He was approached to write for the proposed BBC science fiction series
Doctor Who (1963) but deplored the concept of the series and refused. He also refused an offer to write for Doomwatch (1970) and was asked to write for The X-Files (1993).
He was best-known for his Quatermass trilogy and for his adaptation of George Orwell's "1984".
Mark Gatiss described him as a "colossus" of television drama. According to Gatiss, The South Bank Show (1978) refused to make a programme about him.