Philip Mackie (26 November 1918 – 23 December 1985) was a British film and television

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. He was born in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England. He graduated in 1939 from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and worked for the Ministry of Information Films Division which began a career in film.

Work

In August 1955 Mackie became, along with

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Scr ...

, one of the first two staff scriptwriters to be employed by

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

; scriptwriters had previously been employed on short-term or freelance contracts. The same year he adapted one of his television works into a successful stage play '' The Whole Truth'' which ran for more than a hundred performances in the West End and was then adapted into a film of the same title by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. In the early 1960s he wrote several screenplays for the series of films made at

Merton Park Studios Merton Park Studios, opened in 1929, was a British film production studio located at Long Lodge, 269 Kingston Road in Merton Park, South London. In the 1940s, it was owned by Piprodia Entertainment, Nikhanj Films and Film Producers Guild. Peter Mo ...

, loosely based on

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

stories and novels. Mackie was the producer and writer of the acclaimed 1968 ITV historical drama series '' The Caesars'' about the

Julio-Claudian , native_name_lang=Latin, coat of arms=Great_Cameo_of_France-removebg.png, image_size=260px, caption= The Great Cameo of France depicting emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius and Nero, type=Ancient Roman dynasty, country= Roman Empire, estates=* ...

Roman emperors and later wrote the 1972 series The Organization and the 1974 series ''

Napoleon and Love ''Napoleon and Love'' is a 1974 British television series originally aired on ITV and lasting for 9 episodes from 5 March to 30 April 1974. The series stars Ian Holm in the title role as Napoleon and depicts his relationships with the women who ...

'', starring

Ian Holm Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Compan ...

, about Napoleon Bonaparte's relationships with his women as a backdrop to his rise and fall as Emperor of the French. In 1975 and 1976, Mackie adapted two

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

short stories, “Cheap in August” and “A Drive in the Country,” for episodes of ''

Shades of Greene ''Shades of Greene'' is a British television series based on short stories written by the author Graham Greene. The series began in 1975, with each hour-long episode featuring a dramatisation of one of Greene's stories, many of which dealt with ...

'' presented by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

. He also wrote the script for the television adaptation of the defiantly exhibitionist homosexual

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...

's autobiography '' The Naked Civil Servant'', for which

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

won the BAFTA for Best Actor in 1976. In 1977 he adapted the Raffles stories for

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

Family

Mackie had four daughters: Susan, Charlotte, Alexandra, and Barbara. One of his granddaughters is actress

Pearl Mackie Pearl Mackie is a British actress. She is best known for playing Bill Potts in the long-running television series ''Doctor Who''. Mackie is a 2010 graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her first major television role came in 2014, wh ...

Selected filmography

Film

* '' The Whole Truth'' (1958) * ''

Clue of the Twisted Candle ''Clue of the Twisted Candle'' is a 1960 British crime film directed by Allan Davis and starring Bernard Lee, David Knight and Francis De Wolff. Part of the long-running series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios, it ...

'' (1960) * ''

Clue of the Silver Key Clue may refer to: People with the name * DJ Clue (born 1975), mixtape DJ * Arthur Clues (1924–1998), Australian rugby league footballer * Ivan Clues * Tim Cluess Arts, entertainment, and media ''Clue'' entertainment franchise * ''Clued ...

'' (1961) * ''

Man at the Carlton Tower ''Man at the Carlton Tower'' is a 1961 British crime film directed by Robert Tronson and starring Maxine Audley, Lee Montague and Allan Cuthbertson. Part of the long-running series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios, i ...

'' (1961) * ''

The Brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ i ...

'' (1962)

Television

* ''

Mr. Rose ''The Odd Man'' was a police series produced by Granada Television, running over four series between 1960 and 1963. The character of pompous police Chief Inspector Charles Rose (William Mervyn) at the start of series 3 cemented the show's pop ...

'' (1967–68) * '' The Caesars'' (1968) * '' The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes'' (1971) * '' The Organization'' (1972) * '' Raffles'' (1975-1977) * ''

'' (1974) * ''

An Englishman's Castle ''An Englishman's Castle'' is a BBC television serial first broadcast in 1978, written by Philip Mackie and directed by Paul Ciappessoni. The story was set in an alternative history 1970s, in which Nazi Germany won World War II and England i ...

'' (1978) * ''

Thérèse Raquin ''Thérèse Raquin'' is an 1868 novel by French writer Émile Zola, first published in serial form in the literary magazine ''L'Artiste'' in 1867. It was Zola's third novel, though the first to earn wide fame. The novel's adultery and murder ...

'' (1980) * ''

Jemima Shore Investigates ''Jemima Shore Investigates'' is a British mystery television series which originally aired in twelve episodes in 1983. It is based on a series of novels by Antonia Fraser about Jemima Shore, a crime-solving television presenter.Brunsdale p.361- ...

'' (1983) * ''

The Cleopatras ''The Cleopatras'' is a 1983 BBC Television eight-part historical drama serial. Written by Philip Mackie, it is set in Ancient Egypt during the latter part of the Ptolemaic Dynasty with an emphasis on the Cleopatras. Intended to be the '' I, ...

'' (1983)

Footnotes

References

External links

*
Philip Mackie
at

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackie, Philip 1918 births 1985 deaths British television writers British television producers 20th-century British screenwriters