Kevin Barry Laffan was born on 24th May 1922 in Wednesbury in the West Midlands of England. Kevin was an English playwright and screenwriter who created Emmerdale Farm. In 2003, Kevin underwent heart-surgery and died two weeks later on 11th March 2003 after suffering a bout of pneumonia. Kevin penned 259 episodes of Emmerdale Farm after coming up with the idea in 1972. Laffan stopped writing for the serial after 12 years but remained on as a consultant. The soap was based on a town in Yorkshire, called Ammerdale. Laffan, however, was not allowed to name the programme directly after a real place, so subtly altered the name. Laffan's other big television success was Beryl's Lot, a British sitcom inspired by the real-life story of the novelist Margaret Powell.