---
name: "David Pursall"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/david-pursall"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "19 August 1917"
died: "7 September 1986"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T04:01:27.418352+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# David Pursall

Writer. Born 19 August 1917 in Warwickshire, England, UK. Died 7 September 1986.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 19 August 1917, Warwickshire, England, UK
- **Died:** 7 September 1986
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105222198, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0700950/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11120

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Longest Day*](https://film.one/film/the-longest-day.md) (68)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

David Pursall (19 August 1917 – 7 September 1986) was a British screenwriter. He grew up in Erdington, Warwickshire, the son of an accountant, and had two murder mystery novels published by the age of sixteen. During the Second World War he served in the RAF, winning the Distinguished Service Cross, before transferring to the Admiralty Press Division. After the war he worked as Publicity Director for the Rank Organisation.

In 1956 Pursall began a long-term writing partnership with Jack Seddon, based at Pinewood Studios. Together they wrote screenplays for three Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films: *Murder, She Said* (1961), *Murder Most Foul* (1964) and *Murder Ahoy* (1964). Pursall contributed additional episodes to the D-Day epic *The Longest Day* (1962) and wrote *The Blue Max* (1966), *The Alphabet Murders* (1965) and *Carry On England* (1976). His final screen credit was the television film *Black Arrow* (1985).

*Sources: imdb.com, catalog.afi.com, grokipedia.com, streamfind.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Longest Day* (1962), Fi1m 68, Writer, Script Consultant — [page](https://film.one/film/the-longest-day.md)

## Complete filmography (16)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Black Arrow* (1985), Screenplay
- *Tomorrow Never Comes* (1978), Screenplay, Original Story
- *Carry On England* (1976), Screenplay
- *What Changed Charley Farthing?* (1976), Screenplay
- *It's Murder. But Is It Art?* (1972), series, Writer, Creator
- *The Southern Star* (1969), Screenplay
- *The Blue Max* (1966), Writer
- *The Alphabet Murders* (1965), Screenplay
- *Murder Ahoy* (1964), Screenplay
- *Murder Most Foul* (1964), Screenplay
- *The Longest Day* (1962), Script Consultant, Writer — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/the-longest-day.md)
- *Kill or Cure* (1962), Screenplay, Story
- *Village of Daughters* (1962), Screenplay, Story
- *Murder She Said* (1961), Screenplay
- *The Secret Partner* (1961), Screenplay
- *Count Five and Die* (1957), Writer

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/david-pursall