Lynda La Plante
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Lynda La Plante
OR:
Lynda La Plante on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Lynda La Plante,
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(born Lynda Titchmarsh; 15 March 1943) is an English author, screenwriter and former actress, best known for writing the ''
Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...
'' television crime series.


Early life

Lynda La Plante was born Lynda Titchmarsh on 15 March 1943 in Newton, Lancashire. La Plante's older sister Dail was killed in a road accident, at the age of five, before she was born. Raised in
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 ...
, La Plante trained for the stage at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
. After finishing her studies, using the stage name Lynda Marchal, she appeared with the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
in a variety of productions, as well as popular television series including ''
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 ...
'', ''
Educating Marmalade Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Var ...
'', ''
The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Ins ...
'', '' The Professionals'', and '' Bergerac''. As an actress she is perhaps best remembered as the hay-fever suffering ghost Tamara Novek in the
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 exam. ...
...
children's series ''
Rentaghost ''Rentaghost'' is a British children's television comedy show, originally broadcast by the BBC between 6 January 1976 and 6 November 1984. The show's plot centred on the antics of a number of ghosts who worked for a firm called Rentaghost, whic ...
''. In 1974, La Plante took her first scriptwriting job on the
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 ...
children's series ''
The Kids from 47A ''The Kids from 47A'' is a British children's television series produced by Associated Television. Three series were made; the first (comprising 15 episodes) was shown in 1973, the second (13 episodes) and third (13 episodes) in 1974. The third ...
''.


