Peter Gibbs interview - the first-class cricketer who became writer for TV series Heartbeat

PETER GIBBS is a former county cricketer who became a prolific writer of scripts for some of the best-known drama series on television.

After opening the batting for Derbyshire from 1967 to 1972 he began writing drama scripts for radio and later for television, eventually becoming an award-winning doyen of the business.

He wrote 12 episodes of The Bill in 1990, three episodes of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates in 1998 and a staggering 52 episodes of Heartbeat between 1996 and 2009, making him the writer of more scripts than anyone else for this nostalgic feel-good series set in 1960s Yorkshire.