Edward Taylor, (born 1931) is a British

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and radio producer best known for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

Comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

series ''

The Men from the Ministry ''The Men from the Ministry'' is a British radio comedy series broadcast by the BBC between 1962 and 1977, starring Wilfrid Hyde-White, Richard Murdoch and, from 1966, when he replaced Hyde-White, Deryck Guyler. Written and produced by Edward ...

''. Originally intending to seek a career in acting, Taylor applied to join

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, appearing in the 1955

Cambridge Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

revue and becoming a scriptwriter after being noticed by a BBC talent scout and hired for a one-year contract. Taylor's career with the BBC subsequently lasted for 36 years, during which he wrote a total of 2,300 programmes. He also produced several shows, not just situation comedies that he had written (or co-written) himself but also comedy panel games, including some editions of '' Just a Minute''. Taylor came up with the idea for ''The Men from the Ministry'' after a lunch with actor friend

Richard Murdoch Richard Bernard Murdoch (6 April 19079 October 1990) was an English actor and entertainer. After early professional experience in the chorus in musical comedy, Murdoch quickly moved on to increasingly prominent roles in musical comedy and rev ...

in the early 1960s, during which Murdoch asked Taylor to write a comedy for him to appear in. ''The Men from the Ministry'' ran for 144 episodes and versions were also produced in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, Taylor continuing to write additional episodes for the Finnish version right up to 2008. In 1992, Taylor wrote the stage thriller ''Murder by Misadventure'' that appeared at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

and then the

Whitehall Theatre Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its ...

in London's West End. The play starred

Gerald Harper Gerald Harper (born 15 February 1931) is an English actor, best known for his work on television, having played the title roles in ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' (1966–67) and '' Hadleigh'' (1969–76). He then returned to his main love, the theatre. ...

as Harold and

William Gaunt William Charles Anthony Gaunt (born 3 April 1937 in Pudsey, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor. He became widely known for television roles such as Richard Barrett in ''The Champions'' (1968–1969), Arthur Crabtree in '' No Place ...

as Riggs as a pair of television crime writers, one of whom wishes to end the partnership. Taylor currently lives in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with his wife Sue. They have a daughter, Imogen.

External links

Helsingin Sanomat interview with scriptwriter Edward Taylor
1931 births British comedy writers Living people {{BBC-radio-stub