in the Arab struggle for independence. In 1916, he united Arab tribes and led them in a war against the Turks who ruled over them for 400 years. The consequences of his successes and failures sowed the seeds of conflict that continue to plague the troubled region even today.
Lawrence of Arabia, the battle for the Arab world

Set against the rising wave of gun crime in Britain, Gunrush sees a father driven to take the law into his own hands after his daughter is shot dead.