Jonathan Maitland

Why we’re flocking to matinees

29 March 2025 9:00 am

The Starland Vocal Band were on to something. In their 1976 hit ‘Afternoon Delight’ they sang, in gruesomely twee harmony:…

The mystery of Huw Edwards’s missing phone

19 October 2024 9:00 am

The best thing about being a playwright? The satisfaction of creativity. The worst? Press-night parties attended by friends, industry people…

The Huw Edwards scandal shows that the BBC never learns

17 September 2024 8:12 pm

Albert Einstein wasn’t thinking about the BBC when he defined insanity as ‘doing the same thing over and over again…

War of words: Scrabble players are being censored

2 July 2022 9:00 am

Scrabble players are being censored

Is the life of Jimmy Savile a suitable subject for drama?

11 September 2021 9:00 am

Translating the story of Jimmy Savile to stage or screen is a creative minefield, says Jonathan Maitland, who knows from first-hand experience

Why great speeches are made for stage and screen

10 October 2020 9:00 am

Curious thing, writer’s block. If you believe it exists. Terry Pratchett didn’t. ‘There’s no such thing,’ he said. ‘It was…

The idiot box

28 October 2017 9:00 am

How to sum up David Frost? The lazy writer’s friend, aka Wikipedia, calls him ‘an English journalist, comedian, writer, media…