He made his name in If . . . but David Wood has gone on to became a leading children's dramatist and next week brings a Roald Dahl story to Oxford, writes NICK UTECHIN

I suspect that there is a generational split in recognising the name of David Wood. For those who were there and remember the 1960s, he will have lastingly crossed our radar as Johnny, one of the maverick schoolboy adolescents in Lindsay Anderson's 1968 film If . . . . For just about everyone else, he is "the national children's dramatist" - so dubbed in The Times many years ago - having written, at the last count (he's very prolific), more than 60 plays for the young. That figure includes literary adaptations, and next week's Oxford Playhouse presentation of Danny The Champion of the World will be Wood's sixth adaptation of a tale by Roald Dahl.

There are longer memories still. When I mentioned interviewing David Wood to a former tutor of mine, his immediate reaction was: "He wrote Hang Down Your Head And Die, didn't he?" I gave an indeterminate grunt, but immediately realised that my ignorance of this, Wood's first outing as a dramatist while up at Worcester College in 1964, should be the starting point of the interview.

"It was a university Experimental Theatre Company production, which ran initially at the Playhouse and then transferred for a short run in the West End," said David. "It was an anti-capital punishment review, set in a circus - I wrote many of the songs and played a leading clown.

"Other members of the cast included Terry Jones and Michael Palin - all very exciting for a 20-year-old and we'd like to think it helped towards the abolition of capital punishment."

Wood positively bubbles with memories of the Oxford drama scene, and effortlessly, but charmingly, drops many more names: "I acted my socks off - the Fool in Lear, Puck, Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest . . . I was doing two or three shows a term. Many of us later turned professional: Maria Aitken, Diana Quick, Michael Johnson (who changed his name to York!), John Sergeant, Nigel Rees, Simon Brett and lots more."

Then, after going down in 1966, came If . . . . I thought David Wood might by now be bored rigid being asked questions about how he came to be part of this iconic film, but, presumably because he has been asked so often, the story comes off-pat.

"In '67, I was acting in rep at the Swan, Worcester, and was writing five letters a day to prospective employers. I was invited to audition for Crusaders (working title for If . . . .), came out of Trafalgar Square tube station en route to the Garrick Theatre, fell and split my trousers. My first words to the great Lindsay Anderson were: "I've split my trousers!" The whole experience was unforgettable: we all sensed it was special, even though it was only expected to be a minor art film."

This led to lots of acting in television series such as Dixon of Dock Green, Z Cars and The Troubleshooters; Wood even read books on Jackanory.

But his future career path had already been established at Worcester, when he was asked to write the 1967 Christmas play for the Swan. Wood had been running Saturday morning children's theatre there. He had in any case been doing magic at children's parties from the age of 12 - he's been a member of The Inner Magic Circle since 2002 - and was thus happy to write The Tinderbox.

"I never saw it and have never allowed it to be published! It really wasn't very good. But good enough for the director, John Hole, to ask for another one, which turned out to be The Owl and the Pussycat Went to See and ended up being presented by virtually every rep in the country."

All these years later - he's now 64 - David Wood describes himself on his website as "actor, composer, producer, director and playwright", but it is clear that his heart remains with the young.

"I wrote a book about this Theatre For Children - Guide to Writing, Adapting, Directing and Acting, exploring techniques like 'suddenlies', to capture the interest of that audience. Children's theatre is an art form in its own right and doesn't deserve the second-division tag it often suffers from. In my opinion, it's the most important theatre. It's a big responsibility and we bore them at our peril."

Over the years, he's had a special affinity for putting Roald Dahl stories on stage. Danny was written in 1975, was filmed with Jeremy Irons and now comes to the Playhouse as part of the play's first world theatrical tour, put on by the Birmingham Stage Company, together with Cardiff's Sherman Theatre.

I asked David to sum up Dahl's strengths as a children's writer.

"Great humour, huge life-and-death situations, brilliant baddies, child protagonists, use of fantasy in plausible and contemporary settings and satisfyingly just endings. His work is wonderfully theatrical, yet very difficult to stage. And the books are so popular, you get it wrong at your peril!"

Back at his home in Wimbledon, while waiting for Danny and his marvellous Dad to share their big secret in their caravan at the Playhouse, David will be preparing for another local outing: a performance of his own David Wood Magic and Music Show at the Theatre, Chipping Norton, tomorrow. It's all rather exhausting.

Danny The Champion Of The World is at Oxford Playhouse from Tuesday until Saturday, June 14. For tickets call 01865 305305.