Wilfred Glyn Greatorex (27 May 1921 – 14 October 2002) was an English television and film writer, script editor and producer.
Early life Born in Liverpool, he was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn. After wartime service with the RAF, he became a reporter on The Blackburn Times, The Lancashire Evening Post and Reynold's News. He began his television career at Associated Television.
Career He was creator of such series as Secret Army, 1990, Plane Makers and its sequel The Power Game, Hine, Brett, Man From Haven and The Inheritors. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1969 film Battle of Britain. He was described by The Guardian newspaper as "one of the most prolific and assured of television script-writers and editors from the 1960s into the 1980s". Starting off as a journalist, he got his big break as a TV writer on Lew Grade's ATV service writing dramas about journalism, such as Deadline Midnight and Front Page Story. He wrote a number of books, including one about the Battle of Arnhem as ghostwriter for Major General Roy Urquhart.
As a TV script editor he also worked on series such as Danger Man and was also creator/producer of The Inheritors, Hine and The Power Game. Papers discovered at a Norfolk auction house in 2011 reveal that 'Hine' had a budget of £84,000, the equivalent of close to £1m some forty years later.
In 1977, he came up with the dystopian drama series 1990 for BBC2, starring Edward Woodward. Greatorex dubbed the series "Nineteen Eighty-Four plus six". Over its two series it portrayed "a Britain in which the rights of the individual had been replaced by the concept of the common good – or, as I put it more brutally, a consensus tyranny." The same year he also devised (with Gerard Glaister) the BBC1 wartime drama Secret Army. The show later inspired the sitcom parody 'Allo 'Allo!.
When talking about his writing style he said "I am opposed to soft-centred characters, which is why I don't create a lot of Robin Hoods. The world's full of hard cases, real villains. And they need to be confronted with other characters just as hard."
His last series for television was Airline in 1982 (starring Roy Marsden). He died in of renal failure in Buckinghamshire in 2002.
Writing credits Production Notes BroadcasterThe Net"Tender Job" (1962) "A Date with Janie" (1962) "Not for Peanuts" (1962) "Dover Relief" (1962) "The Weekend Fliers" (1962) "Not Wanted on Voyage" (1962)BBC1Look at Life"Look at Life: Men of the Woods" (1963) "Look at Life: High, Wide and Faster" (1963) "Look at Life: Europe Grows Together" (1963) "Look at Life: Draw the Fires" (1963) "Look at Life: Caught in the Cold" (1963) "Look at Life: Back*"room of the Sky" (1963) "Look at Life: The New Australians" (1964) "Look at Life: Off the Sheeps Back" (1964) "Look at Life: Men of the Snowy" (1964) "Look at Life: Constant Hot Water" (1964) "Look at Life: City of the Air" (1964) "Look at Life: The Big Take*"Off" (1966) "Look at Life: School for Skymen" (1966) "Look at Life: Evening Paper" (1966) "Look at Life: Eating High" (1966) "Look at Life: Murder Bag" (1967)N/ATaxi!"Everybody's in: Goodnight!" (1963)BBC1The Plane Makers"A Question of Sources" (1963) "Strings in Whitehall" (1963) "The Island Game" (1964)ITVDanger Man"The Professionals" (1964) "Fair Exchange" (1964)ITVThe Power Game"Point of Balance" (1966) "Late Via Rome" (1966) "The Man with Two Hats" (1966) "The Front Men" (1966) "The Chicken Run" (1966) "Safe Conduct" (1966) "One Via Zurich" (1969) "The Outsider" (1969) "The Heart Market" (1969) "The New Minister" (1969) "Mergers" (1969)ITVITV Playhouse"The Curtis Affair" (1968)ITVNobody Runs ForeverFeature film (1968)N/AMan in a Suitcase"The Boston Square" (1968) "Property of a Gentleman" (1968)ITVBattle of BritainFeature film (1969)N/ABig BrotherTelevision miniseries (1970)ITVHine13 episodes (1971)ITVLove Story"Night of the Tanks" (1972)ITVThe Man from Haven"Pilot" (1972)ITVThe Frighteners"You Remind Me of Someone" (1972)ITVThe Inheritors6 episodes (1974)ITVOil Strike North6 episodes (1975)BBC1The Mackinnons"Whose Side Are You On?" (1977)BBC1199016 episodes (1977–1978)BBC2Airline9 episodes (1982)ITV
Books
Based on the BBC television series.
Based on the Yorkshire Television series.
Quotes I am opposed to soft-centred characters, which is why I don't create a lot of Robin Hoods. The world's full of hard cases, real villains. And they need to be confronted with other characters just as hard. (The Sunday Times, 1972).
References
External links Screenonline page on Wilfred Greatorex
Obituary in The Guardian Obituary in The Times