''Widows'' and career breakthrough

Her breakthrough came in 1983 when she created and wrote the six-part robbery series ''
Widows A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...
'' for Thames Television. The plot concerned the widows of four armed robbers carrying out a heist planned by their deceased husbands. A second series of ''Widows'' followed in 1985, while a sequel ''
She's Out ''Widows'' is a British primetime television crime drama that was broadcast in 1983 and 1985, produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network. Two six-part series were written by crime writer Lynda La Plante. The ex ...
'' took up the story ten years later. Her debut novel, ''The Legacy'', was published in 1987 and received both critical and best-seller success. Her second, third and fourth novels came soon after – ''The Talisman'' (1987), ''Bella Mafia'' (1990) and ''Entwined'' (1993) – all of which became international best sellers. In 1990 La Plante started working on her next television project, ''
Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...
'', which was released by
Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
in 1991. ''Prime Suspect'' starred
Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...
as DCI Jane Tennison, airing in the UK as well as on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
in the United States as part of the anthology program ''
Mystery! ''Mystery!'' (also written ''MYSTERY!'') is a television anthology series produced by WGBH Boston for PBS in the United States. The series was created as a mystery, police and crime drama spin-off of the already established PBS show ''Masterpi ...
''. In 1993 La Plante won an
Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...
from the
Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...
for her work on the series. In 1992 she wrote a TV film called ''
Seekers The Seekers, or Legatine-Arians as they were sometimes known, were an English dissenting group that emerged around the 1620s, probably inspired by the preaching of three brothers – Walter, Thomas, and Bartholomew Legate. Seekers considered all ...
'', starring
Brenda Fricker Brenda Fricker (born 17 February 1945) is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles. In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Awar ...
and
Josette Simon Josette Patricia Simon is a British actress. She trained for the stage at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and played the part of Dayna Mellanby in the third and fourth series of the television sci-fi series ''Blake's 7'' fro ...
, produced by Sarah Lawson. In 1993 La Plante formed her own television production company, La Plante Productions and through her new company she wrote and produced high-rating series '' The Governor'' (ITV 1995–96), '' Supply & Demand'' (ITV 1997–98), ''
Killer Net ''Killer Net'' is a British television crime drama mini series, first broadcast on Channel 4 in May 1998. The drama was written and produced by Lynda La Plante, directed by Geoffrey Sax and featured a cast of up and coming actors. One of the ma ...
'' (Channel 4 1998), acclaimed series ''
Trial & Retribution ''Trial & Retribution'' is a feature-length ITV police procedural television drama series that first aired on 19 October 1997. Written and devised by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series ''Prime Suspect'', each e ...
'' (ITV 1997–2009), ''
Mind Games Playing mind games (also power games or head games) is the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the a ...
'' (ITV 2001) and '' The Commander'' (ITV 2003–08). During this period La Plante also released the Cold series of books; ''Cold Shoulder'', ''Cold Blood'' and ''Cold Heart'', followed by ''Sleeping Cruelty'' (2000) – adding to her list of best sellers. In 1996 La Plante co-wrote and executive produced ''The Prosecutors'' (NBC) with
Tom Fontana Tom Fontana (born September 12, 1951) is an American screenwriter, writer, and television producer. Fontana worked on NBC's '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' and created HBO's ''Oz.'' Early life and education Fontana was born on the west si ...
(starring Stockard Channing), wrote and executive produced '' Bella Mafia'' (1998 CBS) (starring
Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...
), which La Plante adapted from her novel of the same name. In 2001 she co-produced ''The Warden'' (2001 TNT), starring
Ally Sheedy Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. Following her film debut in 1983's '' Bad Boys'', she became known as one of the Brat Pack group of actors and starred in ''WarGames'' (1983), ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985) ...
, a variation of La Plante's series ''The Governor''. La Plante also co-produced her adaptation of the UK hit ''Widows'' (2002 ABC) and produced the pilot of ''Cold Shoulder'' (2006 New Regency / CBS) starring
Kelly McGillis Kelly Ann McGillis (born July 9, 1957) is an American stage actress. She is known for her film roles such as Rachel Lapp in ''Witness'' (1985), for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations; Charlie in ''Top Gun'' (1986); ''Made in ...
, which was based on her Cold series. La Plante was also executive producer on Daniel Petrie Jnr's adaptation of her show ''Framed'' (2002 TNT) which starred
Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...
and
Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...
. La Plante released ''Royal Flush'' (2002), and then began working on her Anna Travis series, which includes ''Above Suspicion'' (2004), ''The Red Dahlia'' (2005), ''Clean Cut'' (2007), ''Deadly Intent'' (2008), ''Silent Scream'' (2009), ''Blind Fury'' (2010), ''Blood Line'' (2011), ''Backlash'' (2012), and ''Wrongful Death'' (2013). So successful were the books that a UK
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
was written and produced by La Plante starring
Kelly Reilly Jessica Kelly Siobhán Reilly (born 18 July 1977) is an English actress. She first appeared on screen in 1995 on the series '' The Biz''. Her other television work includes starring roles in the British crime drama '' Above Suspicion'' (2009– ...
and
Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds (; born 9 February 1953) is an Irish actor. Born in Belfast, Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover'' (1989), ''Persuasion'' (19 ...
. ''Widows'' was remade as a US-set film in 2018, directed by
Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...
. ''Prime Suspect'' was also remade as an American series, starring
Maria Bello Maria Elena Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress and writer. Her film roles include ''Permanent Midnight'' (1998), ''Payback (1999 film), Payback'' (1999), ''Coyote Ugly (film), Coyote Ugly'' (2000), ''The Cooler'' (2003), ''A Hist ...
. It ran for 13 episodes in 2011-2012.


Awards

La Plante has received many awards over the course of her career. For her work on ''
Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...
'' she received two
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
s for Outstanding Mini Series (1993, 1994), as well as the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery TV Episode."Lynda La Plante." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-07-02; also available online via
Encyclopedia.com
'. In 2001, the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
(BAFTA) gave her the Dennis Potter Award for television writing. In 2008 La Plante was appointed Commander of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to Literature, Drama and to Charity. In the same year she received the TV Spielfilm Award at the International Film and Television Festival Conference in
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, Germany, for her television adaptation of her novel ''Above Suspicion''. In 2009 La Plante was inducted into the Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame and most recently, in 2013, La Plante was awarded an Honorary Fellowship with the
Forensic Science Society The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences (CSFS), formerly the Forensic Science Society, is an international professional society based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1959 and is one of the oldest and largest forensic associations in the ...
(FSSoc), the first non-scientist to be inducted into the professional body; receiving the award for the accuracy with which she portrays
forensic science Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
in her work. She has also been made an honorary member of the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
, and an Honorary Fellow from Liverpool John Moores University.


