About

Dave is an ex-teacher, ward orderly, hot potato merchant, encyclopaedia salesman and a doffer in a Yorkshire mill.

He started his career with the BBC and has had in excess of 30 productions broadcast, the last one being the spooky thriller 'Nightmares'.

Most recently, however, he has developed his career in theatre and film. He was Resident Writer for the Library Theatre in Manchester for two years and has written several plays for them including The Beauty Game, The Cheeky Chappie (about the comedian Max Miller), Soapbox, A Marginal Affair, and several Christmas shows, including The Prince and the Pauper, Huckleberry Finn, The Secret Garden (which went on a nationwide tour), and The Little Princess (which was then adapted for BBC radio).

His adaptation of The Railway Children is constantly performed by reps and amateurs and the Birmingham Rep produced a twenty five week nationwide tour. His other stage productions include Single Sex for the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch, Perfect Partners for the Bristol Old Vic and his comedy, Girls’ Night Out, a hugely successful play which toured for three years and had a ten week run in the West End in 1998.

He was also commissioned to write the Girls’ Night Out the screenplay for Jeffrey Taylor of StageScreen Productions and this is due to go into production early next year. His other films include Love Ties which received development money from the Media programme of the European Union, Raving Beauties, and Losing It, optioned by Neil Peplow for Insider Films.

His television credits include Coronation Street, The Bill, and for five years he was a writer on Emmerdale. His 6 part comedy drama, Perfect Partners, has been optioned by Kay Mellor’s company, Rollem Productions.

He current stage play, The Naked Truth, is now on its 5th UK tour after four successful tours over the last 3 years. Dave has now written a screen adaptation of the play.

There is a new TV drama (co-written with Diane Whitley) in development with Granada TV optioned by Kay Mellor's company Rollem Productions, and Dave is also working on a film adaptation of Nightmares.

His revival of a new version of Girls Night Out toured national theatres in 2010.

He has recently formed a company called Bite Back Theatre along with his wife Diane Whitley, actress Lisa Riley and MD Theresa Barlow. They plan to tour 2 of Dave's new plays in 2012 - Cock-tails and The Wrinklies Rock and Roll Choir. He is also hoping his screen adaptation of Girls Night Out will be shooting in 2011 or 2012.

In 2011/12 he has another national tour of a new play to be produced by Ian Dickens, called Girls Night In (no relation to Girls Night Out).

Dave is a founding member of the hugely successful JB Shorts in Manchester, now into its 6th season of short 15 minute plays by professional TV writers, staged at the Joshua Brooks pub in Manchester.