Allan Prior (13 January 1922,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, – 1 June 2006) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

television scriptwriter and novelist, who wrote over 300 television episodes from the 1950s onwards. He was founder-writer of influential police drama ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...

'' with

Troy Kennedy Martin Troy Kennedy Martin (15 February 1932 – 15 September 2009) was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter. He created the long-running BBC TV police series ''Z-Cars'' (1962–1978), and the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama ''Edge of ...

and wrote five of the first ten episodes and a total of 136 episodes for ''Z-Cars'' and spin-off series '' Softly, Softly''. He also wrote several episodes of the 1970s science-fiction series ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' (sometimes styled ''Blakes7'') is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four 13-episode series were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first ...

''. Along with producer Gerard Glaister he co-created the BBC drama series ''

Howards' Way ''Howards' Way'' is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC1 between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the wealthy yachting and business comm ...

'' in 1985. He wrote more than thirty original plays for television, from episodes of ''

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canad ...

'' to later works including '' The Charmer'' (1987) and ''

A Perfect Hero ''A Perfect Hero'' is a 1991 TV drama serial set in World War II England. It was produced by Havahall Pictures in association with LWT for ITV and first broadcast at 9:00pm on Friday 17 May 1991 and ran for six episodes. It was broadcast in th ...

'' (1991). In 1995 his radio play ''Führer'' was

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's flagship drama for its End of the War in Europe anniversary programmes. His daughter is the Steeleye Span singer

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police ...

Awards

*1962 and 1964 Crime Writers' Association Award, *1962 and 1965 Writers Guild of Great Britain Award *1963

Grand Prix de Littérature Policière The Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (or the Police Literature Grand Prize) is a French literary prize founded in 1948 by author and literary critic Maurice-Bernard Endrèbe. It is the most prestigious award for crime and detective fiction in ...

*1974 BAFTA Award

Novels

*''A Flame in the Air'' (1951) *''The Joy Ride'' (1952) *''The One-eyed Monster'' (1958) *''Z Cars Again'' (1963) *''The Interrogators'' (1965) *''The Operators'' (1966) *''The Loving Cup'' (1968) *''The Charmer'' (1970) *''The Contract'' (1970) *''Theatre'' (1970) *''Paradiso'' (1972) *''Affair'' (1976) *''Never Been Kissed in the Same Place Twice '' (1978) *''The Big March'' (1983) *''A Cast of Stars'' (1983) *''Her Majesty's Hit Man'' (1986) *''Fuhrer'' (1991) *''The Old Man and Me'' (1994) *''One Away'' (2013) fantasticfiction
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Non-fiction

*''Script to Screen'' (1996)

References

External links

*

Guardian obituary

Listing of radio plays at ukonline

Appearance on Desert Island Discs 16 January 1979
1922 births 2006 deaths BAFTA winners (people) English television writers 20th-century English screenwriters {{UK-writer-stub