Editing Troy Kennedy Martin

{{short description|British screenwriter}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Troy Kennedy Martin
|image = 
|caption = 
|relatives        = [[Ian Kennedy Martin]] (brother)
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1932|2|15}}
|birth_place = [[Rothesay]], [[Isle of Bute]], [[Scotland]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2009|9|15|1932|2|15}}
|death_place = [[Ditchling]], [[East Sussex]], [[England]]
|occupation = [[Screenwriter]]
}}
'''Troy Kennedy Martin''' (15 February 1932 – 15 September 2009) was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter. He created the long-running [[BBC TV]] police series ''[[Z-Cars]]'' (1962–1978), and the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama ''[[Edge of Darkness]]''. He also wrote the screenplay for the original version of ''[[The Italian Job]]'' (1969). His last film was ''[[Ferrari (2023 film)|Ferrari]]'' (2023), which was posthumously released.

==Biography==
===Early life===
He was born in [[Rothesay]], [[Isle of Bute]], and educated at [[Finchley Catholic High School|Finchley Catholic Grammar School]] and [[Trinity College, Dublin]]. He had a younger brother [[Ian Kennedy Martin|Ian]], who is also a television writer best known for creating ''[[The Sweeney]]''.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jonathan Sale |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/sep/16/troy-kennedy-martin-obituary |title=Troy Kennedy Martin obituary &#124; Television & radio  |date=16 September 2009 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=2016-03-11}}</ref>

===1960s===
He began writing for [[BBC Television]] in 1958, beginning with the play ''[[Incident at Echo Six]]'', and he wrote four further plays for the BBC over the following three years, before in 1961 creating his first series, ''[[Storyboard (TV series)|Storyboard]]'', a six-part anthology series that consisted both of original scripts and adaptations. The same year, he wrote the police drama ''The Interrogator''. He wrote an important manifesto about new television drama in 1964, calling for a more mobile style of camera work and less emphasis on dialogue.<ref>Troy Kennedy Martin, "Nats go home," Encore No. 48, March–April 1964</ref><ref>{{cite report|author=Billy Smart |url=https://docslib.org/doc/6131622/nats-go-home-modernism-television-and-three-bbc-productions |title='Nats go home': Modernism, television and three BBC productions of Ibsen |date=1 January 2016 |work=docslib.org |access-date=27 December 2022}}</ref>

In 1962, Martin co-created the drama series ''[[Z-Cars]]''. Set in "Newtown", based on [[Kirkby]] near Liverpool, ''Z-Cars'' was revolutionary in that it depicted a hard-edged, grittier and much more realistic vision of the police force than had been seen on British television – as a result, it was initially very unpopular with the real police.<ref>{{cite book|author=Lez Cooke |title=British Television Drama: A History |work=BFI |year=2003 |chapter=3 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9780851708850}}</ref> Although he left the programme after the first two series, the series ran until 1978, and he returned to write the final episode.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

In 1965, Martin scripted a television adaptation of [[Frederik Pohl]]'s short story ''The Midas Plague'', which was shown as an episode for the first series of ''[[Out of the Unknown]]'', a science-fiction anthology series shown on [[BBC Two|BBC2]]. One of the more light-hearted stories of the otherwise dark and dramatic show, it is one of only 20 (and a half) episodes of the original 48 known to have survived [[Lost television broadcast#Wiping|destruction]], and is available on DVD.

===1970s===
Over the following decade he contributed to various television programmes, and made his first foray into feature films when he wrote ''[[The Italian Job]]'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/troy-kennedy-martin-innovative-writer-who-created-z-cars-and-wrote-edge-of-darkness-and-the-italian-job-1788520.html|title=Troy Kennedy Martin: Innovative writer who created 'Z Cars' and wrote 'Edge of Darkness' and 'The Italian Job' &#124; Obituaries |author=Anthony Hayward |date=17 September 2009 |newspaper=[[The Independent]]|accessdate=15 July 2020}}</ref> which was released in 1969 and starred [[Noël Coward]] and [[Michael Caine]]. The following year he wrote ''[[Kelly's Heroes]]'', and he scripted two more films during the 1970s – ''[[The Jerusalem File]]'' (1971) and ''[[Sweeney 2]]'' (1978).

''Sweeney 2'' was the second cinematic spin-off from the television series ''[[The Sweeney]]'', which had been created by his brother [[Ian Kennedy Martin]], and for which he had written several episodes. He is less well known for writing a little-seen television sitcom based in the British Civil Service, ''[[If It Moves, File It]]'' (1970), featuring amongst others [[John Bird (actor)|John Bird]], who later co-starred in the satirical ''[[Bremner, Bird and Fortune]]''.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

===1980s===
In the early 1980s he was no less successful, with two highly popular series on different networks in 1983. ''[[The Old Men at the Zoo]]'' was an adaptation of the novel by [[Angus Wilson]] and screened on [[BBC One]]; the second was the hugely popular ''[[Reilly, Ace of Spies]]'' on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], based on the book by [[Robin Bruce Lockhart]] and starring [[Sam Neill]].

