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Writer. Prior to becoming one of Britain's most successful comedy writing teams of the 1960s and early 1970s, Harry Driver (born in Blackley, Manchester on 13 May 1931) and Vince Powell (born in Miles Platting, Manchester on 6 August 1929) worked the clubs of their native Manchester in an amateur capacity as the comedy double act 'Hammond and Powell'.
Powell was born as Vincent Joseph Smith to Roman Catholic parents in Miles Platting, Manchester. When he was five, his mother died; two years later, his father remarried. Powell began a career as a tailor following the lead of his father, while performing as a comedian in the evenings. He met Harry Driver on the local club circuit.
- Overview
- Episodes written by Vince Powell
- Pardon the Expression
- Episodes storylined by Vince Powell
Vince Powell (born 6th August 1928 in Manchester, died 13th July 2009, Surrey), wrote 42 episodes of Coronation Street in the 1960s, eleven with regular partner Harry Driver and a further thirty-one solo. He was also, along with Driver, the programme's first storyliner for 50 episodes from October 1961 to April 1962 during which the pair worked on devising stories during the problematical Equity actors' strike, after which Driver worked alone or with other writers. Powell also had many joint writing credits with Driver on series like Nearest and Dearest (with Madge Hindle), and Bless This House and went on to solo success writing and creating comedies like Young at Heart and Never the Twain.
His early ambition, sustained by many visits to theatres to see comedy acts, was in the field of performing and he first worked on stage with a fellow engineering apprentice named Kevin O'Flaherty. He later advertised for another partner and met Harry Driver for the first time. In 1955 Driver contracted polio and was paralysed from the neck down and the two turned to writing instead finding early success with scripts for Harry Worth. As well as Coronation Street the two worked on the spin-off Pardon the Expression as well as Adam Adamant Lives!, George and the Dragon, Two In Clover, For The Love Of Ada and Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width. Their partnership came to an end in 1973 with Driver's death, just a few months into working on Love Thy Neighbour. Powell continued alone with The Wackers, Mind Your Language, Bottle Boys and A Sharp Intake Of Breath. His career stalled in the 1980s as television executives moved away from traditional sitcoms to "alternative" comedy and Powell was constantly having to defend his work on series like Love Thy Neighbour and Mind Your Language against charges of racism, despite the fact that almost all of the people involved in the series (and few viewers at the time of the original transmissions) had no issues themselves.
1960s
1961 (4 episodes - all co-written with Harry Driver) •Episode 19 (15th February 1961) •Episode 26 (13th March 1961) •Episode 52 (12th June 1961) •Episode 77 (6th September 1961) 1962 (3 episodes - all co-written with Harry Driver) •Episode 114 (15th January 1962) •Episode 118 (29th January 1962) •Episode 124 (19th February 1962) 1964 (5 episodes - all co-written with Harry Driver except for Episode 368) •Episode 368 (22nd June 1964) •Episode 388 (31st August 1964) •Episode 398 (5th October 1964) •Episode 408 (9th November 1964) •Episode 422 (28th December 1964) 1965 (16 episodes) •Episode 444 (15th March 1965) •Episode 451 (7th April 1965) •Episode 458 (3rd May 1965) •Episode 460 (10th May 1965) •Episode 461 (12th May 1965) •Episode 465 (26th May 1965) •Episode 470 (14th June 1965) •Episode 479 (14th July 1965) •Episode 484 (2nd August 1965) •Episode 498 (20th September 1965) •Episode 501 (29th September 1965) •Episode 507 (20th October 1965) •Episode 512 (8th November 1965) •Episode 514 (15th November 1965) •Episode 521 (8th December 1965) •Episode 526 (27th December 1965) 1966 (7 episodes) •Episode 534 (24th January 1966) •Episode 544 (28th February 1966) •Episode 564 (9th May 1966) •Episode 591 (10th August 1966) •Episode 596 (29th August 1966) •Episode 599 (7th September 1966) •Episode 617 (9th November 1966) 1967 (7 episodes) •Episode 641 (6th February 1967) •Episode 650 (8th March 1967) •Episode 659 (10th April 1967) •Episode 660 (12th April 1967) •Episode 670 (17th May 1967) •Episode 683 (3rd July 1967) •Episode 689 (24th July 1967)
•The Dance
•The Pensioner
•The Visitor
(Note: all subsequent episodes were co-written with Harry Driver)
•The Old One-Two
•The Economy Drive
1961 (22 episodes)
•All episodes between Episode 88 (16th October 1961) and Episode 109 (27th December 1961)
1962 (28 episodes)
•All episodes between Episode 110 (1st January 1962) and Episode 137 (4th April 1962)
Harry Driver. Harry Driver[1] (13 May 1931 – 25 November 1973) was a British television scriptwriter and executive producer. He is best remembered for his partnership with Vince Powell on comedy television programmes including Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width, Nearest and Dearest, Bless This House and Love Thy Neighbour.
Vince Powell (6 August 1928 – 13 July 2009) was a British television scriptwriter. He was the creator of Mind Your Language and wrote scripts for every episode. He also wrote scripts for Here's Harry, Love Thy Neighbour, and several other TV series. Powell often partnered with Harry Driver until the latter's death in 1973. He was married three times, and had a son with his second wife and a ...
He was drawn to the story of Simon Cadell through not only `Hi-de-hi!' but also `Life Without George', a programme he identified with having grown up in the Thatcher era. Published on March 31st, 2020. Written by Brian Slade for Television Heaven. Sid and Vic are two frustrated office workers who decide to leave behind their nine to five ...
Jul 22, 2009 · Vince Powell was born Vincent Joseph Smith on August 6 1928 in Miles Platting, a working-class district of Manchester, where his father was a tailor. Stage-struck from boyhood, young Vince was ...
