Constance Cox (25 October 1912 – 8 July 1998) was a British script writer and playwright, born in Sutton, Surrey.

Life and career

Cox was born Constance Shaw in Sutton, Surrey, in 1912. She married Norman Cox, a fighter pilot, who was killed in 1942. She had been a postmistress in Shoreham-by-sea, and moved to Brighton where she took up writing full-time after the end of the war. Cox specialised in adaptations of books by Charles Dickens and other classic literature. Her 1962 adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist led to viewer complaints over the murder of Nancy by Bill Sikes and questions asked in Parliament about the suitability of such content for family audiences. In 1957 she adapted the J.B. Priestley novel Angel Pavement into a BBC series of the same title. She also was a prolific playwright. She was a member of the Brighton Little Theatre from the early 1950s and directed her own and others' work there for many years.

Selected works and adaptations