Christopher Jeremy Sandford (5 December 1930 – 12 May 2003) was an English

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

who came to prominence in 1966 with ''

Cathy Come Home "Cathy Come Home" is a 1966 BBC television play about homelessness. It was written by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. A 1998 ''Radio Times'' readers' poll voted it the "best single television drama" and a 200 ...

'', his controversial entry in

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

's ''

The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic ...

'' anthology strand, which was directed by

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

. Later, in 1971, he wrote another successful one-off, ''

Edna, the Inebriate Woman "Edna, the Inebriate Woman" is the second episode of the second season of the BBC anthology TV series ''Play for Today'', originally broadcast on 21 October 1971. ''Edna, the Inebriate Woman'' was written by Jeremy Sandford, directed by Ted Kotc ...

'', for ''The Wednesday Play'' successor series ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

''.

Early life

Sandford was born in London and brought up at

Eye Manor Eye Manor is a Carolean manor house in Eye, Herefordshire, England. It dates from the late 17th century and was built for Ferdinando Gorges. Noted for its interior plasterwork, the house is a Grade I listed building. History Ferdinando Gorges ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, home of his father,

Christopher Sandford Christopher Sandford (1902–1983) of Eye Manor, Herefordshire, was a book designer, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, a founding director of the Folio Society, and husband of the wood engraver and pioneer Corn dolly revivalist, Lettice ...

, who was the owner of the

Golden Cockerel Press The Golden Cockerel Press was an English fine press operating between 1920 and 1961. History The private press made handmade limited editions of classic works. The type was hand-set and the books were printed on handmade paper, and sometimes ...

. His mother was Lettice Sandford. His paternal grandmother was the Anglo-Irish writer Mary Carbery; by her first marriage he had relatives in the Happy Valley set in Kenya. Sandford was educated at Eton and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he read English. During

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 ...

, he was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

bandsman.

Career

After his marriage to heiress

Nell Dunn Nell Mary Dunn (born 9 June 1936) is an English playwright, screenwriter and author. She is known especially for a volume of short stories, '' Up the Junction'', and a novel, ''Poor Cow''. Early years Dunn was born in London the second daughter ...

in 1957, they gave up their smart Chelsea home and went to live in unfashionable

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

where they joined and observed the lower strata of society. From this experience he published the play ''

'' in 1963, and she wrote '' Up the Junction''. In 1968, Sandford won a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

for the TV production of ''Cathy Come Home''. He wrote "Smiling David" about the death of David Oluwale. Sandford became interested in

gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

causes (as his paternal grandmother had been) and for a time edited their news sheet, '' Romano Drom'' (''Gypsy Road''). He travelled the country seeking out gypsy stories, published as ''The Gypsies'', and later reissued as ''Rokkering to the Gorjios'' (''Talking to the non-Gypsies''). For some time the family lived on a small

hill farm Hill farming or Terrace Farming, terrace farming is an extensive farming in Highland (geography), upland areas, primarily rearing sheep, although historically cattle were often reared extensively in Upland pasture, upland areas. Fell farming is t ...

called Wern Watkin, outside

Crickhowell Crickhowell (; , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community (Wales), community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Brecknockshire. Location The town lies on th ...

in South Wales. Their attempt at sheep farming is described by their neighbour, the young

Carlo Gébler Carlo Gébler (born 21 August 1954) is an Irish writer, television director, and teacher. His publications include novels, short stories, plays, historical works and memoirs. He is a member of Aosdána. Early life Gébler was born in Dublin, t ...

, son of novelist

Edna O'Brien Josephine Edna O'Brien (15 December 1930 – 27 July 2024) was an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. O'Brien's works often revolve around the inner feelings of women and their problems relating to men and soc ...

Personal life

Jeremy Sandford was married to playwright and author

, a granddaughter of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn, and they had three sons. The couple divorced in 1979. He married Philippa Finnis in 1988. They had performed " The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" song at an early Mind Body Spirit Festival, and they co-wrote a

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 ...

drama-documentary about the suicide of Jill Hoey. He died at his home, Hatfield Court in

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almos ...

, at the age of 72. His last words were: "I think I'll have a rest now."Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', London, 15 May 2003, p. 39.

References

External links

Memorial page to Jeremy Sandford
*
Fanclub with many of his unpublished writingsThe Guardian - Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandford, Jeremy 1930 births 2003 deaths Military personnel from London Royal Air Force airmen Alumni of New College, Oxford English television writers Jacob's Award winners People educated at Eton College Writers from Herefordshire Prix Italia winners English male television writers 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers