[3] The turning point in Simpson’s life came in 1957 when he won third prize in The Observer newspaper’s quest for new writers, headed by theatre critic Kenneth Tynan.
In 1959 the first complete production of the two-act version was performed by the Cambridge Theatre Actors, under the direction of John Bird with Peter Cook and Eleanor Bron in the leading roles.
A close relationship between Simpson and the Royal Court continued after Tinkle, encompassing the plays The Hole (1958),[9] his key work One Way Pendulum (1959) and The Cresta Run (1965).
[9] He wrote The Form (1961) for the Arts Theatre, and contributed to the West End revues One To Another (1959), One Over The Eight (1961) and On The Avenue (1961), which variously involved Peter Cook, John Mortimer, Harold Pinter, Beryl Reid and Kenneth Williams.
Following a long break from substantial theatre writing, Simpson returned to the Royal Court in 1972 with Was He Anyone?,[9] which formed the basis of Harry Bleachbaker, a novel published in 1976.
[13] Subsequently, Simpson’s radio work rarely strayed from the confines of the Third Programme, most notably the 1982 monologues Snippets, read by Richard Vernon.
BBC TV produced a live performance of One Way Pendulum, now lost, whilst Granada mounted a shortened version of A Resounding Tinkle for ITV.
He was invited to contribute to BBC TV’s That Was The Week That Was, although his sketch, 'Televising Parliament', was dropped due to overruns in the live transmission on 16 November 1963,[14] and has never surfaced.
Hot on the heels of his Summer Holiday success, director Peter Yates agreed to shoot Simpson’s best known stage play, One Way Pendulum (1964).
Starring Eric Sykes, George Cole and a mute Jonathan Miller, Yates' rendition of the play captured Simpson’s matter-of-fact approach to nonsense but failed at the box office.
He followed this with World in Ferment (1969), a six-part parody of current affairs programming with John Bird, Eleanor Bron, Jack Shepherd and Angela Thorne, of which no episodes survive.
Simpson’s highest-profile production for television was Elementary, My Dear Watson (1973), a Sherlock Holmes parody for BBC One's Comedy Playhouse starring John Cleese and Willie Rushton.