Writing
Series of single made-for-television dramas.
The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.
Birds of a Feather is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC One from 1989 until 1998 and on ITV from 2013. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers. The first episode sees sisters Tracey Stubbs and Sharon Theodopolopodos brought together when their husbands are sent to prison for armed robbery. Sharon, who lived in an Edmonton council flat, moves into Tracey's expensive house in Chigwell, Essex. Their next-door neighbour, and later friend, Dorien Green is a middle-aged married woman who is constantly having affairs with younger men. In the later series the location is changed to Hainault. The series ended on Christmas Eve 1998 after a 9-year-run.
Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.
Each week a group of four famous faces go toe to toe in testing their general knowledge skills in a variety of entertaining games.
Celebrity Mastermind is a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. The show is a spin-off of the long-running quiz show Mastermind, with the exception that all the contestants are celebrities. As with the main show, John Humphrys is the host and question-master. Magnus Magnusson was quizmaster on the 2003/04 episodes featuring Jonathan Meades as winner.
Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV. It revolved around the life of a modern-day Lone Ranger and ex-firefighter, Ken Boon.
The story of a pair of non-identical twin brothers, Lucien and Wayne, who live with their hygiene-crazed mother and their western/country-crazed father in a small town called Soap City. Lucien is a delicate, nature-loving boy, while Wayne is a rough antisocial bully, whose only interest in life is junk. Naturally, some conflicts will ensue.
The Upper Hand is a British television sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and Columbia Pictures Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?. As in the former series, an affluent single woman, raising a son with the help of her mother, hires a housekeeper only to have a man apply for the job.
Dempsey and Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. The leading roles were played by Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber, who later married each other on 18 November 1989. The series combined elements of previous series such as the mis-matching of British and American crime-fighters from different classes as seen in The Persuaders! and the action of The Professionals.
Two creatures, one named "Something", the other named "Something Else" try to co-exist peacefully despite the fact that they are complete opposites. Imagine The Odd Couple as if it were done by Dr. Suess and you've got the basic idea.
Juliet Bravo was a drama that focused on two female police inspectors, neither of whom were called Juliet Bravo! These two inspectors worked in the small fictional town of Hartley, Lancashire. Jean Darblay was on the scene first and had trouble with her sexist colleagues. However she soon managed to gain their trust and prove a woman could be a successful police officer and housewife. Jean's call sign was Juliet Bravo. When she was promoted and moved on she was replaced by Kate Longton who not only took over the patch but also the headaches that went with it.
DI Tom Thorne finds himself dragged back into the nightmares of his past as he races against time to find a serial killer who carries out unusual attacks on young women.
DI Helen Weeks grapples with pregnancy as she undertakes a very personal abduction case.
Maid Marian and her Merry Men is a British children's sitcom created and written by Tony Robinson and directed by David Bell. It began in 1989 on BBC One and ran for four series, with the last episode shown in 1994. The show was a partially musical comic retelling of the legend of Robin Hood, placing Maid Marian in the role of leader of the Merry Men, and reducing Robin to an incompetent ex-tailor. The programme was much appreciated by children and adults alike, and has been likened to Blackadder, not only for its historical setting and the presence of Tony Robinson, but also for its comic style. It is more surreal than Blackadder, however, and drops even more anachronisms. Many of the show's cast such as Howard Lew Lewis, Forbes Collins, Ramsay Gilderdale and Patsy Byrne had previously appeared in various episodes of Blackadder alongside Robinson. Like many British children's programmes, there is a lot of social commentary sneakily inserted, as well as witty asides about the Royal family, buses running on time, etc. Many of the plots spoofed or referenced film and television shows including other incarnations of Robin Hood in those mediums.
Six of the best British crime thriller writers are profiled during the running up to the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards. Each author will be given their own week, featuring some of their finest TV adaptations every night, plus an exclusive documentary examining their lives and work, talking to the stars who have brought their characters to life on screen, fellow writers, fans and the authors themselves.
Knight School was a comedy drama series shown on Children's ITV and made by Granada Television. It was written and created by Mark Billingham and Peter Cocks, who also starred in the series. Two series were broadcast, in the autumn of 1997 and 1998.
Harry's Mad was a children's television programme that was shown in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on CITV from 4 January 1993 to 11 March 1996. It is based upon a book written by Dick King-Smith.
A look at some of Europe's and America's most horrific serial killers and how bizarrely simple blunders eventually brought them to justice.
News at Twelve is a 1988 British television comedy for children. The series followed 12-year-old Kevin Doyle and his nightly "news bulletins" about the events in his life. The name of the TV series came from Kevin's age rather than the time the show itself aired, or of Kevin's news updates, which commonly featured his comical basset hound Baxter. News at Twelve featured Patrick Malahide, Sheila Fearn, Julia Foster, Liz May Brice and Mark Billingham. This series was aired on ITV and made by Central TV. A US pilot version was made in 1991 by NBC starring, amongst others, Danny Gerard and Sarah Melici, but it was never screened.
