---
name: "Donald James"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/donald-james"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "22 August 1931"
died: "28 April 2008"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T15:58:06.238317+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."
---

# Donald James

Writer. Born 22 August 1931 in London, England, UK. Died 28 April 2008.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 22 August 1931, London, England, UK
- **Died:** 28 April 2008
- **Active:** 1961–1966
- **Works often with:** John Llewellyn Moxey, Leigh Vance

## Biography

Donald James, born Donald James Wheal, was a British screenwriter, novelist and non-fiction writer. He was born on 22 August 1931 in World's End, Chelsea, London, and died on 28 April 2008 in London. He read history at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and began his career as a television actor before turning to screenwriting in 1964.

James wrote extensively for British and American television series from the 1960s onwards, contributing episodes to *The Avengers* (1961), *Mission: Impossible* (1966), *The Saint* (1962), *The Persuaders!* (1971), *Space: 1999* (1975), *UFO* (1970) and *Doppelgänger* (1969), among more than twenty productions. He also wrote over 250 scripts in total and later became a novelist, publishing thrillers including the Inspector Vadim series.

He wrote non-fiction works such as *The Penguin Dictionary of the Third Reich* and two volumes of memoirs.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, fanderson.org.uk, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Mission: Impossible* (1966), Fi1m 82, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/mission-impossible-1966.md)

## Also credited on (not yet reviewed)

- *The Avengers* (1961), Writer

## Also known for

- *Space: 1999* (1975), Writer
- *Doppelgänger* (1969), Screenplay
- *The Saint* (1962), Writer
- *The Persuaders!* (1971), Writer
- *UFO* (1970), 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/donald-james