Peter Yeldham
Encyclopedia
Peter Alan Yeldham is an Australia
n screenwriter for motion pictures and television, playwright and novelist.
in 1927. Leaving Knox Grammar School
at 16, Yeldham became a jackaroo
in Queensland
but did not like it. He enlisted in the Australian Army and was posted to Japan. Returning to Sydney, he attempted to join the Sydney Morning Herald as a cadet
journalist but was told they only accepted those with university degrees. He worked for Radio 2GB
in Sydney instead, starting as a messenger boy and was later eventually allowed to write radio scripts for such programmes as Famous Trials, Medical Files and When a Girl Marries.Yeldham's young age may have worked for him as he was instructed that the average mental age of the Australian radio audience was thirteen and to write accordingly.
In 1956, the year television arrived in Australia, he moved to England with his family where he was given a reference to producer Harry Alan Towers
. Thus began twenty years of writing for television and motion pictures in the United Kingdom. With independent television taking off in the British Isles, Yeldham was employed writing for such shows as Armchair Theatre
, Shadow Squad, Dial 999 and other British TV series.
Producer Jon Pennington admired Yeldham's television work and had engaged him for the screenplays of The Comedy Man and The Liquidator
. Yeldham continuing writing screenplays for Harry Alan Towers.
After disagreements with Mirisch Films
Oakmont Productions where he was engaged but not hired to write a war film to be made in England, Yeldham began writing plays.
Feeling homesick, Yeldham returned to Australia in 1972 where he was employed writing Australian television episodes and miniseries
. He has written more than a dozen miniseries, including 1984's All the Rivers Run
and 1987's Captain James Cook. Yeldham detested the title of the latter, preferring The Wind and the Stars but the ABC
and overseas investors insisted on the Cook title. The costly historical drama genre fell out of favour with the networks in the 1990s, so Yeldham relishes the rare chance to revisit it.
From the 1990s he turned to novel writing.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n screenwriter for motion pictures and television, playwright and novelist.
Biography
Peter Yeldham was born in Gladstone, near Smithtown, New South WalesSmithtown, New South Wales
Smithtown is a small town on the banks of the Macleay River in New South Wales, Australia. The town of Gladstone lies across on the southern side of the river. At the 2006 census, Smithtown had a population of 591 people....
in 1927. Leaving Knox Grammar School
Knox Grammar School
Knox Grammar School is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for boys, located in Wahroonga, an upper North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
at 16, Yeldham became a jackaroo
Jackaroo (trainee)
A Jackaroo is a young man working on a sheep or cattle station, to gain practical experience in the skills needed to become an owner, overseer, manager, etc. The word originated in Queensland, Australia in the Nineteenth Century and is still in use in Australia and New Zealand in the twenty-first...
in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
but did not like it. He enlisted in the Australian Army and was posted to Japan. Returning to Sydney, he attempted to join the Sydney Morning Herald as a cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
journalist but was told they only accepted those with university degrees. He worked for Radio 2GB
2GB
2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia broadcasting on 873 kHz, AM. It is one of Australia's most popular talk-back radio stations, and is the number one station in Sydney.-History:The station commenced broadcasting in August 1926...
in Sydney instead, starting as a messenger boy and was later eventually allowed to write radio scripts for such programmes as Famous Trials, Medical Files and When a Girl Marries.Yeldham's young age may have worked for him as he was instructed that the average mental age of the Australian radio audience was thirteen and to write accordingly.
In 1956, the year television arrived in Australia, he moved to England with his family where he was given a reference to producer Harry Alan Towers
Harry Alan Towers
Harry Alan Towers was a British-born radio and film producer and screenwriter, regularly using the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over a hundred feature films and continued to write and produce well into his eighties...
. Thus began twenty years of writing for television and motion pictures in the United Kingdom. With independent television taking off in the British Isles, Yeldham was employed writing for such shows as Armchair Theatre
Armchair Theatre
Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television after 1968....
, Shadow Squad, Dial 999 and other British TV series.
Producer Jon Pennington admired Yeldham's television work and had engaged him for the screenplays of The Comedy Man and The Liquidator
The Liquidator (film)
The Liquidator is a 1965 MGM film starring Rod Taylor as Brian "Boysie" Oakes, Trevor Howard as his Intelligence Chief Mostyn and Jill St. John as Mostyn's secretary Iris MacIntosh. It was based on the first of a series of Boysie Oakes novels by John Gardner, The Liquidator.-Plot:The film follows...
