Adele Rose (8 December 1933 – 28 December 2020) was an English television writer. She was the longest-serving scriptwriter for the soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

,'' writing 457 scripts over a period of 37 years from 1961, and was the first woman to write for the show. She also originated the series ''

Byker Grove Byker is a district in the east of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. Home to the Byker Wall estate, made famous by TV series ''Byker Grove'', Byker’s population was recorded at 12,206 in the 2011 census. Byker is bord ...

'' (1989–2006), aimed at teenagers.

Biography

Rose was born in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, and raised in a Jewish family. Her parents were Clara (née Simons) and Sydney Rose, who was a manager at

Great Universal Stores GUS plc was an FTSE 100 retailing, manufacturing and financial conglomerate based in the United Kingdom. GUS was an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's name before 2001, while it was also known as the ''Glorious Gussies'' amo ...

, the family's mail-order business. She initially worked as a secretary at

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

in the promotions department, which prepared links for the station's continuity announcers to read.

Jack Rosenthal Jack Morris Rosenthal (8 September 1931 – 29 May 2004) was an English playwright. He wrote 129 early episodes of the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and over 150 screenplays, including original TV plays, feature films, and adaptations. ...

, a former colleague in the department who had already collaborated with her, suggested she should write for ''

''. After noticing the programme lacked any female writers, Rose contacted ''Coronation Street''s script editor Harry Kershaw suggesting she should join the programme's writing team. Accepted, she debuted on programme 40, screened in May 1961. Rosenthal encouraged Rose by co-writing some episodes with her. Rose became the ''Street''s longest-serving contributor, as well as the show's first female writer. She wrote 457 scripts for the soap opera between 1961 and 1998. Only Peter Whalley (601 scripts over 35 years) has written more episodes.

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's John Whiston credits her with writing some of the show's "most memorable episodes", describing her as "particularly adept at giving voice to some of Corrie's classic fearless female characters". According to her husband, Peter Chadwick, "She loved writing the battle-axes in ''Coronation Street''." Executive producer

Brian Park Brian Park is a Scottish television producer and executive. He was born in Fife but lived in Aberdeen’s Bucksburn between the ages of nine and 17. He acted when he was a child and joined the Aberdeen Children’s Theatre at the age of 13, appea ...

dropped her from the programme's contributors in 1998; Granada gave her a farewell boardroom dinner. Rose was commissioned by

Andrea Wonfor Andrea Jean Wonfor also known as Andrea Duncan (31 July 1944 – 10 September 2004) was a British television executive and producer. Her successes included ''The Tube (TV series), The Tube'', ''The Big Breakfast'', ''Byker Grove'' and ''The Word ...

to create a series set in a youth club to be produced by the independent company Zenith North for the BBC. The result was the teen drama series ''

'' which began in 1989. Set in

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 ...

, she wrote the first three series. The show launched the careers of

Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenter, television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as chil ...

, who played the friends PJ and Duncan, as well as

Donna Air Donna Marie Theresa Air (born 2 August 1979) is an English actress, television presenter and media personality. Early life and education Donna Marie Theresa Air was born on 2 August 1979, in Wallsend, North Tyneside, to receptionist Marie (née ...

and

Jill Halfpenny Jill Halfpenny (born 15 July 1975) is an English actress. Her notable roles include Rebecca Hopkins in ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (1999–2000), Kate Mitchell in BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2002–2005), Izzie Redpath in '' W ...

. It had 5 million viewers in the 1990s and lasted for 17 years, with Rose continuing to be credited throughout. ''Byker Grove'' was included by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in a 2018 list of "definitive" shows for teenagers; Iman Amrani describes it as "the north's answer to ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

''", praising its "gritty" writing, which took on difficult topics such as sexual relationships (including those which were same sex) and foster care. Rose also originated two earlier series: ''Girls About Town'', a feminist

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

which ran to three series from 1969 to 1971, and ''Second Chance,'' a drama series about divorce, partly drawn from her own experiences, which screened in 1981. In the 1980s, she also wrote for the soap ''Crossroads'', using the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Kay Stephens. Her other credits include episodes of the police series ''

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 debuted ...

'' and nursing drama ''

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

'' for the BBC, as well as for several shows for ITV, including the comedies '' Bless This House'' and '' Robin's Nest'', and the dramas ''

Heartbeat A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart. Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to: Computing *Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system *Heartbeat, clus ...

'', ''Rooms'', ''

Within These Walls ''Within These Walls'' is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison. Unlike later women-in-prison TV series, ...

'' and the sitcom ''

The Dustbinmen ''The Dustbinmen'' is a British television sitcom made by Granada Television for ITV, which starred Bryan Pringle, Trevor Bannister, Graham Haberfield and Tim Wylton. The show was a spin-off from a one-off 90-minute television film ''There's ...

.'' She also wrote a column in the ''

TV Times ''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine published by Future plc. It was originally published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies. The magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which ...

'' magazine. She retired from script-writing in 2000.

Recognition

In 1993, Rose received a BAFTA Award for screenwriting, for her work on ''Coronation Street''. She also received several Writers' Guild Awards for her work on the series, including the 1992 award for Original Drama Series, which she was jointly awarded with the ''Coronation Street'' writing team.

Personal life and death

Rose's first marriage ended in divorce. After her retirement in 2000, she moved to the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

with her long-term partner, Peter Chadwick, a newspaper journalist. They married in around the year 2010. She had two children from an earlier marriage. Rose died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on 28 December 2020, at the age of 87. The second episode of ''Coronation Street'' aired on 8 January 2021 was dedicated to her.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Adele 1933 births 2020 deaths 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English women writers BAFTA winners (people) English soap opera writers English television writers Deaths from pneumonia in England English Jewish writers Writers from Salford Women soap opera writers British women television writers