Biography
David Andrew Yallop was born on January 27, 1937, in South London. His mother was Irish, and his father was English. Raised as a Catholic, he served as an altar boy at his local church and attended the local school. While he was an average student in most subjects, he excelled in English, a talent recognized and nurtured by his teacher, Mr. Collins.
At 14, David left school because his mother could no longer afford to keep him there. He began working as a tea boy in a newspaper office, aspiring to become a journalist. After completing his mandatory National Service, he found work in television. Independent television began on September 22, 1955. After several positions, David joined Associated Rediffusion, which later became Rediffusion, first as Assistant Floor Manager and then Floor Manager. In 1968, following company changes, he moved to London Weekend Television. He began writing alongside his television duties and eventually left TV to write full-time.
David’s writing career started in television before he authored books, as he was already immersed in that field. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote for numerous pop groups, singers, and comedians. Among those he wrote for were the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Elton John, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Dusty Springfield, Ingrid Bergman, Lulu, Cilla Black, the Who, Freddie and the Dreamers, Frankie Laine, the Moody Blues, the Monkees, Tom Jones, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Desmond Dekker, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Phil Collins, the Righteous Brothers, Sonny and Cher, Noddy Holder and Slade, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Nat King Cole, Billy Daniels, David Whitfield, Engelbert Humperdinck, the Four Tops, Stan Getz, Gary Glitter, Hot Chocolate, Jackie Wilson, the Bee Gees, Marianne Faithfull, Georgie Fame, Judy Garland, Julie Covington, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, Kiki Dee, Kenny Lynch, Stevie Wonder, David Barry, Meatloaf, Ike and Tina Turner, Louis Armstrong, the Hollies, Matt Monro, and Mary Hopkin. He also crafted special material for Charlie Drake, Rolf Harris, David Frost, and Spike Milligan.
David Yallop is best known for his ten bestselling books, recently released on Kindle by Amazon, with some still available in print. These include Deliver Us from Evil; To Encourage the Others; In God's Name—which has remained in print since its initial 1984 publication; Beyond Reasonable Doubt; To the Ends of the Earth; and The Day the Laughter Stopped, the story of Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle. This particular book is now rare but can be found secondhand. It is especially appealing to film enthusiasts, as Arbuckle was one of the first Hollywood movie stars, working with Mack Sennett as one of the original Keystone Kops. Arbuckle introduced both Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to the industry. The book’s title, The Day the Laughter Stopped, comes from words spoken by Buster Keaton. It offers a captivating account of early Hollywood and its rise to power. The other titles in the series are Beyond Belief; Unholy Alliance; How They Stole the Game; and The Power and the Glory. These works have been translated into multiple languages and published worldwide. He has written under the names David A. Yallop, favored by his mother, and David Yallop, preferred by his publishers.
A prolific scriptwriter, David also penned screenplays for two films and a stage play. The films include Chicago Joe and the Showgirl, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Emily Lloyd, and Beyond Reasonable Doubt, adapted from his novel of the same name. The latter was commissioned by New Zealand director John Barnett and starred Australian actor John Hargreaves alongside British actor David Hemmings. In 2014, Barnett expressed pride in this film.
For the television series Minder, featuring George Cole and Dennis Waterman, David wrote several scripts, including "The Balance of Power" in Series 5; two episodes in Series 7 titled "Days of Fines and Closures" and "The Wrong Goodbye"; five episodes in Series 8: "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Entrepreneur," "Whatever Happened to Her Indoors," "Three Cons Make a Mountain," "Guess Who's Coming to Pinner," and "A Bird in the Hand Is Worth Two in Shepherd’s Bush"; and two episodes in Series 9: "Cars and Pints and Pains" and "Looking for Mr. Goodtime."
His television plays include To Encourage the Others for the BBC (nominated for an SFTA), The Fruits of Philosophy for Granada, They Ran Before the Wind for New Zealand TV, Why Not? for ATV, Monty Python in the Court of America for the BBC, Next Time Lucky for BBC Play for Today, Are You in the Business for ATV, Voices in My Ear for Limehouse Productions, Young Man in a Hurry for LWT, My Learned Friend for the BBC, and The Marchioness Disaster for Granada/Yorkshire TV.
In addition to Minder, David contributed to several other TV series: Crown Court (12 three-part plays for Granada), Orlando (which he created), EastEnders (105 storylines for the BBC), and An Independent Man (which he created and solely wrote for ITV).
Regarding television comedy, David recalls writing for Frost on Sunday and Barker & Corbett for LWT, That Was the Week That Was for the BBC, Out of the Trees (co-written with Graham Chapman of Monty Python), and French Without Tears for Canadian Broadcasting.
His sole stage play, In Search of a Man, was commissioned by his close friend, director Alan Clarke, who directed the production for the Questors Theatre.
David continues to write and is currently compiling a collection of short pieces he has written for magazines, which will be published soon.
