He was voted Most Promising Playwright of 1981 by
The Financial Times and
The Morning Star for his first stage play Blood On The Dole which was performed at The
Liverpool Playhouse in 1981 where he was resident playwright. He also co-founded Liverpool Lunchtime Theatre (LLt) in 1982 with three other writers - Paul Goetzee, Bruce Birchall and Denis Wainwright. His first stage play,
Blood On The Dole was later made into a
Television Film in 1994 and was broadcast on
Channel 4. It was directed by Pip Broughton and produced by
Alan Bleasdale as part of ‘Alan Bleasdale Presents’. Starring
Stephen Walters and
Suzanne Maddock; it told the story of two working class Merseyside school leavers and their struggles in facing a life of unemployment and social deprivation. ==Stage Plays==