Welcome

Welcome to my website. Keep scrolling down to find out all my latest news / announcements, as well as links to other bits and pieces of interest. Or just use the menu above to navigate the site.

About Me

I am based in the North-East of England, on the edge of the Northumberland National Park, where I spend most of my time either writing or planning what I’m going to write next. I write all kinds of things for all kinds of media; stageplays, screenplays, books, articles, reviews, short…Continue reading “About Me”

16Jun 202124 Jun 2021

The First Cranked Anvil Short Story Anthology

The First Cranked Anvil Short Story Anthology Edited by Paul Dunn ISBN: 978-1-5272-7738-0 A collection of thirty-three prize winning and…

5Feb 202016 Jun 2021

Rehearsals for my Cookson adaptation begin today

Five years ago I was commissioned to write the stage adaptation of Catherine Cookson’s The Cinder Path. It had the…

24Apr 201916 Jun 2021

TV’s Nick Cochrane walks the Cinder Path

Pre-production for my play, The Cinder Path, is now well under way, with rehearsals starting in just over a week.…

Short Plays/Musicals

The Occasional Adventures of Bartington and Dunford

Flexible casting. Approx running time: 1hr. This script has a character list of 12M, 4F. (See below for details.) Many characters appear briefly, which means doubling can take place to…

Full Length Plays/Musicals

Voyage From Titan

24 Jun 202125 Jun 2021

Flexible casting. Written originally for 1M, 1F (plus voice overs). The script has a cast of 5M, 4F, plus an alien. So this has scope to be performed by a…

Full Length Plays/Musicals

The Cinder Path

16 Jun 202124 Jun 2021

With full permission from the Cookson Estate, this is the official adaptation of her novel The Cinder Path. This is a perfect script for amateur companies up and down the…

Abridged Shakespeare…

Romeo and Juliet

16 Jun 20216 Jul 2021

This script was adapted for the 2016 Cranked Anvil Shakespeare Season. Running time is approx 1hr 30 mins. Brought right up-to-date and set very much in the present day. It…

News

Coming next on the BBC…

1 Mar 201916 Jun 2021

I've been wearing quite a few of my many different hats recently (actor / writer / producer / artistic director / etc), which has been fun and exciting, if not…

News

An EGG-cellent writing commission for Easter

22 Feb 201916 Jun 2021

The year has been bubbling away gently so far, but now, I'm pleased to say, things are starting to pick up with pace. Last month I reported that my adaptation…

News

Another walk down the Cinder Path

12 Jan 201916 Jun 2021

Some very exciting news to kick of 2019. Three years ago I wrote the adaptation of Catherine Cookson's The Cinder Path, which played at the Customs House theatre in South…

News

Writing for the BBC at Xmas – and featuring in the Radio Times!

20 Dec 201816 Jun 2021

A couple of months ago, you might remember, I reported that a lot of my writing this year has been for BBC Radio Newcastle's sketch comedy show Grin Up North.…

Blackadder Goes Forth – REVIEW

31 Oct 201816 Jun 2021

People's Theatre, Newcastle There can’t be many of us who aren’t familiar with this iconic BBC series, and this week The People’s give a pretty good rendition of four of…

Sense and Sensibility – REVIEW

26 Oct 201816 Jun 2021

Chapterhouse Theatre Company's latest production is this classic Jane Austen novel, adapted for the stage by resident writer Laura Turner. This charming adaptation is a testament to her love of…

Natural Causes – REVIEW

26 Oct 201816 Jun 2021

This month's offering from the Royalty Theatre is a dark comedy by Eric Chappell, who most people will know as the writer of sit-coms such as Rising Damp, Only When…

The Blue Electric Wind – 4 stars

21 Oct 201816 Jun 2021

People's Theatre, Newcastle. The Blue Electric Wind is a new piece of writing, by ex-Royal Court Young Writer Brad Birch, commissioned by the National Theatre’s literary department specifically for young…

Breaking the Code – 5 stars

21 Oct 201816 Jun 2021

People's Theatre, Newcastle. Hugh Whitemore’s play about the brilliant mathematician Alan Turing - key player in the breaking of the German Enigma code at Bletchley Park during World War II…

Go Back For Murder – 3 stars

21 Oct 201816 Jun 2021

People's Theatre, Newcastle. After having watched the 1980 film of ‘The Mirror Crack’d’ just the other night, I was very much in the mood for more Agatha Christie and was…

Hi-de-Hi! – 3 stars

21 Oct 201816 Jun 2021

People's Theatre, Newcastle. Stage adaptations of popular classic television comedies are ten a penny these days - understandably so in the current climate of aiming to get as many bums…

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