Works

;Dolly Rawlins/Widows/Jack Warr *''
Widows A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...
'' (1983/2018) *'' Widows II'' (1985) / Widows' Revenge (2019) *''
She's Out ''Widows'' is a British primetime television crime drama that was broadcast in 1983 and 1985, produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network. Two six-part series were written by crime writer Lynda La Plante. The ex ...
'' (1995) *Buried (2020) *Judas Horse (2021) *Vanished (2022) ;Legacy *''The Legacy'' (1987) *''The Talisman'' (1987) ;Jane Tennison *''
Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...
'' (1991) *'' Prime Suspect 2'' (1992) *'' Prime Suspect 3'' (1993) *''Tennison'' (2015) (basis of British TV series
Prime Suspect 1973 ''Prime Suspect 1973'' (also known as ''Prime Suspect: Tennison'') is a British television detective drama series starring Stefanie Martini as the young Jane Tennison. It is a prequel to the long-running ''Prime Suspect'' series that had starr ...
) *''Hidden Killers'' (2016) *''Good Friday'' (2017) *''Murder Mile'' (2018) *The Dirty Dozen (2019) *Blunt Force (2020) *Unholy Murder (2021) *''Dark Rooms'' (2022) ;Lorraine Page *''Cold Shoulder'' (1994) *''Cold Blood'' (1996) *''Cold Heart'' (1998) ;Trial And Retribution *''
Trial and Retribution ''Trial & Retribution'' is a feature-length ITV police procedural television drama series that first aired on 19 October 1997. Written and devised by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series ''Prime Suspect'', each ep ...
'' (1997) *''Trial and Retribution II'' (1998) *''Trial and Retribution III'' (1999) *''Trial and Retribution IV'' (2000) *''Trial and Retribution V'' (2002) *''Trial and Retribution VI'' (2002) ;Anna Travis *'' Above Suspicion'' (2004) *''
The Red Dahlia ''Above Suspicion'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British crime drama based on the series of Anna Travis novels written by Lynda La Plante. The series stars Kelly Reilly and Ciarán Hinds as the protagonists Anna Travis and James Langt ...
'' (2006) *''Clean Cut'' (2007) *''Deadly Intent'' (2008) *''Silent Scream'' (2009) *''Blind Fury'' (2010) *''Bloodline'' (2011) *''Backlash'' (2012) * ''Wrongful Death ''(2013) ;Novels *'' Bella Mafia'' (1991) *''
Civvies Mufti is plain or ordinary clothes, especially when worn by one who normally wears, or has long worn, a military or other uniform, such as a school uniform. It is also called civies and civvies (slang for "civilian attire"). Origins The word o ...
'' (1992) *''Entwined'' (1992) *'' Framed'' (1992) *''
Seekers The Seekers, or Legatine-Arians as they were sometimes known, were an English dissenting group that emerged around the 1620s, probably inspired by the preaching of three brothers – Walter, Thomas, and Bartholomew Legate. Seekers considered all ...
'' (1993) *''
Comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
'' (1993) *'' The Governor'' (1995) *''The Governor 2 '' (1996) *''Sleeping Cruelty'' (2000) *''Royal Flush'' (2002) *''Twisted'' (2014) * ;Short stories *''The Little One'' (2012)


Personal life

She was married to musician Richard La Plante for 17 years, until their divorce in 1996. At the age of 57 she adopted a baby son whose name is Lorcan.


References


External links

*
Lynda La Plante
at the MBC Encyclopedia of Television
Lynda La Plante biography and credits
at the
BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
's
Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lot ...
*
La Plante Productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Plante, Lynda 1943 births Living people Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Edgar Award winners English crime fiction writers English dramatists and playwrights Lynda Marchal Lynda Marchal English television writers English women dramatists and playwrights English women novelists Novelists from Liverpool Women mystery writers British women television writers