 In 1968 he wrote his first screenplay, "The Golden Vision", for the BBC TV series "The Wednesday Play".In the following years he appeared in episodes of "Cluff", "Z-Cars", "Thirty-Minute Theatre", "Softly Softly", "Her Majesty's Pleasure" and "The Wednesday Play".In 1971 the film "Gumshoe", based on Smith's novel of the same title, was the first major film-directlng assignment for Stephen Frears.