[7] In 1952, he developed a potential radio series for Hancock, which was designed to run for a full half-hour without musical breaks, then usual, called Vacant Lot.

[8] After its rediscovery in the BBC Archives by Stephens' biographer Julie Warren, Vacant Lot was finally premiered in November 2017 – 65 years after its planned broadcast.

Staged by Birmingham Comedy Festival as a live 'script-in-hand' performance with actor and impressionist James Hurn (as Tony Hancock) and Janice Connolly among the cast, Stephens' "great writing" was noted.

[11] Stephens wrote for a number of popular shows, comedians and entertainers in the 1950s including Arthur Askey, Jon Pertwee and Dick Emery,[12] Dickie Valentine,[9] Kenneth Horne, Derek Roy, and Charles Hawtrey.

[19] In February 1954, the BBC asserted that Stephens had violated the terms of his contract by failing to deliver scripts for The Goon Show on time, and that, thereafter, his work would only be considered on spec.

[10] Per McCann (2006), Stephens was Logical, perceptive and clever, he could capture Milligan's quick little ideas before they shot straight out of sight and then place them into a relatively coherent structure.

His own keen visual sense – he would even illustrate his scripts with vivid little drawings of certain goons – helped sharpen some of Milligan's characterisations and stimulated his already rich and lively imagination.

[19] Stephens' heavy drinking had aggravated his high blood pressure, and he died on 26 January 1959; the official cause of death was a cerebral haemorrhage brought about by chronic hypertension.