MUMBAI: British screenwriter, Troy Kennedy Martin, whose credits include The Italian Job, TV series Z-Cars died of Cancer yesterday. He was 77.

The award-winning writer began his career at the BBC in 1958 and wrote several plays for the broadcaster before creating his first series, Storyboard, in 1961. His most famous TV creation was Liverpool-based police drama Z-Cars, which ran for 15 years although he was only involved in the first two series.

Martin moved into feature films in the early 1970s with the original screenplay for Peter Collinson‘s The Italian Job that starred Noel Coward and Michael Caine. He followed it up with Kelly‘s Heroes, The Jerusalem File and Sweeney 2, based on the popular TV series, The Sweeney, created by his brother Ian Kennedy Martin. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Red Heat with director Walter Hill in 1988 and Red Dust, directed by Tom Hooper, in 2004.

Though he was best known for his work in both TV and films, he also penned a novel, Beating The Damask Drum, published in 1959.