Peter Tinniswood

Peter Tinniswood (21 December 1936 – 9 January 2003) was an English radio and TV comedy scriptwriter, and author of a series of popular cricketing novels. He was born in Liverpool, but grew up above a dry cleaner's on Eastway in Sale, Greater Manchester.

Tinniswood attended Sale Boys' Grammar School. His career began in journalism. He spent four years in Sheffield from 1958, first working for The Star, and then for the Sheffield Telegraph, where he was a leader writer and specialised in feature writing. He won widespread admiration for a week-long series Travels with a Donkey, an account of a tramp round the Peak District with a reluctant donkey.

In 1964 Tinniswood collaborated with his long-term writing partner David Nobbs on the BBC sketch show The Frost Report and the comedy Lance At Large, starring Lance Percival. It was an innovative attempt to update the sitcom formula, as Percival's character, Alan Day, was involved in different scenarios and meeting different people in each episode.

The short-lived ITV series Never Say Die (1970) drew on Tinniswood's days as a hospital porter. Set in Victoria Memorial Hospital, the show focused on the comedy created between the patients and staff. It starred Reginald Marsh and Patrick Newell.

Tinniswood's best-known comedy was 1975's I Didn't Know You Cared featuring the Brandons, a dour northern family. Adapted for the BBC from his novels, the programme ran until 1979, and featured Liz Smith, Robin Bailey, John Comer and Stephen Rea.

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