The writer Roy Minton, who has died aged 90, was every bit as radical and uncompromising a television talent as Alan Clarke, the director with whom he forged a long-time partnership. Most famously, they made the banned 1977 television play Scum, brutal in its account of violence inside a borstal – as exercised by both inmates and warders.
Minton wrote the part of Carlin, who quickly establishes himself as the “daddy” among the young offenders, as a Glaswegian. But Ray Winstone, an east Londoner fresh from being expelled from drama school, landed the role after walking into the auditions and impressing Clarke with his cocky, aggressive walk.
