Born: 28th July 1946
Died: 22nd April 1989 (aged 42 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1979-1980

Kenny McBain was raised in poverty in Glasgow, Scotland, but his academic and musical gifts won him scholarships to the prestigious Hutchesons' Grammar School and then Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. McBain originally attended Harvard to study clarinet and piano, but he soon decided to pursue a degree in drama instead. In 1968, he became the president of the Harvard Dramatics Club; his contemporaries included John Lithgow, Tommy Lee Jones and Stockard Channing. McBain graduated from Harvard in 1969 and returned to the United Kingdom; he spent the next decade directing for the stage, including a stint with the Prospect Theatre Company.

In the late Seventies, McBain decided to move into television. His first credit came as the director of the 1978 telefilm Real Live Audience, which was followed by episodes of A Family Affair and The Omega Factor. In 1979, McBain made his only Doctor Who serial, The Horns Of Nimon, with Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. McBain continued to direct during the early Eighties, including programmes such as Mackenzie and Coronation Street. He also became a producer, initially on the second season of Maggie. McBain went on to produce the sixth and seventh seasons of Grange Hill, while directing several episodes as well. His last credit as a director came on the 1985 telefilm Why Do They Call It Good Friday?.

McBain served as Head of Drama at Tyne Tees Television before producing Boon. He then left an indelible mark on British popular culture by spearheading the development of the long-running Inspector Morse, which debuted in 1987. Sadly, McBain was not able to enjoy its longevity: the same year, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and he passed away on April 22nd, 1989 at only forty-two years of age. McBain's final project, The Blackheath Poisonings, was broadcast posthumously in 1992.