 His years at the bar—he was a practising barrister, 1930–40—provided the background to his crime novels and his studies in true crime.During the Second World War he was medically unfit for active service but worked in Radio Counter-Propaganda, 1940–45, under the name of 'Brent Wood'.He was a BBC staff producer, 1945–48 and organiser of the BBC television programme, "In the News", 1950–54 and of the ATV programme, "Free Speech", 1955–61.