John Stevenson (10 May 1937 – 5 September 2023) was a British screenwriter who, between 1976 and 2006, was a regular writer on Britain's longest-running

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

, ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''.

Early life

Stevenson was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in 1937. He attended the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and was originally a newspaper journalist. He wrote for the '' Oldham Evening Chronicle'' from 1958 to 1964, and then worked as an entertainment journalist and theatre critic for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', based in Manchester.

Television writing

Stevenson moved into screenwriting after producer Peter Eckersley showed him a sitcom pilot entitled ''Her Majesty's Pleasure'', and asked him to come up with story ideas. Stevenson worked on the show during its run from 1968 to 1969, writing with Leslie Duxbury. He continued to write comedy through the 1970s, with his credits including ''The Last of the Baskets'' and ''How's Your Father?'' He co-wrote the popular comedy-drama ''

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

'' with Julian Roach in the 1980s and in 1994, the sitcom, ''Mother's Ruin'', starring Roy Barraclough. However, this was not a ratings success and only ran for one series. In 1976, Stevenson began writing for ''

'', where he worked on 447 episodes over the next thirty years.

Personal life and death

Stevenson married Barbara Sutcliffe in 1957; they had two children and later divorced. In 1977, he married Sheila McGregor, though their marriage also ended in divorce. He married Myra Davies in 1985; they had three children and remained together until Stevenson's death, from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, on 5 September 2023, at the age of 86.

Awards

Stevenson won the Special Achievement Award at the 2005 British Soap Awards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, John 1937 births 2023 deaths 20th-century English journalists 20th-century English screenwriters British soap opera writers British television writers British theatre critics Daily Mail journalists Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Place of death missing Writers from Manchester Alumni of the London School of Economics