Donald James (born Donald James Wheal; 22 August 1931 – 28 April 2008) was a

British 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, ...

television writer, novelist and non-fiction writer.

Life and career

Born in World's End,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, and educated at Sloane Grammar School and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

(where he read history), James completed his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the Parachute Regiment before returning to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

to work as a

supply teacher A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is absent or unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, maternal leave and so on. "Substitute teacher" (usually abbreviated as "sub") is the most c ...

. He was the author of the best-selling novels ''Vadim'', ''Monstrum'', ''The Fortune Teller'' and ''The Fall of the Russian Empire'', as well as non-fiction books such as ''The Penguin Dictionary of the Third Reich''. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms, notably Thomas Dresden and James Barwick (originally in collaboration with fellow writer

Tony Barwick Anthony Clive "Tony" Barwick (10 July 1934 – 18 August 1993)https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10182/biographical-summaries-of-notable-people?itemId=447240&action=showRecord was a British television scriptwriter who worked ex ...

, another long-term contributor to the various television productions of

Gerry Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pre ...

and

Sylvia Anderson Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In a ...

and their company,

AP Films AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

/ Century 21). James's career as a scriptwriter included work on TV series such as '' The Adventurer'', '' The Avengers'', ''

The Champions ''The Champions'' is a British espionage thriller/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure television series. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company, and consists of 30 episodes broadcast in the UK on IT ...

'', '' Department S'', ''

Joe 90 ''Joe 90'' is a 1968–1969 British Science fiction on television, science-fiction television series created by Gerry Anderson, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, AP Films#Century 21, Century 21, for ITC Enterta ...

'', '' Mission: Impossible'', ''

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is an action-comedy series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the cycle of adventure ser ...

'', ''

The Protectors ''The Protectors'' is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It was Anderson's second TV series to exclusively use live actors as opposed to marionettes (following ''UFO''), and his second to be firmly set in ...

'', ''

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Dennis Spooner and p ...

'', '' The Saint'', ''

The Secret Service ''The Secret Service'' is a 1969 British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, Century 21, for ITC Entertainment. It follows the exploits of Father Stanley Unwin, a pup ...

'', '' Space: 1999'', ''

Terrahawks ''Gerry Anderson & Christopher Burr's Terrahawks'', usually referred to simply as ''Terrahawks'', is a 1980s British science fiction television series produced by Anderson Burr Pictures for London Weekend Television and created by the product ...

'' and ''

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...

''. He wrote for a total of 22 titles, including the Century 21 film ''

Doppelgänger A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...

'', and acted in small three roles between 1961 and 1962. After spending periods in France and Ireland, he returned to London. His autobiographical account of London life during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, ''World's End'', was published in 2005. A second volume of memoirs, ''White City'', was published in March 2007. James died in London on 28 April 2008. Married three times and divorced once, he is survived by twin daughters.

References

External links

* 1931 births 2008 deaths 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge British autobiographers British non-fiction writers British male screenwriters British television writers People from Chelsea, London Writers from London British male novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters 20th-century non-fiction writers Male non-fiction writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers {{UK-tv-bio-stub