Roy Minton is an English

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...

 playwright best known for Scum

Scum (film)

Scum is a 1979 British crime drama film directed by Alan Clarke, portraying the brutality of life inside a British borstal. The story was originally made for the BBC's Play for Today strand in 1977, however due to the violence depicted in the film, it was withdrawn from broadcast...

and his other work with Alan Clarke

Alan Clarke

Alan Clarke was a television and film director, producer and writer, born in Wallasey, Merseyside, England.Most of Clarke's output was for television rather than cinema, including work for the famous play strands The Wednesday Play and Play for Today...

. He is notable for having written over 30 one-off scripts for London Weekend Television

London Weekend Television

London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...

, Rediffusion

Rediffusion

Rediffusion was a business which distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, one of the first companies to win a terrestrial ITV franchise in the UK...

, 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...

, ATV

Associated TeleVision

Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...

, Granada

Granada Television

Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

, Thames Television

Thames Television

Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....

 and Yorkshire Television

Yorkshire Television

Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...

, including Sling Your Hook, Horace, Funny Farm

Funny Farm (play)

Funny Farm' is a 1975 television play written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke, broadcast as part of BBC 1's Play for Today series on 27 February 1975 .Alan Wellbeck is a nurse in a mental hospital...

, Scum

Scum (tv play)

Scum is a television play written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke. It was intended to be screened as part of their Play for Today series. Instead the production was banned by the BBC after it was completed in 1977; it was not finally screened until 27 July 1991. In the meantime a...

, Goodnight Albert, and The Hunting of Albert Crane.

He has translated and performed several of his plays overseas and at festivals in the UK, including a reading of his play for Scum

Scum (film)

Scum is a 1979 British crime drama film directed by Alan Clarke, portraying the brutality of life inside a British borstal. The story was originally made for the BBC's Play for Today strand in 1977, however due to the violence depicted in the film, it was withdrawn from broadcast...

at the Royal Shakespeare Company

Royal Shakespeare Company

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...

, London; and Gradual Decline at the Riverside Studios

Riverside Studios

Riverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...

 London.

Minton also wrote the screenplay for Scrubbers

Scrubbers

Scrubbers is a 1983 British drama film directed by Mai Zetterling and starring Amanda York and Chrissie Cotterill. It was shot primarily in Virginia Water, Surrey, England. It was inspired by the success of the 1979 film Scum.-Plot:...

, a film from which he disassociates himself totally. During his absence overseas, he felt the original screenplay had been “savaged” and describes the final production as “...arguably the worst film ever made.”

Background

Born in Nottingham England, Minton won a two-year scholarship

Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...

 at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...

, 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...

. He worked as an actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 prior to writing full time. He was winner of a 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...

 playwriting competition, received the Art Council Award and was resident dramatist at the Nottingham Playhouse

Nottingham Playhouse

The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.-The building:...

.

Stage Plays

• Death in Leicester
• Sometime Never
• Ag and Fish
• Good Times
• Bovver
• Funny Sunday
• Scum
  Scum (tv play)
  Scum is a television play written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke. It was intended to be screened as part of their Play for Today series. Instead the production was banned by the BBC after it was completed in 1977; it was not finally screened until 27 July 1991. In the meantime a...
  
  
• Gradual Decline

Radio Plays

• Working Weekend BBC
• A Kiss on the Peke Radio Telefís Éireann, Dublin.
• The Gold Medallist BBC

Films and Plays for Television

• Stand By Your Screen
  Stand By Your Screen
  Stand By Your Screen was a 1968 play written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke.-Plot:Christopher Gritter John Neville revolts against the suburban conformity of his parents....
  
  
• Goodnight Albert
• Horace
• Horace (tv series) 6 x 30-minute plays for Yorkshire Television
  Yorkshire Television
  Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
  
   based on the original BBC film.
• Funny Farm
  Funny Farm (play)
  Funny Farm' is a 1975 television play written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke, broadcast as part of BBC 1's Play for Today series on 27 February 1975 .Alan Wellbeck is a nurse in a mental hospital...
  
  
• Scum
  Scum (tv play)
  Scum is a television play written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke. It was intended to be screened as part of their Play for Today series. Instead the production was banned by the BBC after it was completed in 1977; it was not finally screened until 27 July 1991. In the meantime a...
  
  
• Fast Hands
  Fast Hands
  Fast Hands was a 1976 ITV Playhouse written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke.-Plot:A boxer learns the ropes from his trainer .With Bill Buffery and Gillian Tayforth....
  
  

Further reading

• Bovver One-act play. Prompt Series, Hutchinson.
• Scum Novel adapted from the film script. Hutchinson/Arrow Books

Personal life

Minton lives in north London

North London

North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...

 and continues to write novels, scripts and plays. He is currently working on his autobiography

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

.

External links

• Roy Minton’s Blog.
• IMDB entry for Roy Minton.
• Scum (TV drama) at the BFI
  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 Screenonline
  Screenonline
  Screenonline is a Web site devoted to the history of British film and television, and to social history as revealed by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund.Reviews...
  
  
• 625.org biography