Things Are Not Always What They Seem: A Biography of Malcolm Hulke

A new biography of the television scriptwriter Malcolm Hulke, has been published on Lulu. 

Things are not Always What They Seem is the first biography of Malcolm Hulke to be published and draws upon interviews with his friends, family, and work colleagues;  his scripts, novels, and other works;  his letters to friends and family;  and his  MI5 file. It is written by Michael Herbert.

Malcolm ‘Mac’ Hulke (1924 – 1979) was a successful writer for television, film, theatre, and radio from the 1950s to the 1970s. He wrote eight stories for Doctor Who in the 1960s and 1970s creating the Silurians and the Sea Devils for the series. 

Other work included episodes for classic television series such as Pathfinders in Space, The Avengers, Crossroads,  Danger Man, and Sergeant Cork

He also wrote seven Doctor Who novels and four Crossroads novels. His non-fiction work included  The Writers’  Guide 1970;  The Making of Doctor Who co-written with his friend  Terrance Dicks; and the influential handbook  Writing for Television in the 1970s  which brought together all his experience and expertise in his craft.

Malcolm was a founder member of the Writers’  Guild, which campaigned for better pay for writers.

For a time he was a member of the Communist Party, feeding his political views into his work. He wrote to his friend Jean Tate:

The book  may be purchased  from Lulu using this link