Last modified on Mon 17 May 2021 14.47 EDT Douglas Livingstone, who has died aged 86 of heart failure, enjoyed parallel careers as an actor and writer for television and radio. His compelling six-part small-screen adaptation of The Day of the Triffids (1981), a rare excursion into sci-fi, remained faithful to John Wyndham’s novel, apart from re-setting the story from the 1950s to the near-future. One critic described it as “the most effective TV realisation of Wyndham’s writing”. Livingstone’s own creations often explored the pleasures and foibles of people taking time away from the pressures of city life. The Play for Today series proved to be a perfect showcase for his original ideas, although the BBC continuity announcer managed to omit the title in introducing the first one, I Can’t See My Little Willie (1970).