{{Short description|British screenwriter, playwright and novelist (1931–2026)}} {{Third-party|date=November 2022}} '''Peter Edwin Ransley''' (10 December 1931 – 29 January 2026) was a British screenwriter, playwright and novelist.<ref name=agency>{{cite web | url=http://theagency.co.uk/the-clients/peter-ransley/ | title=Peter Ransley}}</ref> He also founded the charity Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA).<ref>{{Cite web |title=AvMA - History of AvMA |url=https://www.avma.org.uk/about-us/history/ |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=AvMA |language=en}}</ref>

== Early life == Peter Ransley was born in Yorkshire on 10 December 1931,<ref name="guardianobit">{{cite news |last1=Hayward |first1=Anthony |title=Peter Ransley obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/feb/18/peter-ransley-obituary |access-date=19 February 2026 |publisher=The Guardian |date=18 February 2026}}</ref> and grew up in Pudsey, where he attended Pudsey Grammar School. In 1949, he served his national service with the RAF based in Singapore at Changi Airport. He subsequently worked as a trade journalist. In 1964, he was founding editor of Plastics and Rubber Weekly.{{cn|date=November 2022}}

== Career == Ransley started his writing career on the stage with ''Ellen'' and ''Disabled'' both at the Hampstead Theatre Club and Granada's Stables Theatre. His play ''Runaway'' was shown at the Royal Court. <ref name=agency/> He moved to writing for the radio and television. In the early 1980s, he wrote episodes of ''Tales of the Unexpected'' and single plays for the BBC ''Play for Today Series''. His ''Kate the Good Neighbour'' won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Film and TV Festival in 1980, while ''Minor Complications'', based on a real case of medical negligence, gained him the Royal Television Society's Writer's Award in 1981.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Television productions included ''Fallen Angel'' (ITV 2007), ''A Good Murder'' (BBC1 2006) and the BAFTA nominated<ref>{{cite web | url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/2006/television/drama-serial | title=2006 Television Drama Serial &#124; BAFTA Awards}}</ref> adaptation of Sarah Waters’ ''Fingersmith'' (BBC1 2005). Ransley wrote a number of films, including ''The Hawk'' (1993) which starred Helen Mirren and ''The Cormorant'' (1995) which starred Ralph Fiennes.{{cn|date=November 2022}}

Ransley also focussed on historical fiction with television dramas ''Bread or Blood'' (1981) and ''Seaforth'' (1994). He subsequently wrote the "Tom Neave" trilogy of novels based around the English civil war <ref>{{cite book |isbn=978-0007312375|title=Plague Child |last1=Ransley |first1=Peter |year=2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.4thestate.co.uk/author/peter-ransley/ | title=Peter Ransley}}</ref> (published between 2012 and 2015).

Ransley wrote ''Wild Boy'', a nine year old's quest to find his father, published in 2020.{{cn|date=November 2022}}

== Activism == In 1980, the BBC aired "Minor Complications" - ''a Play for Today'' written by Ransley. The play was based on a real case of medical negligence, and public response to the play led to his setting up AvMA together with his wife Cynthia and its first chief executive, Arnold Simanowitz OBE.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.avma.org.uk/about-us/staff-and-trustee-profiles/patrons/honorary-life-president-avma/ | title=AvMA - Peter Ransley, Honorary Life President}}{{dead link|date=November 2022}}</ref> AvMA is a UK charity for patient safety and justice, providing free independent advice and support to people affected by medical accidents.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.avma.org.uk/about-us/ | title=AvMA - About us}}</ref>

== Personal life and death == Ransley lived in West London. He died from bronchopneumonia on 29 January 2026, aged 94. Ransley was survived by his wife Cynthia, children Nicholas and Rebecca, and four grandchildren.<ref name="guardianobit"/>

== References == <!-- Inline citations added to your article will automatically display here. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:REFB for instructions on how to add citations. --> {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ransley, Peter}} Category:1931 births Category:2026 deaths Category:British male screenwriters Category:British male dramatists and playwrights