Roy Russell, a stalwart of WGGB’s early days, died on 8 January 2015 aged 96, after a long illness.

Roy was Treasurer for 12 years, from 1966-1978, steering WGGB through financial turbulence with a calm hand and managing to avoid insolvency.

Roy’s great legacy, however, is the pension scheme, which he helped to establish and organise, utilising the experience he had gained while working in a bank, his first job after leaving the army. It says much for his character and ability that when he gave in his notice to the bank, to become a freelance writer, his boss refused to accept it.

Born in Blackpool, the son of a theatre manager, Roy was always destined for a career in show business of some sort. Choosing the relatively new medium of TV drama, he went on to write more than 200 scripts, for series such as No Hiding Place, The Saint, A Man of our Times, The Troubleshooters, The Onedin Line, A Family at War, Doomwatch, Tales of the Unexpected and others, as well as several single plays.

The funeral will take place on Wednesday 4 February 2015, 11.45am at Randalls Park Crematorium, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 OAG.