Creator of TV’s Bergerac dies

HE created some of the country’s bestloved TV characters and programmes.

But yesterday it was announced that Scottish writer Robert Banks Stewart has died at 84 after suffering from cancer.

Born in Edinburgh in 1931, Mr Stewart, right, was a celebrated figure in the industry, writing and producing for many top television series. Perhaps his biggest success was the opening series of HE Bates’s The Darling Buds of May, which he worked on as a producer.

The TV veteran was even credited with giving the final casting vote for Catherine Zeta Jones to play Mariette on the show.

Among his creations was the Jerseybased detective Bergerac. John Nettles played the title character and it was a success which ran from 1981 to 1991.

Mr Stewart was also behind the hit TV show Shoestring, starring Trevor Eve.

He is survived by his three sons from his second marriage and a daughter from his first.