Romana Barrack OBE (5 August 1928 – 31 May 2016),[2] known professionally as Carla Lane, was an English television writer responsible for several successful British sitcoms, including The Liver Birds (co-creator, 1969–1979), Butterflies (1978–1983), and Bread (1986–1991).

[6] Her father was Gordon De Vince Barrack, a Welsh-Italian steward in the merchant navy, and her mother was Ivy Amelia (née Foran).

Upon Mills' departure from the position of head of comedy at the BBC in 1972, Lane took sole responsibility for writing the scripts beginning in 1973.

In Butterflies, described as "undoubtedly ... her finest work", she addressed the lead character's desires for freedom from her "decent but dull" husband.

[4] Wendy Craig, who starred in Butterflies, said of Lane: "Her greatest gift was that she understood women and wrote the truth about them ... She spoke about what others didn't.

"[12] In Bread, which ran for seven series,[5] "she became the first woman to mine television comedy from sexual and personal relationships through a galère of expertly-etched contemporary characters, developed against a backdrop of social issues such as divorce, adultery and..

[2] However, Bread was criticised by some in Liverpool for portraying a stereotypical view of people in the city,[13] an opinion that Lane rejected.