Simon Carlyle, who has died aged 48, was a television comedy writer with a gift for putting totally believable characters on screen. Two Doors Down – created with his regular writing partner, Gregor Sharp – was his crowning glory, featuring neighbours gathering at a couple’s house in a Glasgow suburb, usually uninvited and overstaying their welcome.
The programme, set to run for a seventh series on the BBC this year after its debut in 2013, stars Arabella Weir and Alex Norton as Beth and Eric Baird, with the neighbours in the fictional Latimer Crescent including Elaine C Smith as the foul-mouthed Christine O’Neal. It has been called the Scottish Royle Family, but with upwardly mobile characters.
