Laurence Marks used to work as a journalist for the Sunday Times. On 28
February 1975, his father was killed in the Moorgate train crash.
Laurence was given the job of conducting a year-long investigation for
the newspaper into the cause of the crash, with access to the
transcript of the inquest into the 43 deaths. Although the inquest and
the Government Inquiry recorded a verdict of accidental death, Marks
concluded that the crash occurred because the driver committed suicide.
After completing the report he decided that he needed a complete change
of career, and began writing comedy scripts with childhood friend
Maurice Gran, creating such classics as _"Shine On Harvey Moon" (1982)_,
The New Statesman (1987),
Birds of a Feather (1989) and
Goodnight Sweetheart (1993).