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Versatile and accomplished English television script writer who left
behind a very broad collection of work that spans 25 years, from 1948 to
1973.
b. 1918, UK
d. Jan 1991, Australia.
General:
Professional script writer, focusing mainly on television
comedy.
Often-times was script writing partner with Larry Stephens during the late 1950s and
early 1960s.
Left the BBC and moved permanently to Australia round about 1968, where he wrote and edited scripts for
ABC (ch. 7 and 9) until
1973.
After his stint at ABC, he returned to his old profession of sub-editing newspapers, at which
point he dropped off the television map.
Partial Scriptography:
(Based on
information in the Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy, The Goon Show
Companion by Wilmut & Grafton, and other sources)
"Australia A to
Z" (1970-71) (TV comedy sketch series, 14 episodes, 30 mins,
videotape, B&W, ABC) ...co-writer with John O'Grady. (Note: A follow-up to The
Greater Illustrated History of the Glorious Antipodes)
"The Comedy
Game" (1971 and 1973) (TV comedy sketch series, ABC)
...co-writer with
John O'Grady. (Goons-inspired surrealist humour)
"The Greater
Illustrated History of the Glorious Antipodes" (1969) (TV comedy
sketch series, B&W, 6 episodes, 30 mins, ABC) ...co-writer with John O'Grady.
"I've Married a Bachelor"
(1968-69) (TV series, sitcom, 14 episodes, 30 min, ABC) ...script editor
"I'm Alright Now" (1967)
(TV series, all 20 episodes, ABC) ...writer.
"The Lance Percival Show"
(1966) (TV series, 2nd season, 6 episodes, 25 mins, B&W, BBC1) ...co-writer
with Lew Schwarz.
Porterhouse - Private Eye (1965)
(TV comedy, 1 pilot episode, 30 mins) ...writer.
"HMS Paradise" (1964) (TV
comedy series, 13 episodes) ...writer. (Note: TV version of radio's The Navy Lark)
"The Dick Emery Show" (1963-1981
) (TV comedy series, additional material) ...writer (many other well known
writers also contributed)
"The Telegoons" (1963-4)
(TV puppet comedy series, all 26 episodes) ...script editor.
"Ghost Squad" (1965) (TV crime
series, 52 episodes, 60 mins, B&W, ATV) ...writer
...aka “G.S.5” (UK: 3rd season title)
"The Dickie Henderson Show" (1960) (TV
comedy sketch series, 1 episode, B&W, ATV) ...co-writer.
"The Goon Show" (1958)
(Radio comedy series, co-wrote four episodes with Larry Stephens, when Spike Milligan was indisposed
[Series 8: #15 The Thing on the Mountain, #17 The Moriarty Murder
Mystery, and #19 The White Neddie Trade. Series 9: #7 The Seagoon
Memoirs] ...writer
Notes: The Seagoon Memoirs was Larry Stephens' final Goon
Show script. It is interesting that even though Maurice Wiltshire
was script editor for The Telegoons, none of the Goon Show
scripts he co-wrote with Larry Stephens were used for The Telegoons. I
don't think that this was a coincidence; rather I think that Spike wanted to
have his name firmly enshrined as script author, and was probably a measure of
his high expectations for the puppets.
"Early to Braden" (1957-8)
(TV comedy sketch series, 19 episodes, 30 mins, B&W, BBC) ...writer (many other well known writers
also contributed.
"The Army Game" (1957-61)
(TV comedy series, more than 41 episodes, 30 mins, B&W, ITV) ...co-writer with Larry
Stephens
Note: Together with Larry Stephens, Maurice Wiltshire co-wrote 5 out of 13 shows in 1st series, 9 out of 26 shows in 2nd series, an
unspecified number of shows out of 39 shows in 3rd series). Due to Larry
Stephens' death in 1959, halfway through the 3rd series, Wiltshire went on to
write 27 shows in the 4th and 5th series, out of a total of 76 shows.
"Drake's Progress" (1957-8)
(TV series, 12 episodes, 30 mins, two seasons) ...co-writer.
Dearth of a Salesman (1957) (Short)
...co-wrote screenplay with Lewis Greifer.
Insomnia Is Good For You (1957) (Short) ...co-wrote screenplay with Lewis Greifer.
Cold Comfort (1957) (Short)
...co-wrote
screenplay with Lewis Greifer.
"Two's Company"
(1956-7) (TV
comedy sketch series, 23 episodes, 30 mins, B&W, Granada) ...writer
(alongside Len Fincham, Lawrie Wyman, Johnny Speight, Dick Barry. (Directed by Peter Eton
of Goon Show fame)
My Brother's Keeper (1948) (Feature
film, B&W, 96 mins, drama) ...author (Script was by Frank Harvey Jr. from a
short story by Maurice
Wiltshire)
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