Tudor Gates was an English

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 and trade unionist.

Biography

Gates was involved in stage management

Stage management

Stage management is the practice of organizing and coordinating a theatrical production. It encompasses a variety of activities, including organizing the production and coordinating communications between various personnel...

 by the early 1950s and began scriptwriting in his spare time. After The Guv'nor was broadcast on television in 1956, he took to writing full time. He worked on the screenplay for Barbarella

Barbarella (film)

Barbarella is a 1968 Franco-Italian science fiction film based on Jean-Claude Forrest's French Barbarella comics. The film was directed by Roger Vadim and stars Jane Fonda, who was Vadim's wife at the time.-Plot:...

(1968), Danger: Diabolik

Danger: Diabolik

Danger: Diabolik is a 1968 feature film from Italian filmmaker Mario Bava based on the Italian comic character Diabolik.- About the film :...

(1968) and a number of Hammer Film Productions

Hammer Film Productions

Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...

, including The Karnstein Trilogy

The Karnstein Trilogy

The Karnstein Trilogy of vampire films were produced by Hammer Films, and were notable at the time for being somewhat daring in explicitly depicting lesbian themes. All three films were scripted by Tudor Gates. They are related by vampires of the noble Karnstein family, and their seat Castle...

. He also wrote for several TV series, including The Sweeney

The Sweeney

The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...

and The Avengers

The Avengers (TV series)

The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...

.

In the 1966 UK general election, Gates stood as the Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 candidate in Bethnal Green

Bethnal Green (UK Parliament constituency)

Bethnal Green was a parliamentary constituency in the Bethnal Green area of the East End of London, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until it was abolished for the February 1974 general election.It was then partly...

, and in 1970 he stood in the Isle of Thanet

Isle of Thanet (UK Parliament constituency)

Isle of Thanet was a county constituency which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885, until it was abolished for the February 1974 general election....

, placing a distant third on both occasions. In February 1974, he came second in Bethnal Green and Bow, losing votes but again coming second in October.

Turning to the stage again in the mid-1970s, Gates wrote Who Saw Him Die?

Who Saw Him Die?

Who Saw Him Die? is a 1968 black-and-white Swedish film about a liberal teacher struggling with the demands of teaching a classroom of unruly children. The screenplay is by Clas Engström, based on his own novel...

, Aurelia and Who Killed Agatha Christie?.

A lifelong trade unionist, Gates became the President of the Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians

Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians

The Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians was a trade union in the United Kingdom.The union was founded by technicians at the Gaumont British Studios in 1933 as the Association of Cinematograph Technicians...

 and supported their merger with the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance

Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance

The Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance was a short-lived British entertainment trade union. It was founded in 1984 with the merger of the Association of Broadcasting Staff and the National Association of Theatrical Television and Kine Employees.The union appointed two General...

 which formed the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union

Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union

The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union is a trade union in the United Kingdom. It has around 26,500 members who work in broadcasting, film, theatre, entertainment, leisure and interactive media....

 (BECTU), of which he served as vice president until 2004. A controversial figure, he twice took his union to court, using legislation passed by the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

in the 1980s. He stood unsuccessfully for the Presidency of BECTU in 2002, 2004 and 2006.