Michael J. Bird (31 October 1928, 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 ...

– 11 May 2001, in

Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the river Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001 ...

, Cambridgeshire) was an English writer. In addition to several novels, he is best remembered for his television drama series for the BBC, usually set in the Mediterranean. '' The Lotus Eaters'' (1972–1973) and '' Who Pays the Ferryman?'' (1977) were set in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

, ''

The Aphrodite Inheritance ''The Aphrodite Inheritance'' is a BBC television series broadcast in 1979. The eight-part serial, written by Michael J. Bird, followed his previous successful Mediterranean-set series '' The Lotus Eaters'' and ''Who Pays the Ferryman?''. Where ...

'' (1979) was set in

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 geo ...

, and '' The Dark Side of the Sun'' (1983) took place on

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

. His final series for the BBC ended this practice as ''

Maelstrom Maelstrom may refer to: * Maelstrom (whirlpool), a powerful whirlpool ** originally the Moskstraumen in English Amusement rides * Maelstrom (ride), a former log flume dark ride attraction in the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in ...

'' (1985) was set in Norway. Bird also wrote for the following series during his career: '' Danger Man'', ''

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

'', ''

Quiller Quiller is a fictional character created by English novelist Elleston Trevor. Quiller, whose one-word name is a pseudonym, works as a spy, and he is the hero of a series of 19 Cold War thrillers written under the pseudonym Adam Hall, and beca ...

'', '' The Onedin Line'', ''

Out of the Unknown ''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were a dramatisation of a science f ...

'' ("To Lay a Ghost" and "The Uninvited"), '' Arthur of the Britons'', '' Secret Army'' and ''

Warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

''. Bird formed his own production company, named Gryphon Productions, and negotiated a number of co-productions with the BBC. He was the author of ''The Town That Died: a Chronicle of the Halifax Disaster'', released by Souvenir Press of London in 1962. In 2006, ''The Life and Work of the Man Who Created The Lotus Eaters'', a biography of Bird, was released by David Rice via Krasakis Press.

External links

*
Michael J. Bird Tribute website
1928 births 2001 deaths English television writers 20th-century English screenwriters {{england-writer-stub