Ian Stuart Black (21 March 1915 – 13 October 1997 ) was a British novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Both his 1959 novel ''In the Wake of a Stranger'' and his 1962 novel about the

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

emergency, '' The High Bright Sun'', were made into films, Black writing the screenplays in each case. He was the father of actress

Isobel Black Isobel Anne Gatward ( Black; born 15 December 1942), known professionally as Isobel Black, is a British actress. She is the daughter of the screenwriter Ian Stuart Black. Isobel Black attended Queen Elizabeth's Girls’ Grammar School in Barn ...

Early life

Black attended Daniel Stewart's College in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, where he studied philosophy. After writing a one-act play and submitting it to the

Donald Wolfit Sir Donald Wolfit, KBE (born Donald Woolfitt; Harwood, Ronald"Wolfit, Sir Donald (1902–1968)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008; accessed 14 July 2009 20 April 1902 ...

Theatre Company, he was asked to join them as an actor. Here he met his wife, the actress Anne Brooke, whom he married just prior to being called up for service in the

Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Following service with

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Intelligence in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, he was demobilised in 1946.Gatward, James (14 November 1997
Obituary: Ian Stuart Black
The Independent, Retrieved 30 September 2014

Writing

He later wrote scripts for several British television programmes from the 1950s to the 1970s, including ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devo ...

'' and ''

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ( ...

'' (for which he was also story editor), as well as ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

'' (on which he served as associate producer) and '' Star Maidens''. In addition, he wrote three stories for '' Doctor Who'' in 1966 and 1967. These stories were '' The Savages'' and ''

The War Machines ''The War Machines'' is the ninth and final serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in 4 weekly parts from 25 June to 16 July 1966. The serial is set in 1960s London ...

'' (with

Kit Pedler Christopher Magnus Howard "Kit" Pedler (11 June 1927 – 27 May 1981) was a British medical scientist, parapsychologist and science fiction author. Biography He was the head of the electron microscopy department at the Institute of Ophthalmolo ...

and Pat Dunlop) for

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in '' Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, Hartnell notably appeared in '' Bri ...

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

; and ''

The Macra Terror ''The Macra Terror'' is the completely missing seventh serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 March to 1 April 1967. In this serial, ...

'' for

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...

. He novelised all three stories for

Target Books Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became wel ...

. Of these three serials Black wrote for the show, only ''The War Machines'' is still known to exist in full. Both ''The Savages'' and ''The Macra Terror'' are completely missing from the BBC Archives. His final credit was for a half-hour supernatural drama called ''House of Glass'', which was made by Television South in 1991.

Selected filmography

* '' The Limping Man'' (1953) * ''

Soho Incident ''Soho Incident'', released in the United States as ''Spin a Dark Web'', is a 1956 British film noir directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Faith Domergue and Lee Patterson.

'' (aka ''Spin a Dark Web'') (1956) *'' The Swagman'' (1965) *'' The High Bright Sun'' (1965)

References

External links

* 1915 births 1997 deaths People educated at Stewart's Melville College Alumni of the University of Manchester 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers English male novelists English male dramatists and playwrights English science fiction writers British male television writers Writers from London Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century English screenwriters {{UK-playwright-stub