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".