George Markstein

George Markstein (29 August 1926 – 15 January 1987) was a British journalist and writer of thrillers and teleplays. He was the script editor of the British series The Prisoner for the first thirteen episodes, and appeared briefly in its title sequence. Markstein also wrote for or story-edited other television series, specialising in espionage stories, and jointly ran a successful literary agency for screenwriters.

Life and work In 1926, according to his friend Sidney Allinson, writing in "George Markstein and The Prisoner", Markstein was born in Berlin, Germany, but emigrated with his Jewish family to England with the rise of Nazism. It is likely that he lived in the United States during his youth, then moved to Britain. Markstein worked as a newspaper reporter for the Southport Guardian of Southport England in 1947.

Markstein later became a journalist for the American military tabloid, the Overseas Weekly. Due to its scandal-driven content, the paper's U.S. G.I. readership referred to the paper as the Over Sexed Weekly. The masthead of the newspaper lists Markstein as head of the London desk. before acting as story consultant and contributing to multiple episodes of ITC's Court Martial (1966), and then joining Danger Man as story consultant for the last black-and-white episode (1966), then story editor for the two episodes which were made in colour (1967). Around this time he also wrote four episodes for Rediffusion's children's drama series Send Foster (1967), and worked on the script for Peter Yates's Robbery (1967), a fictionalised feature film based on the 1963 Great Train Robbery.

The Prisoner

When Patrick McGoohan announced his decision to leave Danger Man, Markstein edited the basic ideas that McGoohan had worked on since 1962 that became The Prisoner series. Together with producer David Tomblin and the star McGoohan (uncredited), Markstein co-wrote the first story "Arrival," and then settled in as script editor for the series. He later described the job of story editor as "the key man in any series, he is the man in whose hands is the ethos of the series, the spirit of the series, and it is his job to cast the writers and the authors the way a director casts the actors and the stars". James Follett, who began writing professionally in 1973, has described George Markstein as his "guru", and is still represented by Markstein's company Marjacq.

Following a long illness, Markstein died of kidney failure in 1987.

Works

Novels The Cooler (1974) The Man From Yesterday (1976) Chance Awakening (1977) Tara Kane (1978) The Goering Testament (1978) Traitor for a Cause (1979) Ultimate Issue (1981) Ferret (1983) Soul Hunters (1987)

Writing credits Production Notes BroadcasterCourt Martial"All Roads Lead to Callaghan" (1966)ITVDanger Man"Not So Jolly Roger" (1966)ITVThe Prisoner"Arrival" (co-written with David Tomblin, 1967)ITVSend Foster"Hole in the Road" (1967) "The Peg" (1967) "Off the Record" (1967)ITVRobberyFeature film (co-written with Edward Boyd and Peter Yates, 1967)N/ASpecial Branch"Troika" (1969) "Smokescreen" (1969) "Short Change" (1969) "Dinner Date" (1970) "The Pleasure of Your Company" (1970) "Not to Be Trusted" (1970) "Fool's Mate" (1970)ITVCallan"The Richmond File: Call Me Enemy" (1972)ITVThe Odessa FileFeature film (co-written with Kenneth Ross, 1974)N/AReturn of the Saint"The Debt Collectors" (1978)ITVStoryboard"The Traitor" (1983)BBC1Dramarama"Snoop!" (co-written with James Doran, 1984)ITVMr. Palfrey of Westminster"Once Your Card Is Marked" (1984) "Official Secret" (1985)ITVPhilip Marlowe, Private Eye"Spanish Blood" (1986)ITV

Awards and nominations (shared with Edward Boyd and Peter Yates)Best British Original Screenplay