Philip Purser

Who is Philip Purser?

Philip Purser is a British television critic and novelist.

Born in Letchworth Garden City, he was the son of the first female student of an art school in Sheffield who later worked as a postcard artist. His father had a varied career after service in the first world war, eventually working for Tarmac in Liverpool from 1934 when the family - Purser had an older sister, Rozanne - settled in the Wirral.

A contributor to the News Chronicle in the 1950s, he was television critic of The Sunday Telegraph from its launch in 1961 until he was sacked in 1987 by Peregrine Worsthorne, the then editor. Purser has also co-authored three editions of Halliwell's Television Companion and wrote a TV film The One and Only Phyllis Dixey on the wartime erotic entertainer for Thames in 1978. A biography of Dixey was published in the same year.

In recent years Philip Purser has contributed obituaries to The Guardian. His wife is the crime writer Ann Purser; they have two daughters and one son.