Ian Kennedy Martin (born 23 May 1936) is a British television scriptwriter who created the action drama series ''

The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a British police drama television series focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective ...

'' (1975–78).

Career

He began his television career in the 1960s, first as a

script editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programs, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wit ...

on the military police drama series ''

Redcap REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a browser-based, metadata-driven EDC software and workflow methodology for designing clinical and translational research databases. It is widely used in the academic research community: the REDCap ...

'' (1964)''Troy Kennedy Martin'', Lez Cooke, Manchester University Press, 2007, p.12 and then later as a writer on series such as ''The Troubleshooters'' (1965). In 1971 he worked on the popular

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

drama series ''

The Onedin Line ''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, nam ...

'', which ran for nine years until 1980. He also wrote the 1974 drama series '' The Capone Investment''. He is best known for creating the popular police action drama series ''

'',''Best of British: Cinema and Society from 1930 to Present'', by Anthony Aldgate, IB Tauris, 1999, p. 143 produced by

Euston Films Euston Films is a British film and television production company. It was originally a subsidiary of Thames Television, and operated from 1971 to 1994, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network. Euston ...

for

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 ...

, which ran on the ITV network from 1975 to 1978. It also spawned two feature film spin-offs. He is also known for writing the 1975 action film '' Mitchell''.''Andrew V. McLaglen: The Life and Hollywood Career'', by Stephen B Armstrong, McFarland & Co, 2011, pp.209–211 Since the end of ''The Sweeney'' in 1978, Kennedy Martin has continued to write for various police and detective dramas. These have included the BBC's ''

Juliet Bravo ''Juliet Bravo'' is a television in the United Kingdom, British television police procedural drama series, first broadcast on 30 August 1980, that ran for six series and a total of 88 episodes on BBC One, BBC1. The theme of the series concerned ...

'' and ''

The Chinese Detective ''The Chinese Detective'' is a British television police procedural drama series, first transmitted by the BBC between 1981 and 1982. The series was created by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had previously devised '' The Sweeney'' and ''Juliet Bravo' ...

'' during the 1980s and ITV's ''

The Knock ''The Knock'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television crime drama, created by Anita Bronson and broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV, which portrayed the activities of customs officers from the London City & South Collection In ...

'' in the 1990s. Martin has also written a number of novels, including '' Rekill'' and the dystopian science fiction novel '' The Last Crime'', this last under the pseudonym John Domatilla. On 9 March 2009, his first play, ''The Berlin Hanover Express'' premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in North London.

Personal life

He is the younger brother of the scriptwriter

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 ...

(''

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 ...

'', ''

Edge of Darkness ''Edge of Darkness'' is a British television drama serial produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six 50 to 55-minute episodes in late 1985. A mixture of crime drama and pol ...

''), with whom he worked on ''

''. It was Ian who originally came up with a concept for a robbery film set near a traffic jam that Troy eventually bought the rights for what eventually became ''

The Italian Job ''The Italian Job'' is a 1969 British comedy Caper story, caper film written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley, directed by Peter Collinson (film director), Peter Collinson, and starring Michael Caine. The film's plot centres ...

'' (1969).

Filmography

* '' Mitchell'' (1975) * ''

Sweeney 2 ''Sweeney 2'' is a 1978 British action crime drama film directed by Tom Clegg and starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman. It was a sequel to the 1977 film '' Sweeney!.'' Both films are an extension of the British ITV television series '' The S ...

'' - creator credit only (1978)

References

External links

Official website
* 1936 births British male television writers Living people British male novelists {{UK-screenwriter-stub