Terence Feely
Encyclopedia
Terence Feely was a British screenwriter, playwright and author. Though his work has spanned five decades, he is perhaps best remembered as the creator of the groundbreaking ITV drama series The Gentle Touch
(1980–84).
purchased the rights to one of Feely's scripts entitled Heartbeat.
In 1959, he ventured into television and wrote several episodes of the police detective series No Hiding Place
. Following this, in 1961 he wrote two episodes for the first series of the cult series The Avengers
. He then moved on to other popular shows of the time including The Saint
, and Gerry Anderson's popular puppet series, Thunderbirds
. In the mid 1960s, he became story editor for Armchair Theatre
and ATV's Mystery and Imagination
series. Feely was also instrumental in bringing James Mitchell's Callan
to the small screen, for which he is credited as Associate Producer. In 1967, Feely joined the British arm of Paramount Pictures, and was partly responsible for ensuring the production of the 1968 film If.... Following this, Feely went on to become a co-director of Everyman Films (with Patrick McGoohan
and David Tomlin). The company's most notable production was the cult fantasy series The Prisoner, which Feely also wrote episodes for.
In the 1970s, Feely worked on shows such as The Persuaders!
, Arthur of the Britons
, The Protectors
, UFO
, Space: 1999
, Thriller
, Within These Walls
, and The New Avengers, and also moved into comedy by writing several scripts for the sitcom Robin's Nest
. He also adapted the Henry James
novel Affairs of the Heart for television in 1974. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he also wrote episodes for the BBC
detective series Shoestring and Bergerac
, as well as episodes of The Dick Francis Thriller: The Racing Game
for ITV
. However, the series Feely is perhaps best remembered for is the groundbreaking ITV police drama The Gentle Touch
, which he created and penned several scripts for. The series was a huge ratings hit, running for five seasons from 1980–84, and is notable for being the first British police series with a female lead character (Det. Inspector Maggie Forbes, played by Jill Gascoine
). In 1985, Feely created the Gentle Touch spin-off series C.A.T.S. Eyes
, about a team of female private investigators who covertly work for the British Home Office
, which ran until 1987. Also in the 1980s, he co-wrote the screen adaptation of Judith Krantz
' novel Mistral's Daughter, which was produced as a US television mini-series in 1984, as well as adapting two of Barbara Cartland
's novels for television; A Hazard of Hearts
in 1987, and The Lady and the Highwayman
in 1989.
Aside from his work as a screenwriter, Feely also penned several novels including Number 10: Private Lives of Six Prime Ministers, which also became an acclaimed drama series in 1983. One of his last novels, Limelight, was awarded New York's Book of the Year prize.
Feely died on 13 August 2000, aged 72.
The Gentle Touch
The Gentle Touch is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which ran from 1980-1984. Commencing transmission on 11 April 1980, the series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police detective as its leading character, ahead of...
(1980–84).
Life and career
Feely was born into a middle-class industrial family in Liverpool. After leaving school, he entered Liverpool's Jesuit College where he studied English and Psychology. On completion of his university studies, he decided to go into journalism and secured a job with a small local newspaper in Middlesbrough. However, he quickly outgrew the publication and moved to London where he secured a position in the faster paced world of Fleet Street, joining the editorial staff of The Sunday Graphic. It was around this time that Feely began to write submissions for film scripts and, in 1955, legendary director Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
purchased the rights to one of Feely's scripts entitled Heartbeat.
In 1959, he ventured into television and wrote several episodes of the police detective series No Hiding Place
No Hiding Place
No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967....
. Following this, in 1961 he wrote two episodes for the first series of the cult series 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...
