Allan Prior (13 January 1922,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, – 1 June 2006) was an English television scriptwriter and novelist, who wrote over 300 television episodes from the 1950s onwards. He was founder-writer of influential police drama ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'' with

Troy Kennedy Martin Troy Kennedy Martin (15 February 1932 – 15 September 2009) was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter. He created the long-running BBC TV police series ''Z-Cars'' (1962–1978), and the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama '' Edge ...

and wrote five of the first ten episodes and a total of 136 episodes for ''Z-Cars'' and spin-off series '' Softly, Softly''. He also wrote several episodes of the 1970s science-fiction series ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four series of thirteen 50-minute episodes were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first series, prod ...

''. Along with producer Gerard Glaister he co-created the BBC drama series '' Howards' Way'' in 1985. He wrote more than thirty original plays for television, from episodes of '' Armchair Theatre'' to later works including '' The Charmer'' (1987) and '' A Perfect Hero'' (1991). In 1995 his radio play ''Führer'' was

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's flagship drama for its End of the War in Europe anniversary programmes. His daughter is the

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...

singer

Maddy Prior Madeleine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk rock singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the p ...

Awards

*1962 and 1964

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. ...

Award, *1962 and 1965 Writers Guild of Great Britain Award *1963

Grand Prix de Littérature Policière The (or the Police Literature Grand Prize) is a French literary award, literary prize founded in 1948 by author and literary critic Maurice-Bernard Endrèbe. It is the most prestigious award for crime fiction, crime and detective fiction in Franc ...

*1974

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Award

Novels

*''A Flame in the Air'' (1951) *''The Joy Ride'' (1952) *''The One-eyed Monster'' (1958) *''Z Cars Again'' (1963) *''The Interrogators'' (1965) *''The Operators'' (1966) *''The Loving Cup'' (1968) *''The Charmer'' (1970) *''The Contract'' (1970) *''Theatre'' (1970) *''Paradiso'' (1972) *''Affair'' (1976) *''Never Been Kissed in the Same Place Twice '' (1978) *''The Big March'' (1983) *''A Cast of Stars'' (1983) *''Her Majesty's Hit Man'' (1986) *''Fuhrer'' (1991) *''The Old Man and Me'' (1994) *''One Away'' (2013) fantasticfiction
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Non-fiction

*''Script to Screen'' (1996)

References

External links

*

Guardian obituary

Listing of radio plays at ukonline

Appearance on Desert Island Discs 16 January 1979
1922 births 2006 deaths BAFTA winners (people) English television writers British television show creators 20th-century English screenwriters {{UK-novelist-stub