William Smethurst (10 March 1945 – 22 July 2016) was an English novelist, screenwriter and producer for television and radio. He wrote television and radio scripts for series including ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

'' and ''

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

''.

Early life

Smethurst was born in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. His father, William, was an aircraft engineer, first for

De Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...

and then Westland, which caused the family to uproot to

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. He went to Fosters School Sherborne and then onto

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

(1965–1968). At Lancaster, he founded a university magazine which he named ''Carolynne'', after his then girlfriend and subsequent wife.

Career

After university and studying stage management at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

, Smethurst worked as a journalist for several outlets, including ABC TV, ''The Reading Evening Post'' and BBC1's ''

Midlands Today ''BBC Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the West Midlands (region), West Midlands. It was launched in 1964 and is presented by Mary Rhodes, Nick Owen, Elizabeth Glinka, Rebecca Wood and Shefali Oza. Overview ...

''. Following a few radio plays, Smethurst joined the writing staff of long-running radio drama ''The Archers'' in 1974, which had experienced a ratings decline. In 1978, he became the series editor, revitalizing the series, bringing in new writers (among them

Susan Hill Dame Susan Elizabeth Hill, Lady Wells (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include '' The Woman in Black'', which has been adapted for stage and screen, '' The Mist in the Mirror'', and '' ...

) and creating characters like Susan Carter, Caroline Sterling and the Grundy family. He stayed in this position until 1986. Afterwards, he transitioned into television, joining Central Television to executive produce the soap ''Crossroads''. He then executive produced the crime drama '' Boon'', and created the

British Satellite Broadcasting British Satellite Broadcasting plc (BSB) was a television company, based in London, that provided satellite television, direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom. It started broadcasting on 25 March 1990. The company ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

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 ...

Jupiter Moon ''Jupiter Moon'' is a science fiction soap opera television series first broadcast by British Satellite Broadcasting's Galaxy channel in 1990. 150 episodes were commissioned and made, but only the first 108 were broadcast before the closure of ...

''. 150 episodes were commissioned and made, but only the first 108 were broadcast before the closure of BSB. He later wrote several non-fiction books, such as seven editions of the screenwriting manual, ''How to Write for Television'', which also includes advice for writing for radio.

Novels

* ''Night of the Bear'' (1993) (with Julian Spilsbury) * ''Bukhara Express'' (1994) * ''Sinai'' (1996) * ''Pasiphae'' (1998)

Death

He died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

on 22 July 2016, survived by his wife Carolynne, daughter Henrietta and two grandchildren.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smethurst, William Place of death missing 1945 births 2016 deaths 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English screenwriters 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English screenwriters Alumni of Lancaster University British instructional writers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in England English male dramatists and playwrights English male novelists English male television writers English radio producers English radio writers English science fiction writers English soap opera writers English television producers Screenwriting instructors Writers from Bolton Writers from Dorset