Where to start. Bill was asked to create a cartoon strip for the Daily Mirror so he created The Fosdykes Saga having decided in in 1971 that the working classes deserved a ‘Forsyte Saga’ so he set about bringing the Lancashire mining town of Griddlesbury to life with characters Jos and Rebecca Fosdyke, their sons Tom , Albert and Tim along with their daughter Victoria.
The baddy in this long running cartoon strip was the infamous Roger Ditchley who was the son of Ben Ditchley who preferred the hardworking Jos Fosdyke to his own son.
Bill always had three storylines running at once and was often described as an unmatched storyteller.
It ran for 14 years until a certain Robert Maxwell bought the Mirror and decided he didn’t like it.
The Fosdyke Saga had legions of fans and still does today
Miriam Margoyles played Victoria in the BBC Radio version of the Fosdyke Saga which Bill wrote with actor John Junkin. Jim Broadbent played Roger Ditchely in the stage play of the same name.