Anthony Steven (3 August 1916 – 26 May 1990) was a British television scriptwriter whose career spanned over three decades. Notable works include '' All Creatures Great and Small'', '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' and ''

The Forsyte Saga ''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle th ...

''.

Career

Anthony Steven began his career as a reporter on the ''

Oxford Mail ''Oxford Mail'' is a daily tabloid newspaper in Oxford, England, owned by Newsquest. It is published six days a week. It is a sister paper to the weekly tabloid ''The Oxford Times''. History The ''Oxford Mail'' was founded in 1928 by MP Fra ...

''. Later, he was discovered by

John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Flaherty's '' ...

, the founder of the

Crown Film Unit The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during the Second World War; until 1940, it was the GPO Film Unit. Its remit was to make films for the general public in Britain and abroad. Its outp ...

, who hired him as a writer. In 1957 Steven joined the BBC. A prolific writer, he wrote many television serials over a period of thirty years. Some of his scripts were original but many were adaptations of classic novels, including several episodes of ''

'' (1967). In 1984, he wrote the script for the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' story ''

The Twin Dilemma ''The Twin Dilemma'' is the seventh and final serial of the Doctor Who season 21, 21st season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 22 to 30 March 1984. It was ...

'', the first to star

Colin Baker Colin Charles Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor. He played Paul Merroney in the BBC television drama series ''The Brothers (1972 TV series), The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the Sixth Doctor, sixth incarnation of The Doctor (Do ...

as the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual t ...

. Steven claimed his typewriter had exploded whilst he was working on the script.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steven, Anthony 1916 births 1990 deaths English television writers English male screenwriters British male television writers 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers