Denis Alfred Peter Philp (10 November 1920 - 5 February 2006), was a Welsh dramatist and antiques expert, best known for his television series, ''Collectors' Club''. Philp was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, and attended

Penarth Penarth ( , ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a Seaside resort#Brit ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, but opted to enter the family

antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

s business, A. T. Philp & Sons, instead of going to university. The premises were in Cardiff's Royal Arcade, where they remained until 1968. He served in the RAF during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and married Pamela Ayton in 1940. They had two sons. In the meantime, he continued to write plays, as he had done since his schooldays, and his major success was '' Castle of Deception'' (1951); this won him the title of Most Promising Young Playwright at the

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. He lived for a time near

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, but later returned to Cardiff. In 1958, the first programme in the series, ''Collectors' Club'', was shown on

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, ...

, and Philp also wrote a column on antiques for ''

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 ...

''. He published several books on the subject of antiques.

Works

Non-fiction

*''Furniture of the World'' (1974) *''The Antique Furniture Expert'' (1991) *''Field Guide to Antique Furniture'' (1992)

Plays

*'' Castle of Deception'' (1951) *'' A Quiet Clap of Thunder'' (1961)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philp, Peter Welsh television presenters Mass media people from Cardiff 1920 births 2006 deaths People educated at Stanwell School 20th-century Welsh dramatists and playwrights