Life imitating art in ex-detective's play

MORE than 20 years after he started writing it, former Northumbria Police detective Arthur McKenzie is finally set to premiere his new play Blackbird in the Snow tomorrow, May 6.

- SAM WONFOR

At 85, Arthur has more than four decades of writing credits to his name.

As well as an impressive theatre résumé - including a musical about the Jarrow March co-written with musician John Miles - he's written for some of Britain's most enduring TV dramas, including The Bill, Casualty, and Wycliffe.

He also penned the 2013 feature film Harrigan, a gritty crime drama starring Stephen Tompkinson.

But despite his experience, Arthur says the nerves never go away. “I’m nervous - of course I am. Always,” he says during rehearsals at Laurels Theatre in Whitley Bay, where the new production is being staged.

“I'm confident in my ability to write, but of course you never know how it’s going to go - and with this play in particular, I feel a real responsibility to make it as good as it can be. For Davey.”