Dates

• Existence: 21 December 1936 - 9 January 2003

Biography

Peter Tinniswood was born in Liverpool on 21 December 1936 and died on 9 January 2003. He was a British author, playwright, scriptwriter and broadcaster known for his comedy and Northern humour.

Tinniswood was born in Liverpool but brought up in Sale, Cheshire, above a dry cleaner's shop and he attended Sale Boys' Grammar School. Even though he spent most of his early life in Manchester, he is primarily associated with Yorkshire where he lived for a number of years and where much of his work is set.

His career began in journalism in Sheffield where he worked for The Star newspaper then the Sheffield Telegraph. He then went on to work as a journalist in Liverpool, Cardiff and London and regularly contributed to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Punch, The Listener and The Times.

Tinniswood wrote for television. His first published work was for the 1962 BBC television series 'That Was The Week That Was' and in 1964, along with his long-term writing partner David Nobbs, he wrote for the BBC sketch show 'The Frost Report' hosted by David Frost. Notable produced television titles Tinniswood wrote include 'I Didn't Know You Cared' (1975 - 1979) featuring the Brandon family and starring Liz Smith, Robin Bailey, John Comer and Stephen Rea; The Home Front (1983); and an episode of 'Heartbeat' (1995).

He published several novels and fiction books including 'A Touch of Daniel' (1969) winner of Best First Novel of the Year Award, 'I Didn't Know You Cared' (1973),'Uncle Mort's North Country' (1986) and 'Uncle Mort's South Country' (1990) which all feature the Brandon family and Uncle Mort characters. He also published many titles which feature the Brigadier character including 'Tales From A Long Room' (1981), 'The Brigadier Down Under' (1983), and 'Tales from Witney Scrotum' (1987). Other notable titles include 'Mog' (1970), The Stirk of Stirk' (1974) and 'Dolly's War' (1987).

Tinniswood wrote many plays and serials for radio with several of them featuring the Brandon family, Uncle Mort and the Brigadier characters. Other serials he wrote include 'Winston' (1989) and its subsequent series' and he regularly wrote plays for the BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Theatre and Saturday Night Theatre slots. He often wrote for specific actors with many of his plays starring Dame Judi Dench, Paul Scofield, Billie Whitelaw and Timothy West.

He wrote plays for the theatre and had several performed on stage including 'The Investiture' (1972) performed at Bristol Old Vic; 'Napoli Milionaria' (1991) performed at the National Theatre and starred Sir Ian McKellen; 'The Last Obit' (1998) performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and winner of the Edinburgh Fringe First Award; 'Croak Croak Croak' (2000) performed at Bristol Old Vic.

He was also a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Tinniswood was a prolific pipe smoker and was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1995. He underwent lengthy treatment including a laryngectomy in which he lost his voice and was cared for by his second wife the actress Liz Goulding. He continued to write extensively during his illness and unfortunately died in 2003.

After Tinniswood's death, the Society of Authors and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain established the Tinniswood Award which is an annual award for the best original audio drama script of the year.