A MOSSLEY historian has published the first known biography about an influential scriptwriter.
Michael Herbert has long held an interest in Malcolm Hulke, who wrote for TV, film, theatre and radio from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Among his work, Malcolm – known by friends and family as ‘Mac’ – wrote episodes for classic TV series such as Pathfinders in Space, The Avengers, Crossroads, Danger Man, The Protectors and Doctor Who, for which he wrote eight serials between 1967 and 1974.
Taking several years to research, Michael’s biography called ‘Things are not always what they seem’ draws upon interviews with Malcolm’s friends, family and work colleagues; his TV scripts, novels and other works; letters to friends and family; and his MI5 file which is now in the National Archives.
Michael explained: “My interest in Mac was sparked by coming across the pamphlet he wrote for Unity Theatre – here is drama – in the collection of the Working Class Movement Library in Salford, where I was a trustee for some years.
“As a long-term Doctor Who fan since its first episode in 1963, I already knew of him as a writer on the show. With my interest sparked, I carried out some research on his life and writing, which was published as a guest post on the Lipstick Socialist blog in 2013 and a longer version was published by Five Leaves Press in Nottingham in 2015.
“During the first lockdown in spring 2020, with several months of unexpected free time, I did some further research, particularly on references to Mac in the national, local and trade press, using the British Newspaper archive.
“I was also greatly assisted by Sally Edworthy, who furnished me with copies of the Family Bulletin, written by Mac as a teenager in the late 1930s. During my research, I gave a talk for the Working Class Movement Library about Mac – we were delighted that Katy Manning, who played the Doctor’s companion Jo Grant in Doctor Who in the early 1970s, was able to join us.”
Malcolm was active in his trade union the Writers’ Guild and, for a time, a member of the Communist Party, with his political views feeding subtly into his work on occasions.
Author of the industry ‘bible’ Writing for Television in the 70s, the London-born writer died in July 1979, at the age of 54.
Michael – who has written a host of previous books – studied history at the University of Manchester and has an MA in the History of the Manchester Region from Manchester Polytechnic.
He was also the consultant for the documentary ‘Looking for Mac’, which was included with the recent BBC release of Doctor Who season seven from 1970 – which had two serials written by Malcolm.
The recently published paperback, which consists of 462 pages, is available to order for £21.99 on Lulu by clicking here.