Francis Durbridge

Francis Durbridge was born in Yorkshire although he lived most of his life in the Midlands and the South of England. Educated at various private schools and Birmingham University, he made his first big success with a serious play entitled Promotion. Immediately after the success of this play he created the character Paul Temple. The Paul Temple radio thriller serials have been and continue to be broadcast in English and many other languages throughout the world.

He was invited by The European Broadcasting Union to write an original radio serial for the international market. The result was La Boutique which was broadcast in more than fifteen countries.

He started writing for television early on in his career and his TV plays have been successful both in the UK and abroad; particularly in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and Italy. His most popular and acclaimed television serials are The World of Tim Frazer, The Doll, The Scarf, Melissa, A Game of Murder, A Man Called Harry Brent and Bat Out of Hell.

Latterly he concentrated on writing for the theatre. His first stage play, Suddenly at Home, had a very successful run in the West End. Since then his other West End plays Murder With Love, The Gentle Hook, House Guest, Deadly Nightcap, A Touch of Danger have been produced in many countries, including Australia, America, Italy, Spain, Germany and Switzerland.

The Small Hours, his seventh stage play, was produced in 1991 at the Thorndike Theatre, Leatherhead and subsequently toured. His stage play Sweet Revenge was also premiered at the Thorndike Theatre, in 1993, followed by a nationwide UK tour; both plays were produced by Bill Kenwright. He had recently completed a new play for the stage, Fatal Encounter.

Alan Bleasdale’s reworking of his classic thriller, Melissa, was screened on C4, starring Jennifer Ehle, Tim Dutton and Julie Walters.

Francis Durbridge was married and has two sons. He believed strongly in the Arnold Bennett, J.B. Priestley and Anthony Trollope approach to writing: regular hours, nose to the grindstone. He travelled extensively getting local colour for his stories and attending rehearsals of his plays.

Francis Durbridge died on 11 April 1998.