Career
He went on to become Head of Drama at Granada Television in the 1960s and "70s. In the 1960s, he was also a writer and producer on Coronation Street. He wrote 62 episodes between April 1962 and November 1969.
He also produced the sitcom Nearest and Dearest with Hylda Baker and Jimmy Jewel.
During the late 1970s he spotted and developed a young comedian Victoria Wood, who went on to become one of the United Kingdom"s most successful comedy stars. He produced the television version of her play Talent, and its follow-ups Nearly A Happy Ending and Happy Since I Met You (also by Wood).
He also produced the pilot of Wood and Walters, but died before the series was made. Wood cites him as her biggest influence.
David Liddiment, Independent Television"s former director of programmes said: "Peter Eckersley nurtured a new cadre of young northern writers who reflected the realities of post-War urban life for the first time..They were all to make television drama younger, sharper and closer to the experience of the mass audience.".
