Michael J Bird

Michael J Bird Tribute Website

TV Scriptwriting

Michael J Bird was a prolific writer and contributor to many British television series throughout the 1960s, '70s and '80s. Click any entry in the list below to read more about his contribution(s). Bird's own creations for the BBC and YTV each get a section of the site to themselves, and in yet another part of the site you can read about many of the ideas he had that never made it into production.

Take "The Scenic Route" ...

... if you can spare the time. Start with Danger Man (Bird's first screen credit). In the top right-hand corner of the Danger Man page there is a button which takes you to The Informer, his next credit, and so on through all the television series to which he made a contribution.

	1966 Danger Man "Judgement Day" (29 Jan 1966) *DVD available*		1967 The Informer "Keep Off The Grass"(22 Nov 1967) *Script available*		1968 Mr Rose "The Unlucky Dip" (21 Apr 1968) *DVD available and script available* "The Jolly Good Fellow" (28 Nov 1968) *DVD available and script available*
	1969 Journey to the Unknown "Somewhere in the Crowd" (21 Apr 1969) *DVD available and script available* "Matakitas is Coming" (28 Apr 1969)(Uncredited re-write) *DVD available* "The Madison Equation" (2 Jun 1969) *DVD available and script available* "Girl of My Dreams" (9 Jun 1969) *DVD available*		1969 Murder "The Blood Relation" (25 Oct 1969) *Script available*		1969 Hadleigh "Some You Win, Some You Lose" (10 Oct 1969) *DVD available* "A Memory of Times Past" (14 Nov 1969) *DVD available and script available*
	1970 Radio Play (adaptation of Somerset Maugham short story) "The Unconquered" (18 and 19 November 1970) *Script available*		1971 Paul Temple "Night Train" (24 Jan 1971) *Copy available on DVD (Dubbed with a German soundtrack)*		1971 Out of the Unknown "To Lay a Ghost" (28 Apr 1971) *DVD available and script available* "The Uninvited" (23 Jun 1971) *Script and audio recording available*
	1971 Brett "A Whole New World" (31 May 1971) "The Hollow Men" (7 Jun 1971) "The Right Time for a Killing" (2 Aug 1971) "All The King's Horses" (16 Aug 1971) "And All The King's Men" (23 Aug 1971)		1971 The Onedin Line "Salvage" (19 Nov 1971) (Repeated 16 July 1972) *Video available*		1972 The Lotus Eaters - series 1 BBC Television series in nine parts created by Michael Bird. (Bird wrote only five of the nine episodes in the first series.) *Series available on DVD* "Cold Wind from the North" (23 Apr 1972) *Script available* "The Present Mrs Clive"(30 Apr 1972) "And Hera Had a Sister" (7 May 1972) "A Touch of Home" (14 May 1972) "The Climbing Wave" (18 Jun 1972)
	1973 The Lotus Eaters - series 2 BBC Television series in six parts. (Bird wrote five of the episodes.) *Series available on DVD* "There and Back by Candlelight" (8 Jul 1973) "A Kind of Treason" (15 Jul 1973) "Beside a Crooked Stile" (29 Jul 1973) "The Well Diggers" (5 Aug 1973) "And if you have time, Lord" (12 Aug 1973)		1973 Arthur of the Britons (HTV) "In Common Cause" (24 Oct 1973) *DVD available*		1974 Special Branch Season 4 "Double Exposure" (14 Feb 1974) *DVD available* "Stand and Deliver" (7 Mar 1974) *DVD available* "Something About a Soldier" (14 Mar 1974) *DVD available*
	1975 Quiller "Price of Violence" (29 Aug 1975) *DVD available* "Safe Conduct" (14 Nov 1975) *DVD available and script available*		1976 General Hospital "Red Alert" (2 Jul 1976)		1976 The Expert "A Family Affair" (22 Oct 1976) *DVD available and script available*
	1976 / 77 Warship "What Are Friends For?" (13 Jan 1976) *DVD available* "Quiet Run Ashore" (24 Feb 1976) *DVD available* "Girl from the Sea" (1 Feb 1977) *DVD available* "A Matter of History" (8 Feb 1977) *DVD available*		1977 Who Pays the Ferryman? BBC Television series in eight parts. Created and written by Michael J. Bird. *Series available on DVD* "Return to Yesterday" (7 Nov 1977) "Some Talk of Alexander" (14 Nov 1977) "The Long Shadow" (21 Nov 1977) "A Dead Man to Carry My Cross" (28 Nov 1977) "Receive the Light" (5 Dec 1977) "The Well" (12 Dec 1977) "A River to Cross" (19 Dec 1977) "The Daughters of Themis" (26 Dec 1977)		1979 The Aphrodite Inheritance BBC Television series in eight parts. Created and written by Michael J. Bird. *Series available on DVD* "A Death in the Family" (3 Jan 1979) "A Lamb to Slaughter" (10 Jan 1979) "Here We Come Gathering" (17 Jan 1979) "A Friend in Need" (24 Jan 1979) "Come into my Parlour" (31 Jan 1979) "Said the Spider to the Fly" (7 Feb 1979) "The Eyes of Love" (14 Feb 1979) "To Touch a Rainbow" (21 Feb 1979)
	1979 Secret Army "Bridgehead" (8 Dec 1979) *DVD available and script available*		1983 The Fourth Arm Part Nine(4 Mar 1983) *DVD available and script available*		1983 The Outsider Yorkshire Television series in six parts. Created and written by Michael J. Bird. *Series available on DVD* "A Death In The Family" (30 Sep 1983) "The Legacy" (7 Oct 1983) "A Question of Judgement" (14 Oct 1983) "Vacant Possession" (21 Oct 1983) "The Homecoming" (28 October 1983) "Wound for Wound" (4 Nov 1983)
	1983 The Dark Side of the Sun BBC Television series in six parts. Created and written by Michael J. Bird. *Series available on DVD* "Into the Shadows" (13 Sep 1983) *Script available* "A Time Out of Mind" (20 Sep 1983) "No Stranger by Night" (27 Sep 1983) "The Face of Asmodeus" (4 Oct 1983) "The Summoning" (11 Oct 1983) "Harvest of Fear" (18 Oct 1983)		1985 Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense an anthology of feature length TV movies "In Possession" (4 Jan 1985) Christopher Cazenove and Carol Lynley suffer from disturbing nightmares after receiving visitations. *DVD available*		1985 Maelstrom BBC Television series in six parts. Created and written by Michael J. Bird. *Series available on DVD* "An Ill Wind" (5 Feb 1985) "Shadows" (12 Feb 1985) "In Possession" (19 Feb 1985) *Script available* "House of Secrets" (26 Feb 1985) "Into the Vortex" (5 Mar 1985) "Out of the Depths" (12 Mar 1985)
	1985 The Winning Streak (16 September 1985 - 21 October 1985) A six part drama series created by Michael J Bird for Yorkshire Television, although he did not write any of the scripts. Most were credited to producer Michael Miller. *Series available on DVD*		1986 "West of Paradise" (7 Sep 1986) Two hour TV movie written for Yorkshire Television. *DVD available*		1988 "Out of the Shadows" (2 Sep 1988) Two hour TV movie adapted from a novel for Yorkshire Television. *DVD available*

?		Bird also wrote a lot more that didn't make it into production. UNPRODUCED WORK		?

Michael J Bird Tribute Website

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