Mark Adrian Tavener (8 July 1954 – 18 October 2007) was an English writer,

humorist A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way. Henri Bergson writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society ...

, and

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best known for his BBC radio and television series '' In the Red'' (

BBC Radio Four 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 Talk radio, spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at B ...

, 1995-1999/

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, 1998) and '' Absolute Power'' (BBC Radio Four, 2000-2006/BBC Two 2005–2007), both of which came out of his PG Wodehouse Prize nominated novel '' In the Red'' ( Hutchinson, 1989).

Biography

Tavener was born and brought up in

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and educated at Plymouth College, before attending

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

''In the Red'' franchise

Tavener wrote a satirical novel, '' In the Red'' ( Hutchinson, 1989), about fictional BBC Crime Reporter George Cragge's investigation into the serial killing of London bank managers, a small political party contesting a by-election, and a plan to overthrow the

Director-General of the BBC The director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief of the BBC. The post-holder was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC (for the period 1927 to 2007) and then the ...

, drawing on his early experiences working for the

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and the

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. Working with comedy-writer

Peter Baynham Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter, stand-up comedian and performer. His writing work includes collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Chris Morris, Sacha Baron Cohen and Sarah Smith. Born in Cardiff, Wales ...

he later adapted this into a seven-part radio series of the same name (

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 ...

, 1995), which was produced by Paul Schlesinger. He reunited with Schlesinger for the six-part sequel series '' In the Balance'' (

, 1997), about George Cragge's investigation into a series of murders during a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

at Wembley Stadium, a summit of EU leaders and an upcoming general election, which he wrote alone. The three-part television series '' In the Red'' (

, 1998), was adapted by

Malcolm Bradbury Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury, (7 September 1932 – 27 November 2000) was an English author and academic. Life Bradbury was born in Sheffield, the son of a railwayman. His family moved to London in 1935, but returned to Sheffield in 1941 wit ...

without input from Tavener, who was working with Schlesinger on a second six-part sequel series '' In the Chair'' (

, 1998), about George Cragge's investigation into a series of murders of dentists linked to New Labour policy. A third and final six-part sequel series '' In the End'' (

, 1999), about George Cragge's investigation into a series of murders of journalists, was written by Tavener and produced by Schlesinger and Dawn Ellis.

''Absolute Power'' franchise

Tavener reunited with executive producer Paul Schlesinger and producer Dawn Ellis to create the

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series '' Absolute Power'' (BBC Radio Four, 2000–2006) featuring the supporting characters of Charles Prentis and Martin McCabe from '' In the Red'' and its sequels '' In the Chair'' and '' In the End'', who having left their previous positions as BBC executives have set up their own public relations firm. After three series on radio, Schlesinger produced a television adaptation of the same name (BBC Two, 2003–2005), although, as with '' In the Red'', Tavener was not involved in the writing of this. Following a one-year break for production of the first series of the television adaptation, Tavener reunited with Ellis for the fourth and final series of the original radio programme. A second and final series of the television adaptation followed without input from Tavener. The franchise was later brought to a conclusion in a one-off radio special written by Tavener and produced by Ellis.

Later works & death

Between ''Absolute Power''s final radio series and the one-off special, Tavener and producer Dawn Ellis created two six-part series of '' High Table, Lower Orders'' (BBC Radio Four, 2005–2006), featuring a murder mystery at a Cambridge College similar to the one the writer had attended. His final work was a collaboration with the comedian

Steve Punt Steve Punt (born ) is a British comedy writer, comedian and actor. Along with Hugh Dennis, he is part of the double act Punt and Dennis and was presenter of BBC Radio 4 satirical news programme '' The Now Show''. He is also a writer and programm ...

on the four-part series, ''

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'' (BBC Radio Four, 2007), set in the offices of a fictional Conservative magazine, which was produced by Dawn Ellis. Tavener died of cancer on 18 October 2007.