Richard Cameron obit

Tributes after death of award-winning Doncaster television and theatre writer

 He was not on the list.

Tributes have been paid to an acclaimed and award-winning Doncaster theatre and television writer following his death.

Richard Cameron, who penned theatre hit The Glee Club and also wrote TV drama Stone, Scissors, Paper as well as contributing towards ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders died early this week at the age of 77.

Friend and local historian Tony Armstrong shared the news, writing: “It is with great sadness that I share the news of the death of writer Richard Cameron, on 5 May.”

Born in Doncaster in1948, Mr Armstrong added: “Richard is often hailed as one of the most authentic voices of the British working class, specifically within the context of South Yorkshire.

“Many of his most famous works are set in and around Doncaster’s ex-mining villages.”

These include Pond Life, which was set in a suburban Doncaster village in 1994. It focuses on a group of young people on a fishing trip and was adapted into a 2018 film.

All of You Mine directly exploreed the impact of the 1984 Miners' Strike on an ex-pit village near Doncaster, while Heaven's Walk, a play commissioned for Doncaster’s Cast Theatre , tells the true story of two Doncaster families during World War I.

The Glee Club from 2002 is arguably his most famous play - a song-filled comedy with a dark undercurrent, specifically set in the mining village of Edlington.

The show transferred to the West End before a national tour and was adapted as a radio play for Radio 4. He has also Thames Television Writer in Residence at The West Yorkshire Playhouse

During his career, he won a number of awards including Sunday Times Playwriting Awards for Haunted Sunflowers, Strugglers and Fringe First, the Independent Theatre Award for Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down and the prestigious Dennis Potter TV Play of The Year Award for Stone, Scissors, Paper, which was filmed in and around Sprotbrough anf first aired in 1997, starring Juliet Stevenson and Ken Stott.

Added Mr Armstrong: “As a proud former pupil of Oswin Avenue School, Richard was an enthusiastic supporter of the Ossie through the Ages project (a project documenting the Balby school).

“I count myself fortunate to have met him and his wife Linda at the 2023/24 exhibition, where his story was featured as one of our school’s great successes.”

Mr Cameron’s other works included Not Fade Away (1993), The Mortal Ash (1994), Almost Grown (1994), Gong Donkeys (2004), andFlower Girls (2007.

He also wrote Dear Nobody starring Sean Maguire and contributed to the popular TV series Midsomer Murders, writing the script for the episode "Midsomer Rhapsody".

He also won the Mental Health in Media Award for his radio play, The Kon Tiki 2 Expedition.

Writer

Esmé Creed-Miles and Daisy Edgar-Jones in Pond Life (2018)

Pond Life

6.0

written bybased on the play: "Pond Life" by

2018

 

Annette Badland, Neil Dudgeon, and Nick Hendrix in Midsomer Murders (1997)

Midsomer Murders

7.9

TV Series

screenplay

2005

1 episode

 

Katie Blake and Sean Maguire in Dear Nobody (1998)

Dear Nobody

6.0

TV Movie

screenplay

1998

 

Screen Two (1984)

Screen Two

6.7

TV Series

Writer

1997

1 episode

 

Thanks

Paul Cooper in The Fallen Goat (2017)

The Fallen Goat

Short

thanks

2017