 Shaw wrote Take a Life , his first play , in 1961 . He directed a production of the show at London 's Mermaid Theatre , where he also played the lead role of the Detective . That same year he played two lead roles in George Bernard Shaw plays at the Dublin Theatre Festival : Mrs. Warren 's Profession and Candida . Around this time , he also wrote an outline for a television comedy series about four girls sharing a flat , inspired by his real @-@ life daughter , who was in her early twenties and living in a flat with other girls her age . The series was submitted to the Granada Television company , which expressed interest in the show and said it was one of two under consideration for television . The company ultimately chose the other show , the long @-@ running British soap opera Coronation Street . 
