Brian Clemens
Encyclopedia
Brian Horace Clemens OBE
(born 1931) is a British screenwriter
and television producer
, possibly best known for his work on The Avengers
and The Professionals
. Clemens is related to Mark Twain
(Samuel Langhorne Clemens), a fact reflected in the naming of his two sons, Samuel Joshua Twain Clemens and George Langhorne Clemens.
, England
. His father was an engineer, but also worked in British
music halls. Brian Clemens left school aged 14.
Following National Service
in the British Army
at Aldershot
, where he was a weapons training instructor in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps
, Brian Clemens wanted to be a journalist but decided he didn't have any qualifications. He was offered a job with a private detective agency, but this involved taking a training course in the Northern English city of Leeds
and, as he had been away from home in London
for two years, he decided he didn't want to go away again. Instead, he worked his way up from messenger boy at the J. Walter Thompson
advertising agency
. While he was a copywriter there, he had a thriller screenplay
accepted and shot by BBC TV - Valid for Single Journey Only (1955). This brought him to the attention of independent, low-budget movie producers the Danziger brothers.
From the mid-1950s onwards, he was a staff writer for the Danzigers, churning out dozens of quickie scripts for assembly-line 'B' movies and half-hour television series such as Mark Saber (ITV, 1957–1959; aka Saber of London), White Hunter (ITV, 1958–1960), Man From Interpol (ITV, 1960–1961), and Richard The Lionheart (ITV, 1961–1965).
However, he also wrote for ITC Entertainment
's thriller series The Invisible Man
(ITV, 1958–1959), Sir Francis Drake
(ITV, 1961–1962), and Danger Man
(ITV, 1960–1961; 1964–1967; aka Secret Agent), for which he had also written the pilot. His output was so prolific during the late 50s and throughout the 1960s that he frequently used the pseudonym
'Tony O'Grady.'
in 1961 and was the script editor, associate producer and main scriptwriter for The Avengers series (ITV, 1961–1969) and, according to the British Film Institute
's profile of him, "brought this spirit of burlesque to his other series - most notably with Adam Adamant Lives!
(BBC, 1966-1967), but also with The Baron
(ITV, 1966-1967), The Persuaders!
(ITV, 1971-1972), The Protectors
(ITV, 1972-1974), and The Adventurer
(ITV, 1972-1974) - resoundingly poking fun both at the genre they were imitating and the sources of their inspiration."
It was he who cast Diana Rigg
to replace original star Honor Blackman
in The Avengers. He was later quoted as saying: "I didn't do Diana a very good service. It made her an international star but I think I could have done more for her as far as the script was concerned. She was rather a stooge to Patrick Macnee
's Steed." He did not choose Linda Thorson
to replace Rigg.
In 1972, he created and produced but did not script a BBC TV sitcom My Wife Next Door
which won a BAFTA Award. That same year he had his first credit on an American production with the TV movie The Woman Hunter
, scripted by Clemens and fellow ITC veteran Tony Williamson
from the former's story.
He followed this with a twist-in-the-tail anthology series Thriller
(ITV 1973-1976; aka Menace), for which he wrote all the stories as well as 38 of the scripts.
Then his company The Avengers (Film and TV) Enterprises Ltd created as a French/Canadian/British co-production The New Avengers (ITV 1976-1977). The series cost £125,000 an episode to produce and was not a critical success, but sold to 120 countries. To cast the central female role of Purdey, Clemens considered "about 700 girls", interviewed 200, read scripts with 40 and screen-tested 15 before choosing Joanna Lumley
.
His company Avengers Mark One Productions went on to produce The Professionals
(ITV, 1977–1983).
In the early 1980s, he was twice asked to produce a US version of his most successful series - The Avengers U.S.A. for producer Quinn Martin
and The Avengers International for Taft Entertainment but neither version materialised. However, he did write episodes for the US TV series Darkroom
(ABC-TV, 1981–1982), Remington Steele
(NBC, 1982–1987), and Max Monroe: Loose Cannon (CBS, 1990).
Back in the UK, he worked on the BBC TV's Bergerac
(1981–1991), the anthologies Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
(ITV, 1984–1986) and Worlds Beyond (ITV, 1984–1989), and adapted Gavin Lyall
's espionage thriller The Secret Servant as a 3-part drama for BBC TV (1984).
