Writing

Ian Curteis

Born — Died

1935-05-01 — 2021-11-24

Place of birth

London

Known for

Writing

Credits

11 titles

Ian Bayley Curteis (1 May 1935 – 24 November 2021) was a British dramatist and television director. Curteis was born in London on 1 May 1935, and began his career as an actor, joining Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in the mid-1950s, and later working in this profession in regional theatres, and as a stage director or producer. His career in television began as a script reader for both the BBC and Granada Television. Curteis joined the staff of the BBC as a trainee director in 1964. The Projected Man (1966), which he directed, is his only cinema film. Around the same time Curteis directed an episode of the BBC2 anthology series, Out of the Unknown, William Trevor's "Walk's End". Both pro…

Known for

Churchill and the Generals poster
9.0

The complicated relationship between Winston Churchill and the leaders of the British army during World War II.

Churchill and the Generals

1979

The Projected Man poster
4.3

Matter-transmitter sabotage leaves a British scientist (Bryant Halliday) disfigured and full of amps.

The Projected Man

1966

Miss Morison's Ghosts poster
4.0

Two British women claim to have been thrown into a time warp where they saw Marie Antoinette as they were strolling through the gardens at Versailles Palace in France. After they tell their story to a psychic society, they find themselves the objects of derision and their jobs are threatened.

Miss Morison's Ghosts

1981

The Falklands Play poster
7.0

The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of history. It was originally commissioned by the BBC in 1983, for production and broadcast in 1986, but was subsequently shelved by Controller of BBC One Michael Grade due to its alleged pro-Margaret Thatcher stance and jingoistic tone. This prompted a press furore over media bias and censorship.The play was not staged until 2002, when it was broadcast in separate adaptations on BBC Television and Radio.

The Falklands Play

2002

Walk's End poster
NR

Dr Saint's offer of a free place in his comfortable old-folks' home appears entirely philanthropic to Miss Claythorpe. However, he is suspiciously vague about the treatment that goes with it.

Walk's End

1966

Philby, Burgess and Maclean poster
5.4

Recruited by the Russians during their days at Cambridge, three young Englishmen rise to become high-ranked MI5 agents until their exposure in 1949.

Philby, Burgess and Maclean

1977

Behind the camera

Churchill and the Generals poster
9.0

The complicated relationship between Winston Churchill and the leaders of the British army during World War II.

Churchill and the Generals

1979

The Projected Man poster
4.3

Matter-transmitter sabotage leaves a British scientist (Bryant Halliday) disfigured and full of amps.

The Projected Man

1966

Miss Morison's Ghosts poster
4.0

Two British women claim to have been thrown into a time warp where they saw Marie Antoinette as they were strolling through the gardens at Versailles Palace in France. After they tell their story to a psychic society, they find themselves the objects of derision and their jobs are threatened.

Miss Morison's Ghosts

1981

The Falklands Play poster
7.0

The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of history. It was originally commissioned by the BBC in 1983, for production and broadcast in 1986, but was subsequently shelved by Controller of BBC One Michael Grade due to its alleged pro-Margaret Thatcher stance and jingoistic tone. This prompted a press furore over media bias and censorship.The play was not staged until 2002, when it was broadcast in separate adaptations on BBC Television and Radio.

The Falklands Play

2002

Walk's End poster
NR

Dr Saint's offer of a free place in his comfortable old-folks' home appears entirely philanthropic to Miss Claythorpe. However, he is suspiciously vague about the treatment that goes with it.

Walk's End

1966

Philby, Burgess and Maclean poster
5.4

Recruited by the Russians during their days at Cambridge, three young Englishmen rise to become high-ranked MI5 agents until their exposure in 1949.

Philby, Burgess and Maclean

1977

No artwork available
NR

In 1956, the British Prime Minister Anthony Eden grapples with the Suez Crisis, which brings an end to his political career.

Suez 1956

1979

Pity About the Abbey poster
9.0

Satirical play in which businessmen want to destroy Westminster Abbey to make way for a bypass.

Pity About the Abbey

1965

The Portland Millions poster
NR

Annie Druce claims she is the heir to the Duke of Portland.

The Portland Millions

1976

No artwork available
NR

Scientists who worked for the allies on the development of the atom bomb in World War II are revealed to be Russian agents.

The Atom Spies

1979

No artwork available
NR

Dramatic account of the deputy fuhrer's infamous flight to Scotland during World War II.

Hess

1978