. He then moved on to other popular shows of the time including The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
, and Gerry Anderson's popular puppet series, Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
. In the mid 1960s, he became story editor for Armchair Theatre
Armchair Theatre
Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television after 1968....
and ATV's Mystery and Imagination
Mystery and Imagination
Mystery and Imagination is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by ITV and featured plays based on the works of well-known authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, M. R. James, and...
series. Feely was also instrumental in bringing James Mitchell's Callan
Callan (TV series)
Callan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972...
to the small screen, for which he is credited as Associate Producer. In 1967, Feely joined the British arm of Paramount Pictures, and was partly responsible for ensuring the production of the 1968 film If.... Following this, Feely went on to become a co-director of Everyman Films (with Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
and David Tomlin). The company's most notable production was the cult fantasy series The Prisoner, which Feely also wrote episodes for.
In the 1970s, Feely worked on shows such as 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...
, Arthur of the Britons
Arthur of the Britons
Arthur of the Britons is a British television show about the historical King Arthur. Produced by the HTV regional franchise, it consisted of two series, released between 1972 and 1973...
, 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...
, UFO
UFO (TV series)
UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
, Space: 1999
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
, 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...
, Within These Walls
Within These Walls
Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison...
, and The New Avengers, and also moved into comedy by writing several scripts for the sitcom Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest
Robin's Nest is a British sitcom starring Richard O'Sullivan as Robin Tripp, one of the lead characters in the sitcom Man About the House, which had ended in 1976. Robin's Nest aired for six series from 1977 to 1981, and co-starred Tessa Wyatt as Robin's girlfriend and later wife and Tony Britton...
. He also adapted the Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
novel Affairs of the Heart for television in 1974. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he also wrote episodes for 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...
detective series Shoestring and 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...
, as well as episodes of The Dick Francis Thriller: The Racing Game
Dick Francis
Richard Stanley "Dick" Francis CBE was an English jockey and crime writer, many of whose novels centre around horse racing.- Personal life :...
for 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...
. However, the series Feely is perhaps best remembered for is the groundbreaking ITV police drama The Gentle Touch
The Gentle Touch
The Gentle Touch is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which ran from 1980-1984. Commencing transmission on 11 April 1980, the series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police detective as its leading character, ahead of...
, which he created and penned several scripts for. The series was a huge ratings hit, running for five seasons from 1980–84, and is notable for being the first British police series with a female lead character (Det. Inspector Maggie Forbes, played by Jill Gascoine
Jill Gascoine
Jill Gascoine is a British actress and novelist. She is most widely known for her role as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series The Gentle Touch and its spin-off series C.A.T.S. Eyes...
). In 1985, Feely created the Gentle Touch spin-off series C.A.T.S. Eyes
C.A.T.S. Eyes
C.A.T.S. Eyes is a British television series made by TVS for ITV between 1985 and 1987.-Premise:The series was a spin-off from The Gentle Touch and saw Jill Gascoine reprise her role as Det. Insp. Maggie Forbes, having left the police force to join a private detective agency called "Eyes" that is...
, about a team of female private investigators who covertly work for the British Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
, which ran until 1987. Also in the 1980s, he co-wrote the screen adaptation of Judith Krantz
Judith Krantz
Judith Krantz , is an American novelist who writes in the romance genre. Her works include Scruples, Princess Daisy, and Till We Meet Again.-Early years:...
' novel Mistral's Daughter, which was produced as a US television mini-series in 1984, as well as adapting two of Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland
Dame Barbara Hamilton Cartland, DBE, CStJ , was an English author, one of the most prolific authors of the 20th century...
's novels for television; A Hazard of Hearts
A Hazard of Hearts
A Hazard of Hearts is a romantic film starring Helena Bonham Carter in one of her first major roles. It is based on a novel by Barbara Cartland and was released in 1987.- Plot :...
in 1987, and The Lady and the Highwayman
The Lady and the Highwayman
The Lady and the Highwayman is a 1989 UK TV movie based on Barbara Cartland's Romance Novel Cupid Rides Pillion. The working title of the film was Dangerous Love....
in 1989.
Aside from his work as a screenwriter, Feely also penned several novels including Number 10: Private Lives of Six Prime Ministers, which also became an acclaimed drama series in 1983. One of his last novels, Limelight, was awarded New York's Book of the Year prize.