He then, in the US again, worked on the Father Dowling Mysteries
(NBC, 1989; ABC-TV, 1990–1991), as executive script consultant for the feature-length revival series of Raymond Burr
's Perry Mason
(CBS, 1985–1995) for which he also wrote three teleplays. He also wrote for the Dick Van Dyke
mystery series Diagnosis: Murder
(CBS, 1992–2001).
He also wrote for the Bugs
TV series in the UK (BBC, 1995–1999) and Highlander: The Series
in the US.
films Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
and, in 1974, wrote and directed Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter. He also wrote the screenplays and/or stories for the feature films Operation Murder (1957), The Tell-Tale Heart
(1960), Station Six Sahara (1963), The Peking Medallion
(1967), And Soon the Darkness
(1970), See No Evil (1971), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
(1974), The Watcher in the Woods
(1980), and Highlander II: The Quickening
(1991).
and starred David Monteith as Captain K'Maka, a native African policeman who has to find the murderer amongst a bunch of guests stranded at a remote safari lodge.
case in the mid-1970s, which was abandoned by both sides due to escalating costs, Clemens claimed that he had told writer Terry Nation
the concept for Nation's 1975 TV series Survivors
in the late 1960s and had registered the idea with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain
in 1965. Nation strenuously denied this.
's stand-in as Emma Peel
during the 1965-1967 Avengers seasons. Enright committed suicide in 1976.
Clemens was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1931) is a British screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, possibly best known for his work on The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
and The Professionals
The Professionals (TV series)
The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
. Clemens is related to Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
(Samuel Langhorne Clemens), a fact reflected in the naming of his two sons, Samuel Joshua Twain Clemens and George Langhorne Clemens.
Early life and career
Clemens was born in CroydonCroydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His father was an engineer, but also worked in British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
music halls. Brian Clemens left school aged 14.
Following National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
at Aldershot
Aldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
, where he was a weapons training instructor in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
The Royal Army Ordnance Corps was a corps of the British Army. It dealt only with the supply and maintenance of weaponry, munitions and other military equipment until 1965, when it took over most other supply functions, as well as the provision of staff clerks, from the Royal Army Service...
, Brian Clemens wanted to be a journalist but decided he didn't have any qualifications. He was offered a job with a private detective agency, but this involved taking a training course in the Northern English city of Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and, as he had been away from home in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for two years, he decided he didn't want to go away again. Instead, he worked his way up from messenger boy at the J. Walter Thompson
JWT
JWT is one of the largest advertising agencies in the United States and the fourth-largest in the world. It is one of the key companies of Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP Group and is headquartered in New York. The global agency is led by Worldwide Chairman and Global CEO Bob Jeffrey who took over the...
advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
. While he was a copywriter there, he had a thriller screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
accepted and shot by BBC TV - Valid for Single Journey Only (1955). This brought him to the attention of independent, low-budget movie producers the Danziger brothers.
From the mid-1950s onwards, he was a staff writer for the Danzigers, churning out dozens of quickie scripts for assembly-line 'B' movies and half-hour television series such as Mark Saber (ITV, 1957–1959; aka Saber of London), White Hunter (ITV, 1958–1960), Man From Interpol (ITV, 1960–1961), and Richard The Lionheart (ITV, 1961–1965).
However, he also wrote for ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
's thriller series The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man (1958 TV series)
The Invisible Man was a 1958 ITP Production/Official Films Inc. presentation for Associated TeleVision. The series was networked on CBS in the United States. It ran for 26 half-hour monochrome episodes across two seasons and was nominally based on the novel by H.G...
(ITV, 1958–1959), Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake (TV series)
Sir Francis Drake was a British adventure television series starring Terence Morgan as Sir Francis Drake, commander of the sailing ship the Golden Hind...
(ITV, 1961–1962), and Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
(ITV, 1960–1961; 1964–1967; aka Secret Agent), for which he had also written the pilot. His output was so prolific during the late 50s and throughout the 1960s that he frequently used the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
'Tony O'Grady.'
Television success
He wrote the original pilot episode for The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
in 1961 and was the script editor, associate producer and main scriptwriter for The Avengers series (ITV, 1961–1969) and, according to the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
's profile of him, "brought this spirit of burlesque to his other series - most notably with Adam Adamant Lives!
Adam Adamant Lives!
Adam Adamant Lives! is a British television series which ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC. Proposing that an adventurer born in 1867 had been revived from hibernation in 1966, the show was a comedy adventure that took a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of an Edwardian .- Character...
(BBC, 1966-1967), but also with The Baron
The Baron
The Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour...
