Donald James (born Donald James Wheal; 22 August 1931 – 28 April 2008) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

television writer, novelist and non-fiction writer.

Life and career

Born in World's End, Chelsea, and educated at Sloane Grammar School and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

(where he read history), James completed his

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the Parachute Regiment before returning to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to work as a

supply teacher A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is absent or unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, maternal leave and so on. "Substitute teacher" (usually abbreviated as sub) is the most c ...

. He was the author of the best-selling novels ''The Fall of the Russian Empire'' (1982), ''Monstrum'' (1997), ''The Fortune Teller'' (1999), and ''Vadim'' (2000), as well as co-author of ''The Penguin Dictionary of the Third Reich'' (1997) under the pseudonym James Taylor. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms, notably Thomas Dresden and James Barwick (originally in collaboration with fellow writer

Tony Barwick Anthony Clive Barwick (10 July 1934 – 18 August 1993) was a British television scriptwriter who worked extensively on series created and produced by Gerry Anderson. Career Television Barwick scripted episodes for Gerry Anderson's Supermario ...

, another long-term contributor to the various television productions of

Gerry Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pres ...

and

Sylvia Anderson Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In ...

and their company,

AP Films AP Films or APF (renamed Century 21 Productions in 1966) was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette t ...

/ Century 21). James's career as a scriptwriter included work on TV series such as '' The Adventurer'', '' The Avengers'', ''

The Champions ''The Champions'' is a British espionage thriller/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure television series. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company, and consists of 30 episodes broadcast in the UK on ...

'', '' Department S'', ''

Joe 90 ''Joe 90'' is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, Century 21, for ITC Entertainment. It follows the exploits of nine-year-old schoolboy Joe McClaine, who ...

'', '' Mission: Impossible'', ''

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is a British action comedy television series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the c ...

'', ''

The Protectors ''The Protectors'' is a British action thriller television series created by Gerry Anderson. It starred Robert Vaughn as Harry Rule, Nyree Dawn Porter as the Contessa Caroline di Contini, and Tony Anholt as Paul Buchet. It was Anderson's seco ...

'', ''

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt (actor), Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Denn ...

'', '' The Saint'', ''

The Secret Service ''The Secret Service'' is a 1969 British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, Century 21, for ITC Entertainment. It follows the exploits of Father Stanley Unwin, a ...

'', '' Space: 1999'', ''

Terrahawks ''Terrahawks'' is a 1980s British science fiction television series created by Gerry Anderson and Christopher Burr for London Weekend Television. The series was Anderson's first in over a decade to use puppets for its characters, and also his ...

'' and ''

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

''. He wrote for a total of 22 titles, including the Century 21 film ''

Doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

'', and acted in small three roles between 1961 and 1962. After spending periods in France and Ireland, he returned to London. His autobiographical account of London life during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, ''World's End'', was published in 2005. A second volume of memoirs, ''White City'', was published in March 2007. James died in London on 28 April 2008. Married three times and divorced once, he is survived by twin daughters.

References

External links

* 1931 births 2008 deaths 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English male writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge British male novelists British male television writers English autobiographers English male screenwriters English non-fiction writers English television writers British male non-fiction writers People from Chelsea, London Writers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea {{UK-tv-bio-stub