Jack Ronder was a Scottish dramatist, screenwriter and author who in the 1950s and 1960s was known for his socially acute plays before becoming a TV screenwriter. He is remembered for his work on

Terry Nation Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for ''Doctor Who'', as well as the series '' Surviv ...

's seminal

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 ...

post-apocalyptic series,

Survivors Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

, which was listed by SFX magazine as one of the 'Top 50 British Telefantasy Shows'.

Life

Jack Tobias Ronder was the grandson of

Lithuanian Jews {{Jews and Judaism sidebar , Population Litvaks ({{Langx, yi, ליטװאַקעס) or Lita'im ({{Langx, he, לִיטָאִים) are Jews who historically resided in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuan ...

who fled their homeland in 1885 due to persecution in Tsarist Russia. Believing themselves to have bought tickets to America, the family were made to disembark in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Scotland where they settled and he was born. Their story inspired Ronder's first book and a

BBC TV 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 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

series, The Lost Tribe, the story of the establishment of Jewish community in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. Ronder initially studied chemistry at

Heriot-Watt College Heriot-Watt University () is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted univers ...

, Edinburgh, where he involved himself in a number of productions with the Edinburgh University Drama Society and Edinburgh Graduates Theatre Group, going on to become a chemistry teacher before a full-time writer. In 1961, he had his first West End play produced, called 'This Year, Next Year', at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. Opening in 1870, the theatre staged mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. The theatre was rebuilt twice, although each new buildin ...

. He went on to write the first one man play for

Russell Hunter Adam Russell Hunter (18 February 1925 – 26 February 2004) was a Scottish television, stage and film actor. He played Lonely in the TV thriller series '' Callan'', starring Edward Woodward, and shop steward Harry in the Yorkshire Television s ...

, one of Scotland's most talented and versatile actors, called Cocky, about

Lord Cockburn Henry Thomas Cockburn of Bonaly, Lord Cockburn ( ; 26 October 1779 in Cockpen, Midlothian – 26 April/18 July 1854 in Bonaly, Midlothian) was a Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland between 1 ...

in 1969. He was a member of the

Writers' Guild of Great Britain The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG). History The u ...

's committee

Ronder married Scottish artist Anne Christie, and had three children, one of whom is actress and playwright Tanya Ronder.

Works

Books

* '' The Lost Tribe (Ronder book), The Lost Tribe'' (1978)

TV Series

* ''The Lost Tribe'' (1980) * ''

Scene Scene (from Greek ') may refer to: General * Scene (performing arts), a part of the story held in a single location * Scene (perception), a set of information that can flow from a physical environment into a perceptual system via sensory tran ...

'' (1980) * ''Going to Work'' (1978–1979) * ''Scottish Playbill'' (1970) * ''The Day After Yesterday'' (1979) * '' Space: 1999'' (1976) * ''Hunter's Walk'' (1976) * ''

'' (1975–1976) * ''

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 ...

'' (1975) * '' Barlow'' (1974–1975) * '' John Halifax, Gentleman'' (1974) * '' Hadleigh'' (1973) * ''

The Regiment The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

'' (1973) * ''Late Night Theatre'' (1972) * '' The Lotus Eaters'' (1972) * ''ITV Sunday Night Theatre'' (1972) * ''A Summer Story'' (1972) * ''

A Family at War ''A Family at War'' is a British drama series that aired on ITV from 14 April 1970 to 16 February 1972. It was created by John Finch and made by Granada Television for ITV. The original producer was Richard Doubleday, and with 13 directors dur ...

'' (1971) * ''

Dr. Finlay's Casebook ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'' is a television drama series that was produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1962 until 1971. Based on A. J. Cronin's 1935 novella ''Country Doctor'', the storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fiction ...

'' (1969) * ''

The Borderers ''The Borderers'' is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1968 and 1970. Setting A historical drama series, ''The Borderers'' was set during the 16th century and chronicled the lives of the Ker family, who lived in the Scot ...

'' (1969) * ''

This Man Craig ''This Man Craig'' is a TV drama series produced by BBC Scotland and screened over 52 episodes in 1966 and 1967. It was set in a secondary school in the fictional Scottish town of Strathaird. Episodes were filmed at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Acad ...

'' (1966–1967)

Plays

* ''The Sinner's Tale'' (1971) * ''

Confessions of a Justified Sinner ''The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: Written by Himself: With a detail of curious traditionary facts and other evidence by the editor'' is a novel by the Scottish author James Hogg, published anonymously in 1824. The p ...

'' (1971) * ''Who'll Do It This Time?'' (1969) * ''This Year, Next Year'' (1961) * ''Cocky'' (1960) * ''Wedding Day'' (1959) * ''The Daughter of the Dawn'' (1955) * ''Who Loves Morag?'' (1954) * ''Maria Marten (or Murder in the Red Barn)'' (1954) * ''Philotus'' (1953) * ''A Heavenly Sound: A Comedy in Three Acts'' (1950)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ronder, Jack 20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights Scottish male writers Jewish Scottish writers 1926 births 1979 deaths Alumni of Heriot-Watt University