(ITV, 1966-1967), The Persuaders!
The Persuaders!
The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most...
(ITV, 1971-1972), The Protectors
The Protectors
The Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It is Anderson's second TV series using live actors as opposed to electronic marionettes, and also his second to be firmly set in the present day...
(ITV, 1972-1974), and The Adventurer
The Adventurer (TV series)
The Adventurer is an ITC Entertainment TV adventure series created by Dennis Spooner that ran for one season from 1972 to 1973. It premiered in the UK on 29 September 1972. The show starred Gene Barry as Gene Bradley, a government agent of independent means who poses as a glamorous American movie...
(ITV, 1972-1974) - resoundingly poking fun both at the genre they were imitating and the sources of their inspiration."
It was he who cast Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
to replace original star Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman is an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers and Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger .-Early life:...
in The Avengers. He was later quoted as saying: "I didn't do Diana a very good service. It made her an international star but I think I could have done more for her as far as the script was concerned. She was rather a stooge to Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee is an English actor, best known for his role as the secret agent John Steed in the series The Avengers.-Early life:...
's Steed." He did not choose Linda Thorson
Linda Thorson
Linda Thorson is a Canadian actress, most famous for her work as Tara King in The Avengers.-Personal life:...
to replace Rigg.
In 1972, he created and produced but did not script a BBC TV sitcom My Wife Next Door
My Wife Next Door
My Wife Next Door was a BBC sitcom written by Brian Clemens and Richard Waring that was first broadcast in 1972. It ran for just 13 episodes and focused on a couple, George Basset, , and Suzie Basset, . Each tries to start afresh after their divorce...
which won a BAFTA Award. That same year he had his first credit on an American production with the TV movie The Woman Hunter
The Woman Hunter
The Woman Hunter is a 1972 mystery film that premiered on CBS on September 19, 1972 as the Movie of the Week. The teleplay was written by Brian Clemens and Tony Williamson, from a story by Clemens....
, scripted by Clemens and fellow ITC veteran Tony Williamson
Tony Williamson (television writer)
Tony Williamson was a prolific British television writer, most active from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. He wrote primarily for the action/adventure and espionage genres...
from the former's story.
He followed this with a twist-in-the-tail anthology series Thriller
Thriller (UK TV series)
Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast...
(ITV 1973-1976; aka Menace), for which he wrote all the stories as well as 38 of the scripts.
Then his company The Avengers (Film and TV) Enterprises Ltd created as a French/Canadian/British co-production The New Avengers (ITV 1976-1977). The series cost £125,000 an episode to produce and was not a critical success, but sold to 120 countries. To cast the central female role of Purdey, Clemens considered "about 700 girls", interviewed 200, read scripts with 40 and screen-tested 15 before choosing Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
.
His company Avengers Mark One Productions went on to produce The Professionals
The Professionals (TV series)
The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
(ITV, 1977–1983).
In the early 1980s, he was twice asked to produce a US version of his most successful series - The Avengers U.S.A. for producer Quinn Martin
Quinn Martin
Quinn Martin was one of the most successful American television producers. He had at least one television series running in prime time for 21 straight years , an industry record.-Early life:...
and The Avengers International for Taft Entertainment but neither version materialised. However, he did write episodes for the US TV series Darkroom
Darkroom (TV series)
Darkroom was an American television thriller series that aired on ABC from November 27, 1981 to January 15, 1982. It was an anthology horror/thriller series, similar in style to Rod Serling's Night Gallery. Each 60 minute episode featured two or more stories of varying length with a new story and...
(ABC-TV, 1981–1982), Remington Steele
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
(NBC, 1982–1987), and Max Monroe: Loose Cannon (CBS, 1990).
Back in the UK, he worked on the BBC TV's Bergerac
Bergerac (TV series)
Bergerac was a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the Seven Network, and screened on BBC1, it starred John Nettles as the title character Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac, a detective in "Le Bureau des Étrangers" Bergerac was a British television show...
(1981–1991), the anthologies Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense was a short-lived anthology television series from Hammer Studios similar to the format now used by Masters of Horror in which several directors under contract to Hammer produced thirteen 69-73 min films for television. It is known in the United States as Fox...
(ITV, 1984–1986) and Worlds Beyond (ITV, 1984–1989), and adapted Gavin Lyall
Gavin Lyall
Gavin Tudor Lyall was an English author of espionage thrillers.-Biography:Lyall was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, as the son of a local accountant, and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham...
