Fred Lawless is a British playwright from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

who writes mainly for the stage, but also for television and radio.

Biography

Fred Lawless was born in

Dingle, Liverpool Dingle (known locally as the Dingle) is an inner city area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by the adjoining districts of Toxteth and Aigburth. At the 2001 Census, the population was recorded ...

. He attended St Patrick's School in

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Dingle, and Edge Hill. The area w ...

before his family moved to

Halewood Halewood is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It lies near the city of Liverpool's southeastern boundary, bordered by the suburbs of Netherley, Hunt's Cross and Woolton. Historically a part of Lancashire, ...

. He later attended Wade Deacon Grammar School, Widnes. After grammar school he attended Liverpool Catering College and trained as a hotel manager, eventually working in several

Liverpool City Centre Liverpool city centre is the commercial, cultural, financial and historical centre of Liverpool, England. The inner city districts of Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall, Everton, Liverpool, Everton, Edge Hill, Merseyside, Edge Hill, Kensington, Liv ...

hotels. Several years later he gave up hotel management and ran a stall at the famous Paddy's Market in Liverpool. While working there he met Jonte Wilkins, and the two of them started the UK's first

kissogram A singing telegram is a message that is delivered by an artist in a musical form. Singing telegrams are historically linked to normal telegrams, but tend to be humorous. Sometimes the artist is in costume or formal clothing. Western Union, the A ...

company, Champagne-a-gram, from an office in

Aigburth Aigburth () is a suburb of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Dingle, Garston, Mossley Hill, and Toxteth. Etymology The name Aigburth comes from Old Norse ''eik'' and ''berg'', meaning ''oak-tree hill''. T ...

. Shortly after Wilkins left for the US and eventually became the drummer for the British band

a Flock of Seagulls A Flock of Seagulls are an English new wave band formed in Liverpool in 1979. The group, whose best-known line-up comprised Mike Score, Ali Score, Frank Maudsley and Paul Reynolds, hit the peak of their chart success in the early 1980s. The ...

. Lawless continued to run the

business for several years, eventually employing 30 staff. One of the kissogram staff he employed was

Mal Young Mal Young (born 26 January 1957) is a British television producer, screenwriter and executive producer. Career Mersey TV Young began his career in graphic design. At age 27 he began working in television, on the Channel 4 soap opera ''Brooks ...

who worked for him as a

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

-a-gram. After leaving Champagne-a-gram Young entered the TV industry and eventually became producer of Liverpool-based soap opera ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

''. Many years later Young interviewed Lawless with a view to him joining the writing team at Brookside, but instead he chose to write for ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

''. In addition to his TV work, he has also written for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

. Nowadays he works primarily in theatre and wrote the Christmas show at the Royal Court Theatre Liverpool from 2009 until 2016. Lawless is a director of The Script Vault Ltd, a script registration service for writers who wish to protect their copyright. He is a lifelong Everton supporter and season ticket holder.

Previous work

Theatre

*''BEST!'' – a fictional comedy musical about

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and their first drummer

Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (né Scanland; born 24 November 1941) is an English musician known as the drummer of the English rock band the Beatles who was dismissed immediately prior to the band achieving worldwide fame. Fired from the group in 1962 ...

at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre and the

Dublin Theatre Festival The Dublin Theatre Festival is Europe's oldest specialised theatre festival. It was founded by theatre impresario Brendan Smith in 1957 and has, with the exception of two years, produced a season of international and Irish theatre each autumn. ...

. *''Sleeping Cities, Distant Dreams'' – at the

Royal Exchange Theatre The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal ...

module in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. *''Educating Peter'' – at the

Liverpool Playhouse The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actress ...

Studio. *''Beyond Benidorm'' – at the

Studio. *'' Slappers and Slapheads'' – a comedy (co-written with Len Pentin) first performed in 2003 at the

Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool The Royal Court Theatre is a theatre located at 1 Roe Street in Liverpool, England. The current Royal Court Theatre was opened on 17 October 1938, after fire destroyed its predecessor. It was rebuilt in Art Deco style and soon became Liverpool's ...

. The play was staged again in 2004 at the

Liverpool Empire Theatre The Liverpool Empire Theatre is a theatre on the corner of Lime Street in Liverpool, England. The playhouse, which opened in 1925, is the second one to be built on the site. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in the United Kingdom and can ...

and the

Manchester Opera House The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England, is a 1,920-seater commercial touring theatre that plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is a Grade II listed building. The Opera House is one of the mai ...

, before returning again to the

in February 2009. Following the 2009 production the play won the Liverpool Daily Post Readers Award for Best Production and Best Comedy *''Merry Ding Dong'' – a comedy musical staged at the

from 11 December 2009 to 23 January 2010. *''A Fistful of Collars'' – a comedy staged at the

from 16 April 2010 to 15 May 2010. *''Scouse Pacific'' – a comedy musical staged at the

from 26 November 2010 to 8 January 2011. The show was extended until 15 January and then extended again until 22 January. *''Little Scouse on the Prairie'' – a comedy musical staged at the

from 25 November 2011 to 7 January 2012. The show was extended until 21 January. *''A Nightmare on Lime Street'' – a comedy musical staged at the

from 23 November 2012 to 12 January 2013. The show was extended until 26 January. *''The Hitchhiker's Guide to Fazakerley'' – a comedy musical staged at the

from 22 November 2013 to 11 January 2014. *''Scouse Of The Antarctic'' – a comedy musical staged at the

from 21 November 2014 to 17 January 2015. *''Pharaoh 'Cross The Mersey'' – a comedy musical staged at the

from 27 November 2015 to 16 January 2016.

Television

*''

'' –

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

*''

Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...

'' – Channel 5 *''

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

'' (2001) –

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Televi ...

Radio

*''Close Enough To Touch'' – a dramatisation of the 1939 HMS Thetis submarine disaster in

Liverpool Bay Liverpool Bay is a bay of the Irish Sea between northeast Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside to the east of the Irish Sea. The bay is a classic example of a region of freshwater influence. Liverpool Bay has historically suffered from redu ...

for

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' ...

, BBC Radio Merseyside and the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

.Review – Close Enough To Touch 'I can say that this represents the very best of radio, engaging the imagination and emotions'
/ref> *''Paradise People'' – a 24 part comedy series for BBC Radio Merseyside (co-written with Len Pentin)

Notes

External links

www.radiolistings.co.uk
Details of radio plays written by Fred Lawless
Liverpool Echo
Article about Fred Lawless
Doollee – The Playwrights Database
Details of stage plays written by Fred Lawless
Royal Court Liverpool websiteWriters' Guild
Article about Fred Lawless * Wikipedia page for HMS Thetis
The Script Vault website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawless, Fred Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British comedy writers British male television writers English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights English soap opera writers English television writers People from Dingle, Liverpool Writers from Liverpool English radio writers