My mother, Kathleen Baker, who has died aged 87, had two careers – as a marriage guidance counsellor and then as a scriptwriter for three highly popular TV series, Crown Court, Brookside and Emmerdale, during the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
Born in Oldham, she was the daughter of Jessie (nee Hilton), a nursing auxiliary, and Percy Potter, an engineer, and always held her northern roots close to her heart. She first went to Middleton grammar school in Oldham and then Luton girls’ high school in Bedfordshire, the family having moved to Luton when she was 12.
In 1956 she gained a botany degree at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and married Howard Baker, a stage manager with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Following my birth in Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1960 they settled in Sale, Manchester, where Roselyn, Vikki and our brother, Fenton, were born at home.
Five years later they moved to a dilapidated and ramshackle house in Hale, Cheshire, and Olivia was born. It was the house in which Kathleen eventually died. She began training with the Marriage Guidance Council (now Relate), starting her work as a counsellor in 1975.
Howard had a job with Granada TV, working on Coronation Street when it was first broadcast live, and in the late 70s Kathleen decided to get into television too. She first wrote scripts, credited under her maiden name, Kathleen Potter, for Crown Court (1978-84), continuing with her counselling work at the same time, and then moved full-time on to work on Brookside (1984-92), finally writing 20 episodes of Emmerdale (1994-95), after which she retired.
She was chosen to represent the Marriage Guidance Council at the funeral of the Princess of Wales in 1997, and was appointed MBE in 2001 for her services to counselling.
Following Howard’s death in 1993 and a difficult decade, Kathleen rekindled her friendship from their Oxford days with Michael Grindrod, who became her partner.
In her later years she revelled in her garden, and she and Michael travelled widely.
She is survived by Michael, her five children, 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
