He created and contributed most of the scripts of the highly successful Granada series A Family at War (1970 - 1972) and both created and wrote all thirty-nine episodes of Sam (1973 - 1975), basing it on his own childhood experiences in a South Yorkshire mining town. He also created This Year, Next Year, Flesh and Blood, The Spoils of War and Capstick's Law. He also contributed many scripts for series such as The Villains, City 68, The Plane Makers and The Verdict is Yours. He has sometimes been credited on other programmes as John Ellison.