Rosemary Anne Sisson

Rosemary Anne Sisson (13 October 1923 – 28 July 2017) was an English television dramatist and novelist. She was described by playwright Simon Farquhar in 2014 as being "one of television's finest period storytellers", and in 2017 fellow dramatist Ian Curteis referred to her as "the Miss Marple of British playwriting".

Early life

Sisson was born in Enfield Town, Middlesex to Shakespeare scholar Charles Jasper Sisson (1885–1966), Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at the University of London, who edited the complete works of Shakespeare and published a textual study, New Readings in Shakespeare, and his wife Vera Kathleen (1895–1995), daughter of David George Ginn. She had an elder sister. She attended Cheltenham Ladies' College, where she developed a love of literature.

Career

Pre-writing career

Sisson initially embarked on an academic career. Destitute after the war, Sisson found a job teaching a course on English literature at the University of Wisconsin. Sisson subsequently became a drama critic for the Stratford Herald for two years. William Aubrey Darlington, drama critic of The Daily Telegraph, praised Sisson's "keen nose for stories that are both true to actuality and to stage affect."

Other work

Sisson was scriptwriter for several military tattoos, including the VE Day 50th anniversary celebrations in Hyde Park and the Royal Military Tattoo 2000. For this work she was awarded the Prince Michael of Kent Award, for Services to Soldiers, Sailors and Air Force Association

Filmography Film Sisson was asked to write screenplays for several Disney films: Ride a Wild Pony (1975) Escape from the Dark (1976, aka The Littlest Horse Thieves) Candleshoe (1977) The Watcher in the Woods (1980), which she co-wrote with Brian Clemens and Harry Spalding The Black Cauldron (1985)

Television credits The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1964) Upstairs, Downstairs, for which she wrote 11 episodes The Talking Parcel (1978 animated film) The Wind in the Willows (1983 animated film) The Wind in the Willows (1984) animated TV series, continuation of the above film. Follyfoot Together The Irish R.M. The Six Wives of Henry VIII, the episode concerning the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon The Shadow of the Tower (Henry VII), two episodes Elizabeth R, the episode The Marriage Game The Duchess of Duke Street A Town Like Alice (1981 miniseries) Manions of America A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery (TV Series, 1987) Lord Peter Wimsey The Bretts (1987–88), which Sisson co-created with Frank Marshall The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, on which she co-wrote screenplays with George Lucas