In Writing

{{short description|Australian television play}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}} {{Infobox television | image = | image_upright = | image_alt = | caption = | creator = | based_on = play by Raymond Bowers | writer = | screenplay = | story = | director = Kevin Shine | starring = | narrator = | music = | country = Australia | language = English | num_episodes = | producer = | editor = | cinematography = | runtime = 75 minutes.<ref name="times">{{cite magazine|magazine=TV Week|title=Salted with Strychnine|date=3 May 1962}}</ref> | company = ABC | budget = | network = ABC | released = {{Start date|1961|06|07|df=y}} (Sydney) | released2 = {{Start date|1961|08|02|df=y}} (Melbourne)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tKZVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3865%2C3993877|newspaper=The Age|title=Untitled|date=27 June 1961|page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/122415670/|title=ABV - Channel 2|department=TV PROGRAMS|date=27 July 1961|newspaper=The Age|page=31|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> | released3 = {{Start date|1962|05|06|df=y}} (Brisbane)<ref name="times"/> }} '''''In Writing''''' is a 1961 Australian television play by an Australian writer living in London, Raymond Bowers, and directed by Kevin Shine.

It was first presented on the BBC in London in 1956 and was also presented on stage and radio.<ref name="smh"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71788272 |title=BRITAIN'S AT HER GAYEST EVER! |newspaper=The Argus (Melbourne) |location=Victoria, Australia |date=24 December 1955 |accessdate=9 August 2020 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/60-australian-tv-plays-1950s-60s/|magazine=Filmink|title=60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s|date=February 18, 2019}}</ref> It was one of several thrillers filmed in the early days of Australian television.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-plays-reflections-in-dark-glasses/|magazine=Filmink|title=Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Reflections in Dark Glasses|first= Stephen|last= Vagg|date=March 20, 2021|access-date=August 2, 2024}}</ref><ref name="big">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-plays-the-big-killing/|title=Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Big Killing|first=Stephen|last= Vagg|date=April 27, 2021|access-date=August 12, 2024}}</ref>

==Plot== According to the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' it was "the story of an unusual murder in London involving a husband and wife, investigated in an unorthodox manner by Detective-Inspector Hurst."<ref name="smh">{{cite news|title="Live" Mystery Drama|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|page=11|date=June 5, 1961|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/124031235/?terms=%22in%2Bwriting%22%2Bbowers}}</ref> James Peebles has befriended John Clostin's wife and Clostin is unhappy with that.

==Cast== *Leonard Teale as Detective Inspector Hurst *Ric Hutton as John Clostin *Anne Haddy as Mrs Clostin *James Workman as Pr Bowman *Richard Parry as James Peebles *Jack Ford as Sergeant *Carolyn Keely as waitress

==Production== It was produced for British TV in 1956 with a cast including Bernard Lee and Terence Morgan.

It was Bowers' second script done for Australian TV the first being ''It's the Geography That Counts''.<ref name="times"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-television-plays-the-right-thing/|access-date=17 February 2025|date=17 February 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|title=Forgotten Australian Television Plays: The Right Thing}}</ref>

The play was also performed on Australian radio in 1961.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/122315987/?terms=%22in%2Bwriting%22%2Bbowers|newspaper=The Age|date=6 April 1961|page=22|title=Radio plays}}</ref>

==Reception== The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' called it an "unpretentious little suspense play which several times tripped over its own excess of ingenuity" and "suppressed far too many major facts to play fair with the audience."<ref>{{cite news |last=R.C. |date=June 8, 1961 |title=MYSTERY PLAY ON TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sydney-morning-herald-mystery-play-o/178115041/ |access-date=4 August 2025 |newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|tt0385773}} *[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt01302239/ 1956 British TV production] at IMDb

Category:1961 films Category:Australian television plays Category:1961 Australian television plays Category:Australian television films Category:Australian Broadcasting Corporation television plays