John Hopkins (writer)

John Richard Hopkins (sometimes credited as John R. Hopkins; 27 January 1931 – 23 July 1998) was an English film, stage, and television writer.

Born in southwest London, he graduated from St Catharine's College, Cambridge.The same college as the director Terence Young. He began his career as a studio manager for BBC Television in the 1950s, before establishing himself as a writer on the BBC's popular police drama Z-Cars during the early 1960s. Hopkins eventually wrote over ninety episodes of Z-Cars, one of which featured young actress Judi Dench in the role of a delinquent youngster. This character inspired Hopkins to write what is probably his most remembered work for the small screen, the four-part play sequence Talking to a Stranger (1966). Starring Dench and transmitted as part of BBC2's Theatre 625 anthology series, the plays told the story of one bleak weekend from the viewpoints of four members of the same family.

His plays for the stage included Next of Kin, which was produced at the National Theatre in 1974 with Harold Pinter directing.Otis L. Guernsey, The Best plays of 1973-1974 (Dodd, Mead, 1974), p. 108

Television work included the 1976 Play for Today A Story to Frighten the Children, and the 1982 adaptation of John le Carré's novel Smiley's People, starring Alec Guinness, both for the BBC; and the 1988 Cold War espionage thriller Kyril for ITV.

In film, Hopkins...
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