Durell Software

Durell Software was Robert White’s Taunton games company, home to programmers including Mike Richardson, Clive Townsend and Simon Francis. Its catalogue included Harrier Attack, Saboteur! and Critical Mass. It also had a business-software team before leaving games publishing.¹

CRASH’s February 1986 profile traced the start to February 1983, with White working on an Oric and an Epson printer. The limited company was incorporated later, on 21 November 1983.¹²

Building a development team

White recruited Richardson and Ron Jeffs while seeking versions of Harrier Attack for different computers. Richardson’s work included Jungle Trouble, Scuba Dive and Combat Lynx. When CRASH visited, he was developing Turbo Esprit on a CP/M machine, assembling code there and transferring it to a Spectrum.¹

Townsend later recalled visiting Durell during school holidays to learn assembly language. White asked him to make a Spectrum version of Death Pit, which other programmers were developing for the Amstrad and BBC Micro. Townsend was still learning and was dissatisfied with the result; the game was not commercially released at the time.³

His own ninja project became Saboteur!. The 1986 profile linked it to his earlier work, while Townsend’s later account describes his interests in martial arts, spies and superheroes. These are development recollections, not evidence that the finished game was simply a renamed Death Pit.¹³

More than vehicle simulations

Richardson’s Thanatos put the player in charge of a flying dragon. CRASH’s December 1986 review praised its animation and scrolling scenery and awarded 93% overall, while one reviewer also found it difficult. The game broadened a catalogue already associated with aircraft and Turbo Esprit’s city driving.⁴

Meanwhile, Phil Dierks and Mike Evis worked on an accounting package. White told CRASH that business software offered more stable, longer-lived sales than games.¹

Leaving games, continuing the company

CRASH’s history feature placed Durell’s sale to Elite Systems at the 1987 PCW Show. ACE’s review of 1987 also reported the deal and Durell’s withdrawal from games software.⁵

Those reports should not be read as the dissolution of Durell Software Limited. In October 2026, Companies House still listed company 01771383 as active in Taunton, and Durell’s website offered insurance and financial-services software. The business-software operation described in the 1986 profile was already part of the company before the games sale.²⁶¹

See also

• ZX Spectrum
• Amstrad CPC
• BBC Micro
• Elite Systems
• CRASH

Footnotes

1. “Durell In Depth”, CRASH 25, February 1986, pp. 38–41; published transcription. The article includes interviews and the magazine’s account of its office visit. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. Companies House, Durell Software Limited, 01771383, incorporation and company status, checked October 2026. ↩ ↩²

3. Jogos 80 16, interview with Clive Townsend, English text posted by the interviewer, 23 December 2015, especially joining Durell, Death Pit and Saboteur!. ↩ ↩²

4. Thanatos review, CRASH 35, December 1986, p. 153, Mike Richardson credit, individual review comments and 93% overall score. ↩

5. “The CRASH History”, CRASH Christmas Special 1987, issue 48, history supplement p. 50; ACE 5, February 1988, review of 1987, pp. 8–9. Contemporary accounts of the games-business transition, not a published sale contract. ↩

6. Durell’s company website, insurance and financial-services software description, checked October 2026. ↩