Maurice Gran

Last updated

Maurice Gran
BornMaurice Bernard Gran
(1949-10-26) 26 October 1949 (age 75)
London, England
Occupation Scriptwriter
Period1979–present
GenreTelevision
Notable works Holding the Fort (1980–82)
Shine on Harvey Moon (1982–85, 1995)
Roll Over Beethoven (1985)
The New Statesman (1987–92)
Birds of a Feather (1989–98, 2014–)
Love Hurts (1992–94)
Get Back (1992–93)
Goodnight Sweetheart (1993–99, 2016)
Unfinished Business (1998–99)
Believe Nothing (2002)
Mumbai Calling (2007)

Maurice Bernard Gran (born 26 October 1949 in London, England) is an English writer and one half of scriptwriting duo Marks and Gran. He co-wrote the sitcoms The New Statesman , Birds of a Feather and Goodnight Sweetheart with Laurence Marks. Their theatre works include Dreamboats and Petticoats , Save the Last Dance for Me and Dreamboats and Miniskirts. [1] [2]

Contents

Biography

Born to a Jewish family, Gran lived in Finsbury Park Road as a child and his father was the manager of a fabric shop in Soho. [3] He attended William Ellis School, a grammar school for boys in Highgate. He then rose to be the manager of the Job Centre in Tottenham, whilst writing scripts with Laurence Marks which they submitted to the BBC.

The duo had begun writing together after they met at a discussion group for writers that was held within the British Drama League. [4] They were given the opportunity to write a radio show for Frankie Howerd after a chance meeting with Barry Took. [5] Gran is also the co-author of Prudence at Number 10 , a fictional diary supposedly written by Gordon Brown's P.A.

Writing credits

ProductionNotesBroadcaster
The Marti Caine Show
  • 5 episodes (1980)
 BBC2
Roots
  • 6 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1981)
 ITV
Holding the Fort
  • 20 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1980–1982)
ITV
Shine on Harvey Moon
  • 25 episodes (1982, 1984–1985, 1995)
ITV
Roll Over Beethoven
  • 12 episodes (1985)
ITV
Relative Strangers
  • 3 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1985–1987)
Channel 4
The Bretts
  • 3 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1987)
ITV
Alan B'Stard Closes Down the BBC
  • Comic Relief special (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1988)
BBC1
Young, Gifted and Broke
  • 7 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1989)
ITV
Snakes and Ladders
  • 7 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1989)
Channel 4
Birds of a Feather
  • 129 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1989–1994, 1996–1998, 2014–2017, 2020)
BBC1/ITV
Bullseye! N/A
So You Think You've Got Troubles
  • 6 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1991)
BBC1
Screen One
  • "Wall of Silence" (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1993)
BBC1
Get Back
  • 10 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1992–1993)
BBC1
Love Hurts
  • 30 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1992–1994)
BBC1
The New Statesman
  • 29 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1987–1992)
ITV
BBC1
A. B'Stard Exposed
  • Television film (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1994)
BBC1
Goodnight Sweetheart
  • 59 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1993–1999, 2016)
BBC1
Mosley
  • 4 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks and Nicholas Mosley, 1998)
Channel 4
Unfinished Business
  • 12 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1998–1999)
BBC One
Starting Out
  • 8 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 1999)
BBC One
Believe Nothing
  • 6 episodes (co-written with Laurence Marks, 2002)
ITV
The Last Laugh
  • "Pilot" (co-written with Laurence Marks, 2005)
BBC Three
Mumbai Calling ITV

Awards and nominations

YearAwardWorkCategoryResultReference
1990 British Academy Television Awards The New Statesman Best Comedy Series (with Tony Charles, Geoffrey Sax and Laurence Marks)Nominated
1991British Academy Television AwardsBest Comedy Series (with Tony Charles, Geoffrey Sax and Laurence Marks)Won

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Gatiss</span> British actor, screenwriter and novelist (born 1966)

Mark Gatiss is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. He is best known for his work in television acting in and co-creating shows with Steven Moffat. Gatiss has received several awards including a BAFTA TV Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and two Laurence Olivier Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Kenwright</span> English businessman, theatre producer and actor (1945–2023)

William Kenwright, CBE was an English theatre and film producer. He was also the chairman of Everton Football Club for nearly two decades, from 2004 until his death in 2023.

<i>Goodnight Sweetheart</i> (TV series) British TV sitcom (1993–2016)

Goodnight Sweetheart is a British science fiction time travel sitcom, starring Nicholas Lyndhurst, created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, and produced by the BBC. The sitcom is about the life of Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life through the use of a time portal, which allows him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the London of the 1940s during the Second World War. The sitcom's creators, who also created Birds of a Feather and The New Statesman, wrote most of the plots for the episodes.

Lorna Want is a British theatre actress known mostly for her musical theatre roles in London's West End. She won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her performance in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She has also appeared on television

Michael Bartlett is an English playwright and screenwriter for film and TV series. His 2015 psychological thriller TV series, Doctor Foster, starring Suranne Jones, won the New Drama award from National Television Awards. Bartlett also won Best Writer from the Broadcast Press Guild Awards. A BBC TV Film of Bartlett's play King Charles III was broadcast in May 2017 and while critically acclaimed, generated some controversy.

