David William Boutland David William Boutland i(A133881 works by)
Also writes as: David Rome ; Richard Ansvar
Born: Established: 1938 Durham, Durham (County),
c
England,
c
c
United Kingdom (UK),
c
Western Europe, Europe,
;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Author, screenwriter.

David Boutland's parents John George Boutland, an electrical mechanic, and Gertrude Helen (nee Lucas), immigrated to Australia with their three children in 1951 under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme. After completing his schooling Boutland pursued a career as a freelance writer, and in 1960 returned to England with his wife Shirley. It was here that his science fiction short stories, written under the pseudonym 'David Rome', began to appear in such magazines as Science Fantasy, New Worlds Science Fiction, Pocket Man, Amazing, Galaxy and Science Fiction Adventures. Boutland's first story to be published in the UK was 'Time of Arrival' (New Worlds April 1961).

In addition to having his works published in science fiction magazines, Boutland also began submitting stories to a number of early 1960s anthologies, notably New Writings in SF, New Writings in Horror and the Supernatural, and The Second Pacific Book of Science Fiction. Steve Holland records in his Bear Alley blog that two of Boutland's stories were also selected by Judith Merril for her Annual of the Year's Best S-F anthologies. One of these, 'Parky,' first published in Science Fantasy in 1961, was later reprinted in The Best Australian Science Fiction Writing: A Fifty Year Collection (q.v.). Between 1964 and 1968 Boutland also contributed more than twenty storylines to the Commando, War Picture Library and Battle Picture Library comics.

Sometime around 1963/1964 Boutland returned to Australia and began writing pulp fiction novels, still under the David Rome pseudonym, for Sydney-based publisher Horwitz, including its Scripts imprint (qq.v.). The first Boutland/Rome novel to be published by Horwitz was Squat: Sexual Adventures on Other Planets in 1964. Squat was later awarded runner-up status at the third Australian Science Fiction Achievement Awards after being re-issued in 1971 by Scripts

While Boutland's output for Horwitz/Scripts as David Rome was largely popular fiction, he nevertheless continued to have his science fiction short stories published in such magazines as Man, Man Junior, Adam, Vision of Tomorrow and Galaxy Science Fiction. These appeared under the names David Rome or Richard Ansvar. In 1972, under his real name, he also wrote The Professional, a work on prostitution conceived and produced by Ron Smith.

By the early to mid-1970s Boutland had begun to turn his attention more towards writing for television, a career move which saw him contribute numerous scripts under his birth name during the next three decades. Among the best known series for which he contributed material are Homicide (1968-75), Division 4 (1969), Ryan (1973-74), Matlock Police (q.v., 1972-76), Rush (1974-76), Tandarra (1976), A County Practice (q.v., 1981-85), The Flying Doctors (1988), G.P. (1990-93), Halifax F.P. (1995-97), Stingers (1999), MDA (2002) and Blue Heelers (q.v., 1997-2003). Although he ended his fulltime career as a freelance television scriptwriter in the early to mid-2000s, David Boutland continues to write in his retirement.

[Some information in this entry has been sourced from Steve Holland].

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • Steve Holland notes that several references to David Boutland having directed episodes from A Country Practice in 1981 are incorrect (see for example his entry in the Internet Movie Database).

  • Further Reference:

Awards for Works

form y separately published work icon MDA Medical Defence Australia ( dir. Shawn Seet et. al. )agent Australia : Screentime Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2002-2005 Z1881854 2002-2005 series - publisher film/TV crime

'Enter the world of Medical Defence Australia, a medico-legal organisation that exists to defend doctors and where necessary compensate patients. All cases at MDA combine elements of law and medicine so each case is managed by a doctor and a lawyer who agree on how to proceed. It's a unique organisation that delves into morally complex and emotion filled relationships between doctors and patients.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive (http://www.australiantelevision.net/mda/mda.html). (Sighted: 22/2/2013)

2006 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2003 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2003 nominated The International Emmy Awards Drama Series
2002 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Television Drama Series
2004 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Television Drama Series
2005 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Television Drama Series
2005 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Screenplay in Television
form y separately published work icon Stingers ( dir. Julian McSwiney et. al. )agent Australia : Beyond Simpson Le Mesurier Nine Network , 1998-2004 6031565 1998 series - publisher film/TV crime detective

'Inspired by true events, Stingers reveals the shadowy and ambiguous world of undercover cops — people with covert lives and constantly changing identities. They are police who defeat crime from within the criminal world — always without a badge and frequently without protection. The series follows the lives of the operatives as they befriend and betray those on the other side of the law. For these select few, it is a deadly way of life.The undercover cops of Stingers are a unique breed. They must juggle their own lives — love, laughter, family and humanity — with the tension of the criminal personas they adopt in their passion for justice.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 7/6/2013)

2001 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2005 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2003 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Television Drama Series
2004 winner Australian Film Institute Awards Best Television Drama Series
2003 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2002 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
form y separately published work icon All Saints All Saints : Medical Response Unit ( dir. Leigh Spence et. al. )agent 1998 Australia : Seven Network Red Heart Entertainment , 1998-2009 Z1571142 1998 series - publisher film/TV

One of Australia's highest rating dramas, All Saints is a Logie Award-winning Australian medical drama set in the fictional All Saints Western General Hospital in suburban Sydney. The stories originally focused on the nursing staff of Ward 17 run by Nursing Unit Manager Terri Sullivan. It was sometimes referred to as the 'garbage ward' because it took the overflow of patients.

In 2004 Network Seven producers overhauled the series in an effort to increase the show's gradually dwindling audience. They achieved this by closing down Ward 17 and transferring some of the staff to the Emergency Department managed by Frank Campion. Several other new lead characters were also introduced. The changes also saw the storylines begin to focus more on the lives of the doctors and nurses.

Another significant change to the series came in early 2009 when the producers introduced the Medical Response Unit. Central to this development was the helicopter which took doctors to rescue situations outside the hopsital and which in turn brought patients to the All Saints Emergency Department. The show's name was also changed at this time to All Saints: Medical Response Unit. The increased production costs created by having scenes shot on location played a part, however, in the series being cancelled mid-year. The series ended with the Emergency Department and Medical Response Unit teams having a dinner to farewell the last remaining original character, Von Ryan on her final day at All Saints.

All Saints was popular in many countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and Iran.

1999 nominated Logie Awards Most Popular Australian Program
2000 nominated Logie Awards Most Popular Australian Program
2001 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2001 winner Logie Awards Most Popular Australian Program
2002 winner Logie Awards Most Popular Australian Program
2004 nominated Logie Awards Most Popular Australian Program
2004 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2005 nominated Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
2006 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2006 nominated Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
2007 nominated Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
2008 nominated Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
2010 nominated Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
2007 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Television Drama Series
2006 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Television Drama Series
2005 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Television Drama Series
2002 nominated Australian Film Institute Awards Best Television Drama Series
2003 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2002 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2000 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
Last amended 6 Feb 2013 13:25:06
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