David Boutland

David William Boutland was born in Durham on 11 December 1938, the son of John George Boutland and his wife Gertrude Helen (nee Lucas). John, an electrical mechanic, and Gertrude emigrated with their family of three children to Australia in August 1951 under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme. Here Boutland became a freelance writer, married, and returned to England with his wife (Shirley Ann Maude Boutland) in December 1960.

In England he continued to write. He was a regular contributor to New Worlds under the pen-name David Rome, his first story, "Time of Arrival" published in the April 1961 issue. He also published stories in Amazing, Galaxy and the anthologies New Writings in SF, New Writings in Horror and the Supernatural, The Second Pacific Book of Science Fiction and elsewhere. Two of his stories were selected by Judith Merril for her Annual of the Year's Best S-F anthologies; one of them, "Parky" (Science Fantasy, 1961), was reprinted in The Best Australian Science Fiction Writing: A Fifty Year Collection edited by Rob Gerrand (Black Inc., 2004).

At the same time he was a regular contributor to Commando, War Picture Library and Battle Picture Library, penning at least 23 volumes in 1964-68.

After a few years living in the UK, he returned to Australia where he began writing novels for the cheap paperback markets, including Horwitz and Scripts Publications as well as contributing to Man, Man Junior and Adam and other magazines as David Rome and Richard Ansvar.

Boutland then turned to writing screenplays for Australian television, contributing to many of the country's popular TV serials, ranging from crime dramas to soap operas, including A Country Practice (which he did not direct any episodes for, despite this information appearing widely on the internet) and Home and Away.

He is now semi-retired, but continues to write.

PUBLICATIONS

Novels as David Rome
Sandra. Sydney, Scripts Publications (PB299), 1967.
Ruby. Sydney, Scripts Publications (PB308), 1967.
Christina. Sydney, Scripts Publications (PB322), 1967.
Wife Swap. Sydney, Scripts Publications (PB349), 1967.
The Cleaver. Sydney, Horizon Publishing (PB359), 1968.
The Cannibals. Sydney, Horwitz (PB377), 1968; as The Depraved, New York, Ace Books, 1968.
The Circle. Sydney, Scripts Publications (PB403), 1969.
Squat. Sexual adventures on other planets. Sydney, Scripts Publications (PB431), 1970.
The Naked Bug. Sydney, Scripts Publications (AO89), 1973.
Sex Scene. Hong Kong, Stag (SP26), 1976.

Collections as David Rome
13 Times Death. Sydney, Horwitz (PB254), 1966.

Non-fiction
The Professional, conceived and produced by Ron Smith; text by David Boutland. Marrickville, N.S.W., Australia, Free Association Press, 1972.

Screenplays
Homicide (TV series, 13 eps, 1968-75)
Division 4 (TV series, 5 eps, 1969)
Crisis (1972)
The Spoiler (TV series, 1972)
Matlock Police (TV series, 1972-76)
Ryan (TV series, 4 eps, 1973-74)
Rush (TV series, 2 eps, 1974-76)
Tandarra (TV series, 2 eps, 1976)
Bluey (TV series, 1 ep, 1976)
A Country Practice (TV series, 20 eps, 1981-85; 2 eps, 1994)
Kings (TV series, 1983)
Five Mile Creek (TV series, 1983)
Alice to Nowhere (adapted from the novel by Evan Green, TV mini-series, 2pts, 1986)
Willing and Abel (TV series, 1987)
The Flying Doctors (TV series, 2 eps, 1988)
G.P. (TV series, 5 eps, 1990-93)
Snowy (1993)
Halifax f.p. (TV series, 3 eps, 1995-97)
__My Lovely Girl (1995)
__Without Consent (1995)
__Someone You Know (1998)
Blue Heelers (TV series, 12 eps, 1997-2003)
Home and Away (TV series; 1998-2002)
Stingers (TV series, 1 ep, 1999)
MDA (TV series, 1 ep, 2002)

Comic Strips
Death at Dawn, art by C. T. Rigby. Commando 125, Jul 1964.
The Lost Squadron, art by Peter Ford. Commando 134, Sep 1964.
Operation Tinfish, art by C. T. Rigby. Commando 150, Jan 1965.
Giant Killer, art by Peter Ford. Commando 153, Feb 1965.
Strong in Battle, art by Fred Holmes. War Picture Library 279, Feb 1965.
Tank Buster, art by C. T. Rigby. Commando 164, May 1965.
Safe Conduct, art by Luis Bermejo. Battle Picture Library 215, Aug 1965.
Man Trap, art by Matias Alonso. Commando 183, Oct 1965.
Fighter Ace, art by Victor Hugo Arias. Commando 206, Mar 1966.
The Last Buccaneer, art by Vittorio Cossio. Battle Picture Library 244, Mar 1966.
Master Stroke, art by Aldoma Puig. Battle Picture Library 245, Apr 1966.
Key Weapon, art by Solano Lopez. Battle Picture Library 267, Sep 1966.
Wildcat Platoon, art by Javier Puerto. Battle Picture Library 270, Oct 1966.
Ghost Squadron, art by Miguel Quesada. Commando 247, Feb 1967.
The Order, art by Escandel. Battle Picture Library 287, Feb 1967.
The Hero's Part, art by Vincente Alcazar. Battle Picture Library 294, Mar 1967.
Red For Danger, art by Carlos Pino. Battle Picture Library 297, May 1967.
The Stolen Lanc, art by Domingo. Commando 271, Jul 1967.
Freedom Fighters, art by A. Redondo. Battle Picture Library 316, Sep 1967.
Scales of Justice, art by P. Martinez Henares. Battle Picture Library 320, Oct 1967.
Toll for the Brave, art by Carlos Pino. Battle Picture Library 321, Nov 1967.
Z Force, art by Ramon de la Fuente. War Picture Library 410, Nov 1967.
Soldier Alone, art by Antonio Lopez. Battle Picture Library 324, Apr 1968.