. Yeldham continuing writing screenplays for Harry Alan Towers.
After disagreements with Mirisch Films
Mirisch Films
Mirisch Films was a British motion picture and television production company subsidiary of Mirisch Productions. Originally founded in 1962, it was best-known for producing The Pink Panther series of films , and various DePatie-Freleng animated cartoons, before shutting down in 1982.- Films and...
Oakmont Productions where he was engaged but not hired to write a war film to be made in England, Yeldham began writing plays.
Feeling homesick, Yeldham returned to Australia in 1972 where he was employed writing Australian television episodes and miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
. He has written more than a dozen miniseries, including 1984's All the Rivers Run
All the Rivers Run
All The Rivers Run is an Australian television miniseries from 1983 and 1989, starring Sigrid Thornton and John Waters. The miniseries is based on the Australian historical novel by Nancy Cato, first published in 1958. The film is marketed with the tagline A sweeping saga of one woman's struggle...
and 1987's Captain James Cook. Yeldham detested the title of the latter, preferring The Wind and the Stars but the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
and overseas investors insisted on the Cook title. The costly historical drama genre fell out of favour with the networks in the 1990s, so Yeldham relishes the rare chance to revisit it.
From the 1990s he turned to novel writing.
Motion pictures
- The Comedy ManThe Comedy ManThe Comedy Man is a 1964 British drama film directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Kenneth More, Cecil Parker, Dennis Price and Billie Whitelaw...
(1964) - Code 7 Victim 5 (1964)
- Ten Little IndiansTen Little Indians (1965 film)The 1965 version of Ten Little Indians is the second film version of Agatha Christie's detective novel And Then There Were None . Although its background story is the same as the 1945 version , this one takes place on an isolated snowy mountain...
(1965) - The LiquidatorThe Liquidator (film)The Liquidator is a 1965 MGM film starring Rod Taylor as Brian "Boysie" Oakes, Trevor Howard as his Intelligence Chief Mostyn and Jill St. John as Mostyn's secretary Iris MacIntosh. It was based on the first of a series of Boysie Oakes novels by John Gardner, The Liquidator.-Plot:The film follows...
(1965) - Our Man in MarrakeshOur Man in MarrakeshOur Man in Marrakesh is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Don Sharp, starring Tony Randall and Senta Berger.-Plot:...
(1966) - The Long DuelThe Long DuelThe Long Duel is a 1967 British adventure film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Yul Brynner, Trevor Howard, Charlotte Rampling and Harry Andrews...
(1967) - Age of Consent (1969)
- The Call of the WildThe Call of the Wild (1972 film)The Call of the Wild is a 1972 British family adventure film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Charlton Heston, Michèle Mercier, Raimund Harmstorf, George Eastman, and Maria Rohm....
(1972)
Mini-series
- The Timeless LandThe Timeless LandThe Timeless Land is a work of historical fiction by Eleanor Dark . The novel The Timeless Land is the first of The Timeless Land trilogy of novels about European settlement and exploration of Australia....
(1980) - All the Rivers RunAll the Rivers RunAll The Rivers Run is an Australian television miniseries from 1983 and 1989, starring Sigrid Thornton and John Waters. The miniseries is based on the Australian historical novel by Nancy Cato, first published in 1958. The film is marketed with the tagline A sweeping saga of one woman's struggle...
(1982) - 1915 (1982)
- The Far CountryThe Far Country (1952 novel)The Far Country is a novel by Nevil Shute, first published in 1952.In this novel, Shute has some harsh things to say about the new National Health Service, as well as the socialist Labour government, themes he would later develop more fully in In the Wet...
(1986) - Tusitala (miniseries) (1986)
- Captain James Cook (1987)
- The Heroes (1988)
- The Alien YearsThe Alien YearsThe Alien Years is a three-part miniseries that first aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on April 19 1988. It was directed by Donald Crombie and written by Peter Yeldham. It stars Victoria Longley, John Hargreaves and Academy Award-winner, Christoph Waltz...
(1988) - Naked Under Capricorn (1989)
- Heroes II: The Return (1991)
- Jessica (2004)
Books
Crime Fiction- Reprisal (1994)
- Without Warning (1995)
- Two Sides of a Triangle (1996)
- The Murrumbidgee Kid (2007)
- Barbed Wire and Roses (2008)
External links
- website http://www.peteryeldham.com/web/pageid/999