Killick’s big swing was the 1971-72 series The Guardians, a dystopian political drama that’s now a cult classic. Imagine The Prisoner’s paranoia mashed up with 1980s Thatcherism, but filmed a decade early. The show was bleak, smart, and completely ignored by mainstream audiences. Critics loved it. Network executives? Not so much. It got cancelled after one season.
And then—silence. I don’t mean a slow decline into writing manuals or teaching screenwriting. I mean a full, radio-silent, “he walked into the fog” disappearance. By the mid-80s, Killick stopped getting credits. No new plays, no TV movies, not even a grumpy letter to a fan magazine. It’s like he decided the industry wasn’t worth the paper his scripts were printed on. (Side note: Can you imagine ghosting your own career like that? Respect.)
Hunting for Clues
I spent a good hour (and maybe three cups of coffee) digging through forums and old fan sites. The most concrete clue? A single post from 2009 on a Doctor Who discussion board. Someone claimed they met Killick in a pub in Cornwall, and he said he’d “retired to grow vegetables.” Vegetables! Not a screenplay, not a novel—cabbages. If that’s not a mood, I don’t know what is.
Tales from Behind the Bluestone: Ron Isherwood & John Killick
Other rumors suggest he moved to Canada in the early 90s. But here’s the thing—no one has a photo of him past 1985. Not a single confirmed sighting, no obituary (he’d be in his late 80s now), and no recorded “where are they now?” interview. It’s as if he willed himself into being a footnote. And honestly? That kind of privacy in a world that demands your entire life story on Instagram? It’s almost rebellious.
