Carla Lane
English television writer (1928–2016)

Carla Lane
Lane in 1992
Born
Romana Barrack

(1928-08-05)5 August 1928
Walton, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
Died31 May 2016(2016-05-31) (aged 87)
Mossley Hill, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
Other namesRoma Barrack [1]
Romana Hollins [2]
Occupations
Years active1969–2016
Spouse
Eric Arthur Hollins
​
​
(m. 1948; div. 1981)​
Children2
Writing career
Pen nameCarla Lane

Romana Barrack (5 August 1928 – 31 May 2016), known by the pseudonym Carla Lane, was an English screenwriter and animal rights campaigner.[1] Lane was known for creating or co-creating successful British sitcoms such as The Liver Birds (1969–1979), Butterflies (1978–1983), and Bread (1986–1991).

Described as "the television writer who dared to make women funny", much of Lane's work focused on strong female characters, including "frustrated housewives and working class matriarchs".

Early life

Romana Barrack was born 5 August 1928 in Walton, Liverpool, to Gordon DeVinci Barrack (1907–1970), a steward in the Merchant Navy, and Ivy Amelia (née Foran;1906–1993).[1][3][4] Lane's father was born in Cardiff and was of Italian descent, and her mother was born in Liverpool and was of Irish descent.[1][5][6][7]

Lane had two siblings and grew up in West Derby and Heswall, Cheshire (present-day Merseyside).[8] Lane was christened on the 9 January 1929, and attended convent school until the age of 14.[1][4][9][10] Upon leaving school Lane worked at a baby linen shop and later took a job at Bonmarché before working at a factory in Prescot.[1]

Career

In the 1960s, Lane wrote various short stories and radio screenplays.[11] Her first successes came in collaboration with Myra Taylor, whom she had met at a writers' workshop in Liverpool,[11] and they would often meet at the Adelphi Hotel in the city centre to write together. She began using the stage name "Carla Lane" because of her modesty about revealing that she was a writer.[12]

Lane and Taylor submitted some comedy sketch scripts to the BBC, where they were seen by head of comedy Michael Mills. He encouraged them to write a half-hour script, which was broadcast as a pilot episode of The Liver Birds in April 1969. A short first series followed to little acclaim, leading Mills to abandon plans for a second series, though he changed his mind when he read Lane and Taylor's new scripts. The series soon became one of the most popular of its time, characterised by Lane's "ability to conjure laughs out of pathos and life's little tragedies". Mills left his position as the BBC's head of comedy in 1972, leaving Lane to take sole responsibility for writing the show's scripts the following year.[10]

Lane's successful screenwriting career continued through the 1970s and 1980s, in particular with the 1978–1983 sitcom Butterflies and the 1986–1991 sitcom Bread. In Butterflies, described as "undoubtedly her finest work", Lane addressed the lead character's desires for freedom from her "decent but dull" husband.[13] Butterflies star Wendy Craig said of Lane, "Her greatest gift was that she understood women and wrote the truth about them ... she spoke about what others didn't. In the case of [my character], it was all about what was going on inside her—and many other women at the time."[14]

With Bread, which ran for seven series, Lane was said to have become "the first woman to mine television comedy from sexual and personal relationships through a galère of expertly-etched contemporary characters, developed against a backdrop of social issues such as divorce, adultery, and alcoholism".[15] In the late 1980s, Bread had the third-highest viewing figures on British television, beaten only by EastEnders and Neighbours.[10] However, it was criticised by some in Liverpool for perpetuating stereotypes of people in the city,[16] an opinion Lane rejected.[14]

Personal life

Broadhurst Manor in Horsted Keynes, Lane's home for many years

Lane married Eric Arthur Hollins on 27 March 1948, and they had two sons together before divorcing in 1981.[1] She later claimed in her 2006 autobiography Someday I'll Find Me that she was 17 years old when she married Hollins,[9] despite official records showing that she was 19.[1] She lived for many years in Broadhurst Manor, her mansion in Horsted Keynes.[12]

Lane became a vegetarian and began dedicating much of her time to the care and welfare of animals in 1965.[10] She established the Animal Line trust with her friends, English actress Rita Tushingham and American photographer Linda McCartney, in 1990.[10] The following year, she purchased St. Tudwal's Island East in order to protect its wildlife.[10] She converted the grounds of her mansion into a 25-acre animal sanctuary in 1993,[12] and operated the sanctuary for 15 years before closing it due to financial constraints.[17]

Lane received an OBE for services to writing in 1989, but returned it to Prime Minister Tony Blair in protest against animal cruelty in 2002.[18] She moved back to her native Liverpool in 2009.[14] In 2013, an animal sanctuary was opened in nearby Melling and named after her.[19]

Death

On 31 May 2016, at the age of 87, Lane died at Stapley Nursing Home in the Mossley Hill suburb of Liverpool.[18][10]

Credits

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Charters, David (13 November 2025). "Lane, Carla [real name Roma Barrack] (1928–2016), television scriptwriter and animal rights campaigner". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.111341. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ "Flight of Thingy". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool. 5 August 1968. p. 5. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  3. ^ Jeffries, Stuart (1 June 2016). "Carla Lane obituary: Celebrated writer of TV sitcoms". The Guardian.
  4. ^ a b "Romana Barrack [Christening Index]", British Isles Vital Records Index (2 ed.), Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1928
  5. ^ "Gordon De Voice [DeVinci] Barrack". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911; Glamorgan; Cardiff; Central Cardiff. Kew, Richmond: The National Archives. 1911.
  6. ^ "Ivy Amelia Foran". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911; Lancashire; Toxteth Park; Toxteth Park South West. Kew, Richmond: The National Archives. 1911.
  7. ^ "Christopher Foran". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911; Lancashire; Toxteth Park; Toxteth Park South West. London: The National Archives. 1911. Ivy Amelia's paternal grandfather, born in Dublin, Ireland
  8. ^ "Liver Birds and Bread creator Carla Lane has died aged 87". Liverpool Echo. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  9. ^ a b Carla Lane (31 October 2006). Someday I'll Find Me: Carla Lane's Autobiography. Robson Books. ISBN 1-86105-973-6.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Carla Lane, television scriptwriter – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Lane, Carla (1937–) – Biography". British Film Institute. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  12. ^ a b c Ellen, Barbara (16 November 2008). "Going to a good home". The Observer. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  13. ^ Lawrence, Ben (1 June 2016). "Carla Lane: the television writer who dared to make women funny". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  14. ^ a b c Stanford, Peter (1 June 2016). "'Her greatest gift was that she understood women' – Wendy Craig remembers Carla Lane". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Carla Lane dies: Stars pay tribute to TV sitcom writer". BBC News. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  16. ^ Bronwyn Jones, "Carla Lane's sitcom Bread and its legacy in Liverpool", BBC News, 3 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016
  17. ^ Thompson, Jody (8 July 2008). "Carla Lane forced to close her animal rescue centre". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  18. ^ a b "Television sitcom writer Carla Lane dies, aged 87". BBC News. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  19. ^ Mortimer, Caroline (31 May 2016). "Carla Lane dead: The Liver Birds and Bread creator who returned OBE dies aged 87". The Independent. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  20. ^ a b c d e Jeffries, Stuart (1 June 2016). "Carla Lane obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  21. ^ "Lane, Carla (1937–) – Film & TV Credits". British Film Institute. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
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