The Moon Over Soho

The last of several TV shows to be shown after Leonard Rossiter's sudden death in 1984, this play casts him as a magazine publisher of foreign origins trying to stave off bankruptcy. The play is obviously inspired by the real-life Philip Dosse, who arrived in England in childhood as a refugee from the Nazis and went on to become the publisher of several well-known arts magazine, including "Plays And Players", "Books And Bookmen" and "Films And Filming". Initially, Dosse, who began publishing in the 1950s, had great success, although he was always known for the small fees he paid and his tardiness in paying them; however, the magazines declined in popularity in the 1970s and Dosse's problems grew worse after the death of his mother, with whom he had lived all his adult life. In 1980, he abruptly committed suicide; he was £200,000 in debt.