After the performance of his 52nd play, he was described as "Britain's most prolific playwright", surpassing Shakespeare's 37 and Alan Ayckbourn's 51.
He was educated at Glasgow High School and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
He taught in the Drama Department of University College of North Wales, Bangor, and was senior lecturer in acting at the School of Theatre, Manchester Polytechnic, before giving up teaching to write full-time.
[2] His record-breaking 52nd play was Soul Doubt, staged at the New End Theatre, Hampstead, London in 1997.
The kitchen is a Bohemian nightmare where dirty dishes, bottles of whisky and gin, and tubes of toothpaste vie for space."