Raymond Allen is a British television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 most notable for creating the 1970s sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was a BBC situation comedy, written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice.The series followed the accident-prone Frank Spencer and his tolerant wife Betty through Frank's various attempts to hold down a job, which frequently end in...

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Early life

He attended Ryde Secondary Modern School on the Isle of Wight, where he started to want to write. When he left school, he started out as a cub reporter for the old Isle of Wight Times at the age of 16. After service in the RAF, he returned to the Island and took low-paying menial jobs washing dishes in hotels and cleaning at Shanklin’s Regal Cinema, so that with some financial help from his parents, he could continue to write.

He wrote around 40 serious plays – and was knocked back with 40 serious rejections – before turning “in desperation” to comedy sketch writing. His first sit-com was rejected by ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

, but he had another sit-com script already written, which he sent to the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 which was Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em. His one-off script was bought by the BBC – who instantly asked him to write six more.

Following Some Mothers, Raymond sold some one-off plays, but found his one sit-com success cast too big a shadow over any new ones he tried.

Filmography

• Some Matters of Little Consequence (writer, 1971)
• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
  Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
  Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was a BBC situation comedy, written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice.The series followed the accident-prone Frank Spencer and his tolerant wife Betty through Frank's various attempts to hold down a job, which frequently end in...
  
  (writer, 20 episodes, 1973–1978)
• The Dobson Doughnut (writer, 1974)

He also contributed writing to 9 episodes of The Little and Large Show

Little and Large

Little and Large were a British comedy double act comprising straight man Syd Little and comic Eddie Large . They formed their partnership in 1962, appearing as singers in local pubs around the North-West of England...

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Current life

He lives in Ryde (on the Isle of Wight), no more than a mile from where he was born.

He is a regular at the Wight Writers Group, and likes to attend writers’ weekends.

He has been working on a stage play for a couple of years, but is not currently writing for television.

From time to time he still gets asked to do talks on the series.