Peter Ransley

Peter Ransley (born 10 December 1931) is an award winning British screenwriter, playwright and novelist. In a writing career spanning more than five decades, he is best known as a screenwriter of psychological thrillers, plays with a social theme and historical dramas. He also founded the charity Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA).

Peter was born in Yorkshire in 1931 and grew up in Pudsey where he attended Pudsey Grammar School. In 1949, he served his national service with the RAF based in Singapore at Changi Airport. Peter subsequently worked as a trade journalist, and was founding editor of Plastics & Rubber Weekly, which ran for more than fifty years before closure in 2017.

Peter started his writing career on the stage with (a) Runaway at the Royal Court, (b) Ellen at the Hampstead Theatre Club and (c) Disabled at the Stables Theatre Club. Ellen was performed at the Hampstead Theatre Club with Ian McShane and Maria Aitken, and directed by Richard Wilson OBE.

Peter then moved to writing for the radio and television. In the early 1980s, Peter wrote episodes of Tales of the Unexpected and single plays for the seminal BBC Plays for Today Series. His Kate the Good Neighbourwon the Gold Medal in the Commonwealth Film and TV Festival in 1980, whileMinor Complications, based on a real case of medical negligence, gained him the Royal Television Society’s Writer’s Award in 1981. In 1986, Peter's mini-series The Pricewas nominated for a BAFTA for Best Drama.

His three most recent TV productions were Fallen Angel (ITV 2007), A Good Murder (BBC1 2006)and the BAFTA nominatedadaptation of Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith (BBC1 2005). Peter has written a number of films including The Hawk (1993) which starred Helen Mirren and The Cormorant (1995)which starred Ralph Fiennes.

Peter has also focused on historical fiction with (a) television dramas such as Bread or Blood (1981)and Seaforth (1994)and (b) the "Tom Neave" trilogy of novels based around the English civil war(published between 2012 and 2015).

In 1980, the BBC aired Minor Complications - a play for the day written by Peter. This play was based on a real case of medical negligence, and public response to the play led to Peter setting up AvMA together with his wife Cynthia and its first chief executive, Arnold Simanowitz OBE. AvMA is the UK charity for patient safety and justice, which provides free independent advice and support to people affected by medical accidents. In the 35 years since its founding, AvMA has provided advice and support to over 100,000 people affected by medical accidents.

Peter is married to Cynthia and lives in West London. He has two children (Nicholas and Rebecca) and three grandchildren (Blake, Finlay and Nina).