's espionage thriller The Secret Servant as a 3-part drama for BBC TV (1984).
He then, in the US again, worked on the Father Dowling Mysteries
Father Dowling Mysteries
Father Dowling Mysteries is an American television mystery series that appeared between November 30, 1987 and May 2, 1991. For its first season, the show was on NBC; it moved to ABC network for its last two seasons...
(NBC, 1989; ABC-TV, 1990–1991), as executive script consultant for the feature-length revival series of Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
's Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
(CBS, 1985–1995) for which he also wrote three teleplays. He also wrote for the Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
mystery series Diagnosis: Murder
Diagnosis: Murder
Diagnosis: Murder is a mystery/medical/crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son, a homicide detective played by his real-life son Barry Van Dyke. The series began as a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman...
(CBS, 1992–2001).
He also wrote for the Bugs
Bugs (TV series)
Bugs was a British television drama series which ran for four series from April 1995 to August 1999. The programme, a mixture of action/adventure and science-fiction, involved a team of specialist independent crime-fighting technology experts, who faced a variety of threats based around computers...
TV series in the UK (BBC, 1995–1999) and Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985...
in the US.
Feature films
In 1971 he wrote and produced for HammerHammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
films Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde is a 1971 British film directed by Roy Ward Baker based on the short story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and was their second adaptation of the story after their 1960 film The...
and, in 1974, wrote and directed Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter. He also wrote the screenplays and/or stories for the feature films Operation Murder (1957), The Tell-Tale Heart
The Tell-Tale Heart (1960 film)
The Tell-Tale Heart is a 1960 British horror film directed by Ernest Morris. The screenplay by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard is a loose adaptation of the 1843 short story of the same title by Edgar Allan Poe.-Plot:...
(1960), Station Six Sahara (1963), The Peking Medallion
The Peking Medallion
The Peking Medallion, also called The Corrupt Ones, is a 1967 crime film directed by James Hill and Frank Winterstein and starring Elke Sommer, Robert Stack, Nancy Kwan and Werner Peters. The film was a co-production between France, Italy and West Germany although it was shot in English...
(1967), And Soon the Darkness
And Soon the Darkness
And Soon the Darkness is a 1970 British thriller film. Starring Pamela Franklin, Michele Dotrice and Sandor Elès, it tells the story of two young English women on a cycling holiday in France, who run into difficulties.-Plot:...
(1970), See No Evil (1971), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a fantasy film released in 1974 and starring John Phillip Law as Sinbad. It includes a score by composer Miklós Rózsa and is known mostly for the stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen...
(1974), The Watcher in the Woods
The Watcher in the Woods
The Watcher in the Woods is a 1980 American-British mystery and horror film from Buena Vista Distribution Company. Based on the 1976 novel by Florence Engel Randall, it is a live action movie that, though predominantly a family oriented work, also contains elements of the mystery, thriller, horror,...
(1980), and Highlander II: The Quickening
Highlander II: The Quickening
Highlander II: The Quickening is the second installment to the Highlander film series, released on January 31, 1991.-Plot:In August 1994, news broadcasts announce that the ozone layer is fading, and will be completely gone in a matter of months. In Africa, millions have perished from the effects of...
(1991).
Theatre
In 2008 Brian Clemens wrote the play Murder Hunt, which was performed at The Mill at SonningThe Mill at Sonning
The Mill at Sonning is a theatre and restaurant , converted from an 18th century flour mill, on an island in the River Thames at Sonning Eye in the English county of Oxfordshire....
and starred David Monteith as Captain K'Maka, a native African policeman who has to find the murderer amongst a bunch of guests stranded at a remote safari lodge.
Court case
In a British High Court of JusticeHigh Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
case in the mid-1970s, which was abandoned by both sides due to escalating costs, Clemens claimed that he had told writer Terry Nation
Terry Nation
Terry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
the concept for Nation's 1975 TV series Survivors
Survivors
Survivors is a British post-apocalyptic fiction television series devised by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC from 1975 to 1977...
in the late 1960s and had registered the idea with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain
Writers' Guild of Great Britain
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain, established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds .-Activities:...
in 1965. Nation strenuously denied this.
Personal life
Clemens and his wife Brenda were divorced in 1966. From 1967, he was with the actress Diane Enright, who was Diana RiggDiana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
's stand-in as Emma Peel
Emma Peel
Emma Peel was a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight.-Casting:...
during the 1965-1967 Avengers seasons. Enright committed suicide in 1976.
Clemens was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.