Advertisement
UK markets close in 5 hours 2 minutes
  • FTSE 100

    7,704.90
    -17.65 (-0.23%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,429.18
    -57.35 (-0.29%)
     
  • AIM

    735.43
    -1.20 (-0.16%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1696
    -0.0008 (-0.06%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2689
    -0.0039 (-0.31%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    49,281.75
    -4,543.64 (-8.44%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,149.42
    +32.33 (+0.63%)
     
  • DOW

    38,790.43
    +75.63 (+0.20%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.63
    -0.09 (-0.11%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,157.90
    -6.40 (-0.30%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,003.60
    +263.20 (+0.66%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,529.48
    -207.62 (-1.24%)
     
  • DAX

    17,940.61
    +7.93 (+0.04%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,163.26
    +15.12 (+0.19%)
     

Liver Birds And Bread Writer Carla Lane Dies

Liver Birds And Bread Writer Carla Lane Dies

TV writer Carla Lane, who was behind a number of sitcoms including Bread, Butterflies and the Liver Birds, has died.

Much of her work focused on women's lives and featured frustrated housewives and working class matriarchs, with several of her sitcoms based in Liverpool.

Her family said she "brought Liverpool to life".

"With heavy hearts we said goodbye to our darling Carla today," they said in a statement.

"But with smiles on our faces we also take this opportunity to reflect on her incredible achievements, all of which make us so unbelievably proud to be part of her family.

ADVERTISEMENT

"We were very lucky that her quick wit, determination and passion brought Liverpool to life on screen for others to share."

The Liver Birds series, about flat-sharing Liverpudlian women, ran for 10 years from 1969 to 1979 and enjoyed a revival in 1996.

Bread followed the working class Boswell family in Liverpool and ran for seven series between 1986 and 1991.

Melanie Hill, who starred as Aveline in Bread, paid tribute to Lane on Twitter.

"Very sad to hear #CarlaLane has left us. Writer and creator of many fantastic shows."

In 1989 Lane received an OBE for services to writing, but in 2002 she returned it to then-Prime Minister Tony Blair in a protest over animal cruelty.

Lane, who was born Romana Barrack, was an enthusiastic animal rights campaigner and ran an animal rescue centre in Sussex.

Fran Ellis, founder and trustee at the Carla Lane Animals in Need Sanctuary in Melling, Merseyside, said: "Carla was our friend but above all she was a passionate friend and ally to abused and abandoned animals.

"We changed the name of our charity to recognise the work done by this special lady, her name will live on in all we do."

Lane died at a nursing home in Liverpool on Tuesday.

She had two sons, Nigel and Carl.