Greatly influenced by the political landscape of the early 1980s, he had drafted a script for a [[political thriller]]-cum-[[science fiction on television|science fiction]] drama serial entitled ''Magnox'', which became ''[[Edge of Darkness]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bafta.org/heritage/features/a-tribute-to-troy-kennedy-martin,1190,BA.html |title=A Tribute to Troy Kennedy Martin |publisher=BAFTA |date=2010-07-09 |accessdate=2016-03-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title="Edge of Darkness", 'Introduction to the Screenplay' |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=1989 |isbn=0-571-14194-3}}</ref> He was interviewed about the genesis of the series for ''Magnox: The Secrets of Edge of Darkness'' documentary, an extra on the show's 2003 DVD release:

{{Blockquote|We had the [[Cold War]]. The [[Falklands War|Falklands]]. The Nuclear State. The prospect of a miners' strike. [[Greenham Common]]. It was Thatcher's Britain. At the BBC, there was no political dimension in their popular drama whatsoever. And I was really depressed about it, as indeed were other writers that I knew. And so, I said to my closest colleagues: 'The only thing one can do is actually write stuff that one knows is not going to get made, but at least we'll get it out of our system'. And that's how I started to write ''Edge Of Darkness''. I didn't really think that it stood much of a chance of being produced.}}

The concept attracted little interest from television executives until incoming [[BBC]] Head of Drama Series & Serials [[Jonathan Powell (producer)|Jonathan Powell]] picked it up in 1983, assigning experienced producer [[Michael Wearing]] to the project. ''[[Edge of Darkness]]'' was eventually screened on [[BBC Two|BBC2]] in late 1985. Although Kennedy Martin had many creative differences with director [[Martin Campbell]] and star [[Bob Peck]] (who is reported to have vetoed the scripted ending with the remark "I'm not turning into a fucking tree!"), the drama was a resounding success, picking up several awards and being remembered as one of the best British television drama productions of the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/473217/index.html |title=BFI Screenonline: Edge of Darkness (1985) |website=Screenonline.org.uk |date=1985-12-09 |accessdate=2016-03-11}}</ref> Following ''Edge of Darkness'' he wrote another feature film screenplay, ''[[Red Heat (1988 film)|Red Heat]]'' (1988, co-written with director Walter Hill), which starred [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] and [[James Belushi]].

===1990s===
Kennedy Martin did not return to television scriptwriting until the one-off [[BBC Two]] drama ''[[Hostile Waters (movie)|Hostile Waters]]'' in 1997. Other later work included ''[[Bravo Two Zero (film)|Bravo Two Zero]]'' for [[BBC One]] in 1999, co-written with [[Andy McNab]] and starring [[Sean Bean]].

===Death===
He died of [[lung cancer]] on 15 September 2009 aged 77, in [[Ditchling]], East Sussex.

==Selected filmography==
===Film===
* ''[[The Italian Job]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Kelly's Heroes]]'' (1970)
* ''[[The Jerusalem File]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Sweeney II]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Red Heat (1988 film)|Red Heat]]'' (1988)
* ''[[Red Dust (2004 film)|Red Dust]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Ferrari (2023 film)|Ferrari]]'' (2023)

===Television===
* ''[[Incident at Echo Six]]'' (1958)
* ''[[The Interrogator (TV play)|The Interrogator]]'' (1961)
* ''[[Storyboard (TV series)|Storyboard]]'' (1961)
* ''[[Z-Cars]]'' (1962–78)
* ''[[Redcap (TV series)|Redcap]]'' (1965–66)
* ''[[The Sweeney]]'' (1975–78)
* ''[[Reilly: Ace of Spies]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Edge of Darkness]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Hostile Waters (movie)|Hostile Waters]]'' (1997)
* ''[[Bravo Two Zero (film)|Bravo Two Zero]]'' (1999)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Lez Cooke (2007), ''Troy Kennedy Martin'', [[Manchester University Press]], {{ISBN|0719067022}}.

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0448392}}
*{{Screenonline name|id=473113|name=Troy Kennedy Martin biography and credits}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100808042146/http://www.bafta.org/access-all-areas/videos/a-tribute-to-troy-kennedy-martin,1190,BA.html A BAFTA Tribute to Troy Kennedy Martin], 27 April 2010
*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6835830.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 Obituary]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''[[The Times]]'', 16 September 2009
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/6199412/Troy-Kennedy-Martin.html Obituary], ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'', 16 September 2009
* [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/sep/16/troy-kennedy-martin-obituary Obituary], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 16 September 2009
* [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/troy-kennedy-martin-innovative-writer-who-created-z-cars-and-wrote-edge-of-darkness-and-the-italian-job-1788520.html Obituary], ''[[The Independent]]'', 17 September 2009

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy Martin, Troy}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in England]]
[[Category:English male screenwriters]]
[[Category:English television writers]]
[[Category:People from Ditchling]]
[[Category:People from Finchley]]
[[Category:People from Rothesay, Bute]]
[[Category:People educated at Finchley Grammar School]]
[[Category:British male television writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English screenwriters]]
[[Category:21st-century British screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century English male writers]]