David Anthony Yallop (27 January 1937 – 23 August 2018) was a British author who wrote chiefly about unsolved crimes. In the 1970s, he contributed scripts for a number of British television shows, including '' Minder''. In the same decade he also wrote 10 episodes for the ITV court drama, ''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

''. His book, ''In God's Name: An Investigation Into the Murder of Pope John Paul I'' (1984), posited that Pope John Paul I, found dead at age 65 in his chambers barely a month after becoming pope in 1978, had been poisoned by secretive Masons who had infiltrated the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

and the Vatican Bank. Reviewers, and the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, dismissed the book as groundless

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

. The book made the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list for 15 weeks, was translated into multiple languages, and was repeatedly reprinted, selling over six million copies. In late 1989 he was sacked as a scriptwriter for ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television 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 East End of London, the ...

'' when he proposed killing some of the characters by means of an

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

bomb. Yallop successfully sued the BBC for

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

. He was also one of the co-authors of Graham Chapman's

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, '' A Liar's Autobiography (Volume VI)''. Yallop suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in his later years. He died of pneumonia in London on 23 August 2018.Daniel E. Slotnik, "David Yallop, Who Wrote of Crime and Conspiracy, Dies at 81," ''The New York Times'', September 14, 2018.
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Books

His books include: *''To Encourage The Others'' (about the Craig/Bentley murder case) *''The Day The Laughter Stopped'' (a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle) *''Beyond Reasonable Doubt?'' (the conviction of New Zealand farmer Arthur Allan Thomas (later pardoned), for the murder of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe) was made into a docu-drama feature film, 1978, *''Deliver Us From Evil'' (about the Yorkshire Ripper) *'' In God's Name: An Investigation into the

Murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

of Pope John Paul I'', Bantam Books, 1984 *''To the Ends of the Earth'' (about the capture of

Carlos the Jackal Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (; born 12 October 1949), also known as Carlos the Jackal () or simply Carlos, is a Venezuelan convict who conducted a series of assassinations and terrorist bombings from 1973 to 1985. A committed Marxist–Leninist, ...

) *''How They Stole the Game'' (about corruption in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

) *''Unholy Alliance'' (about the international drug trade and resultant political corruption) *''The Power and the Glory: Inside the Dark Heart of Pope John Paul II's Vatican'' (about the Papacy of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

) *''Beyond Belief'' (about the sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Church) *''Ratlines'' (about how

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

after

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

escaped with the help of the Vatican)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yallop, David 1937 births 2018 deaths British agnostics British non-fiction writers Former Roman Catholics British crime journalists British dramatists and playwrights British male dramatists and playwrights Writers from London Critics of the Catholic Church British male non-fiction writers Deaths from pneumonia in England Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in England