John McGrath

Writer

July 1, 1935 (66 years)

† January 22, 2002

Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK

Biography

Born in Birkenhead from Irish Catholic stock, John McGrath was a British playwright, screenwriter. producer, director and socialist who took up the cause of Scottish independence and the principles of a radical, popular theatre with the creation of the 7:84 theatre company alongside his wife, Elizabeth MacLennan, and brother-in-law, David MacLennan. His most famous plays are arguably The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil which was brought to television in 1974 by John Mackenzie for the …

Filmography

7.1

Screen Two

Series of single made-for-television dramas.

5.8

Robin Hood

The Swashbuckling legend of Robin Hood unfolds in the 12th century when the mighty Normans ruled England with an iron fist.

5.6

Billion Dollar Brain

A former British spy stumbles into in a plot to overthrow Communism with the help of a supercomputer. But who is working for whom?

9.0

Diary of a Young Man

A six-part BBC drama series following two young men from northern England as they move to London in search of work and opportunity, encountering relationships, social challenges, and the realities of urban life in 1960s Britain.

6.8

The Virgin Soldiers

The core of the plot is the romantic triangle formed by the protagonist, a conscripted soldier named Private Brigg, a worldly professional soldier named Sergeant Driscoll, and Phillipa Raskin, the daughter of the Regimental Sergeant Major. The location is a British army base in Singapore during the Malayan Emergency.

10.0

Border Warfare

A three-episode mini-series chronicling the history of Scotland from ancient times through the union with England and culminating with the rise of Thatcherism and the introduction of the Poll Tax.

6.5

The Bofors Gun

A national service NCO (David Warner) comes face to face with an embittered Irish Gunner (Nicol Williamson) who is determined to humiliate him.

7.5

The Reckoning

Michael Marler, a successful businessman in London, is about to make his way to the top. After 37 years, the death of his father brings him back to his hometown of Liverpool, where he’s confronted with his lost Irish roots. He finds out that his father died in a fight with some Anglo-Saxon teddy boys. It becomes a matter of honour for him to take his revenge without involving the police.

4.6

The Dressmaker

In England during World War II, a repressed dressmaker and her sister struggle looking after their 17-year-old niece, who is having a delusional affair with an American soldier.

6.0

The Diary of a Nobody

Ken Russell's silent film treatment of the 19th century comic novel by the Brothers Grossmith - George and Weedon. Starring Bryan Pringle, Avril Elgar and Murray Melvin. Adapted by Ken Russell and John McGrath. First shown on BBC2 at 10.10pm on Saturday 12th December 1964 - as part of the 'Six' strand.

9.0

Orkney

Three stories reflecting life in the Orkney Islands, two set in the past, and one in the present.

8.0

The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil

In their songs, comedy and exuberant music, a travelling theatre company give a fiercely polemic account of Scottish history, from the aftermath of Culloden to the oil boom. Their production before a live audience is intercut with filmed reconstructions of the Highland Clearances and the Victorian obsession with hunting stags.

8.0

The Adventures of Frank: Seeds of Ice

In his further adventures Frank finds success and unhappiness.

7.0

The Long Roads

An elderly woman learns that she is dying of cancer. She and her husband leave their small farm on the Isle of Skye to visit their children to inform them of the news. During the journey, the couple rediscover their love for each other.

N/A

Blood Red Roses

A woman looks back on her life as a political activist in Scotland from the 1950s to the 1970s.

N/A

The Bouncing Boy

A young couple have a baby boy. However, the new father doesn't take to his new position quite as well as expected.

10.0

The Adventures of Frank: Everybody's Fiddling Something

Frank, a young lad from Sheffield, leaves home to seek his fortune in London; he finds the big city not all what he had expected

8.0

Half the Picture

A dramatized account of the Scott Inquiry about the sales of arms to Iraq.

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