Maurice Wiltshire

Maurice Wiltshire circa 1960
Born	(1916-09-19)19 September 1916 Broxburn, Scotland, UK
Died	26 January 1991(1991-01-26) (aged 74)} Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	BBC Radio producer, scriptwriter, newspaper editor
Years active	1948 – 1973
Spouses	Pauline Willson ​ ​ (m. 1949, divorced)​ Elizabeth Hickson ​ ​ (m. 1959⁠–⁠1991)​

Maurice Wiltshire was born on 19 September 1916 in Broxburn, Scotland, UK. Wiltshire was a writer, known for My Brother's Keeper (1948), The Army Game (1957) and Rheingold Theatre (1953).

Wiltshire was a professional script writer, focusing mainly on television comedy. Often-times was script writing partner with Larry Stephens during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

He left the BBC and moved permanently to Australia around 1968, where he wrote and edited scripts for ABC (channels 7 and 9) until 1973.

After his time at ABC, he returned to his old profession of sub-editing newspapers, at which point he no longer worked in television.

Maurice was previously married to Elizabeth Hickson and Pauline Willson. Maurice died on 26 January 1991 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Partial Scriptography

(Based on information in the Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy, The Goon Show Companion by Wilmut & Grafton, and other sources)

• My Brother's Keeper (1948) (Feature film, B&W, 96 mins, drama) ...author (Script was by Frank Harvey Jr. from a short story by Maurice Wiltshire)
• "Two's Company" (1956-7) (TV comedy sketch series, 23 episodes, 30 mins, B&W, Granada) ...writer (alongside Len Fincham, Lawrie Wyman, Johnny Speight, Dick Barry. (Directed by Peter Eton of Goon Show fame)
• Dearth of a Salesman (1957) (Short) ...co-wrote screenplay with Lewis Greifer.
• Insomnia Is Good For You (1957) (Short) ...co-wrote screenplay with Lewis Greifer.
• Cold Comfort (1957) (Short) ...co-wrote screenplay with Lewis Greifer.
• "Early to Braden" (1957-8) (TV comedy sketch series, 19 episodes, 30 mins, B&W, BBC) ...writer (many other well known writers also contributed.
• "The Army Game" (1957–61) (TV comedy series, more than 41 episodes, 30 mins, B&W, ITV) ...co-writer with Larry Stephens

Note: Together with Larry Stephens, Maurice Wiltshire co-wrote 5 out of 13 shows in 1st series, 9 out of 26 shows in 2nd series, an unspecified number of shows out of 39 shows in 3rd series). Due to Larry Stephens' death in 1959, halfway through the 3rd series, Wiltshire went on to write 27 shows in the 4th and 5th series, out of a total of 76 shows.

• "Drake's Progress" (1957-8) (TV series, 12 episodes, 30 mins, two seasons) ...co-writer.
• "The Goon Show" (1958) (Radio comedy series, co-wrote four episodes with Larry Stephens, when Spike Milligan was indisposed [Series 8: #15 The Thing on the Mountain, #17 The Moriarty Murder Mystery, and #19 The White Neddie Trade. Series 9: #7 The Seagoon Memoirs] ...writer

The Seagoon Memoirs was Larry Stephens' final Goon Show script. It is interesting that even though Maurice Wiltshire was script editor for The Telegoons, none of the Goon Show scripts he co-wrote with Larry Stephens were used for The Telegoons. I don't think that this was a coincidence; rather It's probable that Spike wanted to have his name firmly enshrined as script author, and was probably a measure of his high expectations for the puppets.

• "The Dickie Henderson Show" (1960) (TV comedy sketch series, 1 episode, B&W, ATV) ...co-writer.
• "The Dick Emery Show" (1963-1981 ) (TV comedy series, additional material) ...writer (many other well known writers also contributed)
• "HMS Paradise" (1964) (TV comedy series, 13 episodes) ...writer. (Note: TV version of radio's The Navy Lark)
• "The Telegoons" (1963-4) (TV puppet comedy series, all 26 episodes) ...script editor.
• Porterhouse - Private Eye (1965) (TV comedy, 1 pilot episode, 30 mins) ...writer.
• "Ghost Squad" (1965) aka “G.S.5” (UK: 3rd season title)(TV crime series, 52 episodes, 60 mins, B&W, ATV) ...writer
• "The Lance Percival Show" (1966) (TV series, 2nd season, 6 episodes, 25 mins, B&W, BBC1) ...co-writer with Lew Schwarz.
• "I'm Alright Now" (1967) (TV series, all 20 episodes, ABC) ...writer.
• "I've Married a Bachelor" (1968–69) (TV series, sitcom, 14 episodes, 30 min, ABC) ...script editor
• "The Greater Illustrated History of the Glorious Antipodes" (1969) (TV comedy sketch series, B&W, 6 episodes, 30 mins, ABC) ...co-writer with John O'Grady.
• "Australia A to Z" (1970–71) (TV comedy sketch series, 14 episodes, 30 mins, videotape, B&W, ABC) ...co-writer with John O'Grady.
  (Note: A follow-up to The Greater Illustrated History of the Glorious Antipodes)
• "The Comedy Game" (1971 and 1973) (TV comedy sketch series, ABC) ...co-writer with John O'Grady. (Goons-inspired surrealist humour)