Jill Hyem

Who is Jill Hyem?

Formerly an actress, Jill Hyem became a successful British radio and television writer.

Hyem was born in Putney and brought up in Devon and East Sheen. She studied at the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art. Early experience as an actress saw her perform at the Connaught Theatre Worthing, where one of her roles was as Eliza Doolittle in "Pygmalion", and in films such as "The Trunk" with Phil Carey. In 1962 she made her West End debut in Goodnight Mrs Puffin with Irene Handl. On television she appeared in "Richard the Lionheart" with Dermot Walsh, Dixon of Dock Green, Sergeant Cork, and as the daughter of Jimmy Edwards and Beryl Reid in the comedy series Bold as Brass.

Her writing career took off when she became one of the principal writers on the radio programme The Dales. When that folded she was asked to devise a more contemporary replacement and Waggoner's Walk was the result, which she and Alan stayed with for its 11-year run. She also wrote 30 radio plays including "Now She Laughs, Now She Cries", "Post Mortems" and the thriller "Remember Me" which won the annual Giles Cooper award.

Her TV works include: the popular drama Tenko for which she wrote half the episodes, secret agent drama Wish Me Luck which she co-created with long-time collaborator Lavinia Warner, the groundbreaking nurses drama Angels, episodes of Wendy Craig's Nanny, the first series of sex and sailing soap opera Howards' Way, a mini-series adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's Act of Will, period costume drama The House of Eliott, the Campion episodes "The Case of the Late Pig" and "Sweet Danger", and the Miss Marple mystery At Bertram's Hotel.