Number 10: The Private Lives of Six Prime Ministers [Hardback], Terance Feely

Terence John Feely was born in Liverpool and educated at Liverpool's Jesuit College where he studied English and Psychology. He then went on to gain a first in English literature at Liverpool University.

On completion of his studies, he became a political journalist, initially working for a small local newspaper in Middlesbrough. He quickly moved to London where he joined the editorial staff of 'The Sunday Graphic' and he co-wrote a regular political column with Lord Hailsham.

He also branched out into the world of film scripts and, in 1955, legendary director Alfred Hitchcock purchased the rights to one of his scripts entitled 'Heartbeat'.

In 1959 moved into television and wrote several episodes of the police detective series 'No Hiding Place'. So successful were these that he then wrote episodes for many popular television series such as 'The Avengers', 'The Saint', and Gerry Anderson's popular puppet series, 'Thunderbirds'. In addition he was directly involved in bringing the character Callan to the television screen and in the mid 1960s, he became story editor for 'Armchair Theatre' and ATV's 'Mystery and Imagination'

In 1967, he joined the British arm of Paramount Pictures, and was partly responsible for ensuring the production of the 1968 film 'If....' and he went on to become a co-director of Everyman Films (with Patrick McGoohan and David Tomlin). The company's most notable production was the cult fantasy series 'The Prisoner', for which he wrote many episodes.

In the 1970s, he worked on shows such as 'The Persuaders', 'Arthur of the Britons', 'The Protectors', 'UFO', 'Space: 1999', 'Thriller', 'Within These Walls', and 'The New Avengers', as well as branching out into comedy with 'Robin's Nest'.

He also adapted the Henry James novel 'Affairs of the Heart' for television in 1974 and produced an anthology of James' short stories under the same title.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he also wrote episodes for the BBC detective series 'Shoestring' and 'Bergerac', as well as episodes of Dick Francis' 'Thriller: The Racing Game'. However, the series he is perhaps best remembered for is the groundbreaking ITV police drama 'The Gentle Touch', which he created and also penned several scripts. The series was a huge ratings hit, running for five seasons from 1980–84, and is notable for being the first British police series with a female lead character (Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes, played by Jill Gascoine).

In 1985, he created the 'Gentle Touch' spin-off series 'C.A.T.S. Eyes', about a team of female private investigators who covertly work for the British Home Office, which ran until 1987.

Also in the 1980s, he co-wrote the screen adaptation of Judith Krantz' novel 'Mistral's Daughter', which was produced as a US television mini-series in 1984, as well as adapting two of Barbara Cartland's novels for television, 'A Hazard of Hearts' in 1987, and 'The Lady and the Highwayman' in 1989.

Aside from his work as a screenwriter, he also penned several novels, a number of plays, and 'Number 10 The Private Lives of Six Prime Ministers', which also became an acclaimed drama series in 1983.

One of his last novels, Limelight, was awarded New York's Book of the Year prize.

He died on 13 August 2000, aged 72.