Johnny Byrne (writer)

Johnny Byrne (writer)

Johnny Byrne (27 November 1935 – 2 April 2008) was an Irish writer and script editor for the BBC. He travelled extensively in his youth as a travelling poet. In the 1960s he worked as a literary editor, and wrote poetry and short stories which were published in Science Fantasy magazine. His other works include Groupie (1969, co-written with Jenny Fabian), Season Of The Witch (1971), and the scripts for the films Adolf Hitler, My Part In His Downfall (1972), and Rosie Is My Relative (1976). He became the script editor of the series All Creatures Great and Small (1976, 1978, 1985, 1988–1990), and also wrote for One by One' (1987). He created the series Noah's Ark and wrote many of the episodes for the two series. He also created the series Heartbeat (loosely based on the Constable books by Nicholas Rhea) and was the main script writer for 17 series from 1992 to 2007.