Laurence Marks is a British screenwriter and one half of writing duo Marks and Gran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Howett</span>

Western Australian Mark Howett is a director for theatre, dance, opera and film, having started his career initially as a lighting designer. He studied Theatre Design, specialising in Lighting Design at the School of Drama 1981, Yale University. Since 1979, Mark Howett has worked with many international theatre, film, dance, and opera companies. He was a senior creative on productions such as: Sweeney Todd, Royal Opera at Covent Garden, Cabaret at Savoy Theatre West End, Evita at Dominion Theatre West End, A Country Girl at Apollo Theatre West End, Rites Bangarra and Australian Ballet at Paris Opera House, Cloudstreet Co B Belvoir at Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Secret River Sydney Theatre Co to name a few.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Sinden</span> English actor and filmmaker (born 1954)

Marcus Andrew Sinden is an English actor, director and producer.

Dr. Freud Will See You Now, Mrs. Hitler is an alternate history play written by British comedy writing duo Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran.

Damon Alexis-Rochefort né Damon Rochefort is a Welsh scriptwriter, songwriter and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhydian Roberts</span> Welsh musical artist

Rhydian James Roberts, also known mononymously as Rhydian, is a Welsh former baritone singer, television presenter and musical theatre actor. He rose to fame in series 4 of The X Factor (2007), and subsequently became less widely known. Rhydian Roberts retired from performing in February 2023 with a farewell album. He is currently an artist manager at Neil O'Brien Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Dorrance</span> Musical artist

Samantha Dorrance is a British actress, singer-songwriter, TV presenter and writer who reached fame on Disney Channel UK. Best known for playing Mr Tumble's best friend Tootsie on Cbeebies and for her role of Laura in Dreamboats and Petticoats London's West End.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajiv Joseph</span> American playwright (born 1974)

Rajiv Joseph is an American playwright. He was named a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, and he won an Obie Award for Best New American Play for his play Describe the Night.

Mark Blankenship is an American writer, critic and the co-creator and editor-in-chief of the now dormant popular culture blog The Critical Condition. Since June 2021, he has been the New Works Director for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.

<i>Dreamboats and Petticoats</i> Musical by Various Artists

Dreamboats and Petticoats is a jukebox musical based on popular songs from the fifties and early sixties. The musical, featuring those songs of the rock 'n' roll era, is set around the years 1957 to 1963 and was written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daisy Wood-Davis</span> British singer and actress (born 1990)

Daisy Wood-Davis is a British singer and actress. She has appeared in several stage productions, including Dreamboats and Petticoats as Tansy, cousin of Poppy in EastEnders as Laura and The Rocky Horror Show as Janet Weiss. From 2014 to 2018, she played the role of Kim Butterfield in Hollyoaks. In 2019, she recurred as Phoebe Palmer in Holby City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Ribi</span> English actor

David Ribi is an English actor best known for presenting the preschool children's television block Milkshake! on Channel 5. He is also known for his roles in West End Theatre and touring productions. He trained in musical theatre at the YEM Theatre School until 2006, and studied Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway until 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Hatton</span> British actress and singer (born 1983)

Emma Hatton is a British actress and singer, who played the role of Elphaba in the West End production of Wicked. She has also understudied the roles of Meat and Scaramouche in We Will Rock You and has a number of other professional stage and theatre credits, such as Donna in Dreamboats and Petticoats. In 2017 she took on the lead role in the Bill Kenwright touring production of Evita. In 2018 she toured as a featured vocalist with the vintage rotating music collective Postmodern Jukebox during their UK and European tour.

<i>Save the Last Dance for Me</i> (musical) 2012 musical

Save the Last Dance for Me is a jukebox musical written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. It primarily uses songs from the 1960s written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman such as A Teenager in Love, Sweets For My Sweet, Little Sister, Viva Las Vegas, Can't Get Used to Losing You and the title song Save the Last Dance for Me. It opened at the Churchill Theatre Bromley on 9 January 2012 before embarking on a nationwide tour. A spin-off production from Dreamboats and Petticoats, it reunited the writing team with producer Bill Kenwright and director Keith Strachan. The choreography was by Olivier Award winner, Bill Deamer. As was the case in Dreamboats and Petticoats, all of the music was played live by the actors on stage. A new production has been announced, due to open April 2016 at Windsor Theatre Royal, before touring the UK again.

Laurie Mansfield is a theatrical agent from Birmingham.

References

  1. ↑ netbop.co.uk, NetBop Technologies. "Theatre Credits of Marks & Gran". marksandgran.com. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield in association with Universal Music present Dreamboats and Miniskirts". kenwright.com. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  3. ↑ [https://spitalfieldslife.com/2019/06/24/laurence-marks-maurice-gran-writers/ Laurence Marks & Maurice Gran, Writers ]
  4. ↑ Marks & Gran at screenonline. Retrieved 30 January 2015
  5. ↑ Marks and Gran at Camden New Journal. Retrieved 29 January 2015


Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Quill and ink.svg

This article about a writer or poet from the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.