Nichols, Peter Richard (1927– )

English dramatist. His plays often incorporate music and comedy, though his themes are serious. His first stage play, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1967), explored the life of a couple with a paraplegic child, and won two Tony Awards.

Other plays include The National Health (1969), which dramatized life in the face of death from cancer, Privates on Parade (1977), about the British Army in Malaya, Passion Play (1981), a middle-class comedy, and Poppy (1982), a musical satire on the Opium Wars in China in the 19th century. His Piece of My Mind (1987) transforms a self-confessed case of writer's block into an inventive and thought-provoking comedy.

Nichols has also written for television, including The Common (1973), Chez Nous (1980), and two episodes of Inspector Morse (1987). Film versions were made of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972), The National Health (1973), and Privates on Parade (1982).