TV’s king of family viewing, a rift with his own daughter ...and a toxic legacy
Genius behind Darling Buds cuts f irst child out of £660k will as sons get every penny
HE was the TV genius behind such family favourites as The Darling Buds Of May and Bergerac.
As one of the most successful writers and producers in television history, Robert Banks Stewart created programmes that were hits in households across the country – from the 1970s detective series Shoestring to classic episodes of Dr Who and the popular antiques drama Lovejoy.
But behind his glitzy life at the top of the broadcasting world, the Scot – who died in January this year aged 84 – was caught up in a bitter family rift.
Edinburgh-born Mr Stewart’s newly-published will shows that the split was so deep he deliberately left nothing to his only daughter.
The document states that he was making no provision for Jackie Murray, his daughter from his first marriage in Scotland, ‘for reasons well known to my family’.
Instead he left his entire estate – worth £662,530 before inheritance tax and funeral expenses – to the three sons from his second marriage.
Last week retired police constable Mrs Murray, 62, admitted she’d had a ‘strained relationship’ with her father, whom she had not seen for 16 years.
She said she had always loved him and they were on good terms in his 1980s heyday when she was working in Hong Kong.
Mrs Murray, who is divorced with no children, said: ‘When I joined the police, he was over the moon.’
But they had ‘drifted apart’ and their relationship soured when he admitted that his sons had discussed with him whether or not she should feature in his will, Mrs Murray said.
She added: ‘I was actually quite taken aback and said to him it should surely only be his decision.
‘I went on to say that I would rather have a relationship with him and not the boys. He told me how important they were in his life. I took that to heart and said I didn’t want to be part of the family any more.
‘I thought, “Hang on, I would rather have you alive. If that is how you feel Dad, then stick with your sons. I’ll just stay out of your life”. So I did.’
Mrs Murray said that she had sent her father Christmas cards but they went unanswered.
She was last in contact with him when she called in 2008 to say that her mother had died, but she did attend his funeral this year at Mortlake Crematorium near his home in Twickenham, South-West London.
Mrs Murray said a family member had asked her not to attend the ceremony, saying her father had not wanted her there. But she claimed another relative had welcomed her to the service.
A piper played at the funeral in recognition of her father’s Scottish birth and his coffin was draped with the Saltire. Mrs Murray said she had not expected to be left anything in his will, adding: ‘The fact that Dad died is bad enough for me. ‘I would not have said no, but I have always managed. The boys were always in contact with him far more than I ever was, so it’s only fair. It’s not about being left money. It would have been nicer to have maintained a relationship, but it was twisted by some people. That’s life.’ Mr Banks Stewart was born in July 1931 and began writing as a journalist, working for Edinburgh’s evening newspapers, where he became the youngest news editor ever for the Evening Dispatch.
He later switched career to become a scriptwriter.
He wrote Shoestring, starring Trevor Eve as a Bristol detective and radio show host who investigated listeners’ problems. The show regularly had 23 million viewers in 1979 and 1980.
Bergerac, which was set in Jersey and starred John Nettles as Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac, was also a huge hit. Mr Banks Stewart wrote classic episodes of Doctor Who including 1975’s Terror of the Zygons, which was set in Scotland and drew on the legend of the Loch Ness Monster.
In 1986, he went on to produce the first series of Lovejoy, followed by the first series of ITV’s Darling Buds Of May in 1991, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and David Jason.
Mrs Murray’s mother married Mr Banks Stewart in 1953 when she was four months pregnant and they lived together in Edinburgh for only six months before splitting up.
She said that she had ‘little connection at all’ with him during her childhood’ and he paid nothing towards her upkeep.
One of Mr Banks Stewart’s sons, Andrew Stewart, said: ‘This is a private family matter.’
‘It was twisted by some people. That’s life’