Neil Docking is a British writer, composer and producer who has worked in press, radio, film, theatre and television.
A self-taught pianist and musician, he began his career playing in bars and clubs in his native Wales before studying at the University of Westminster where he began writing articles for the students' union magazine ('The Smoke'). In 1997 The Guardian published some of his work and approached him to write a fictional column about student life (intended as a parody of Bridget Jones's Diary) and soon 'Neil Docking's Diary' – a semi-satirical portrait of university life – appeared in the newspaper. In spite of some complaints about the portrayal of students, Docking was nominated for Feature Writer of the Year at the Guardian/NUS Media Awards in 1997.
Following graduation, Docking moved briefly into music journalism [1] [2] before penning a short film script, Without a Song or a Dance (which he later also scored) intended to be considered by Elton John's newly established Rocket Pictures. It was rejected but was eventually produced by BBC Wales (dir. Maxine Evans). The film opened the door for further script writing work first on the BBC Radio serial Station Road and then on the television series Nuts and Bolts for ITV1 Wales. He later worked as a writer, script doctor, storyliner and story editor on such long running British television shows such as Crossroads , Emmerdale (ITV) and Casualty (BBC). In 2012 he wrote the screenplay and music score for an independent feature film musical Summertime [3] (retitled 'Rain'), directed by Maxine Evans.
In 2001, Neil Docking was shortlisted for the Dennis Potter Screenwriting Award. [4]
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). He first gained critical acclaim for a trio of off-Broadway 1970s plays: The Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and American Buffalo. His plays Race and The Penitent, respectively, opened on Broadway in 2009 and previewed off-Broadway in 2017.
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis is a British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Love Actually (2003), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), About Time (2013), and Yesterday (2019). He is also known for the drama War Horse (2011) and for having co-written the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Vicar of Dibley. His early career saw him write material for the BBC's Not the Nine O'Clock News and ITV's Spitting Image.
Victor Lewis-Smith was a British film, television and radio producer, a television and restaurant critic, a satirist and newspaper columnist. He was executive producer of the ITV1 Annual National Food & Drink Awards. He was an alumnus of the University of York and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Westminster in November 2008.
The Young Ones is a British sitcom written by Rik Mayall, Ben Elton, and Lise Mayer, starring Adrian Edmondson, Mayall, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan, and Alexei Sayle, and broadcast on BBC Two for two series, first shown in 1982 and 1984. The show focused on the lives of four dissimilar students and their landlord's family on different plots that often included anarchic, offbeat, surreal humour. The show often included slapstick gags, visual humour and surreal jokes sometimes acted out by puppets, with each episode also featuring a notable selection of guest stars and musical numbers from various performers.
Major David John Croft, was an English television comedy screenwriter, producer and director. He produced and wrote a string of BBC sitcoms with partners Jimmy Perry and Jeremy Lloyd, including Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi! and 'Allo 'Allo!
Steven William Moffat is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as the second showrunner and head writer of the 2005 revival of the BBC sci-fi television series Doctor Who (2010-2017) and co-creating and co-writing the contemporary crime drama television series Sherlock, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories (2010-2017). In the 2015 Birthday Honours, Moffat was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama.
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of Oxford. Starting on BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today.
Stephen Russell Davies, better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the 2005 revival of the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who, from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2023. His other notable works include creating the series Queer as Folk (1999–2000), Bob & Rose (2001), The Second Coming (2003), Casanova (2005), Doctor Who spin-offs Torchwood (2006–2011) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), Cucumber (2015), A Very English Scandal (2018), Years and Years (2019), It's a Sin (2021) and Nolly (2023).
Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter and performer. He appeared in a series of comedic Pot Noodle television adverts in the 1990s. His writing work includes collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Chris Morris, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Sarah Smith. Born in Cardiff, Baynham served in the Merchant Navy after leaving school and later pursued a career in comedy — first in stand-up, and then as a writer and performer for various news and sketch comedies in radio and television while enjoying personal fame starring in Pot Noodle adverts. He then became a writer in feature film.
Paul Abbott is an English screenwriter and producer. He became one of the most successful television writers in Britain following his work on popular series such as Cracker (1993–2006) and Coronation Street (1960–present), and would become more widely known for creating some of the most acclaimed television dramas of the 1990s and 2000s, including Reckless (1997), Touching Evil (1997–1999), Clocking Off (2000–2003), State of Play (2003), Shameless (2004–2013), and No Offence (2015–2018).
Graham Duff is an English writer, actor and producer. His work for television and radio is typified by intricate plotting, large casts, frequently dark subject matter and a love of wordplay and surrealism.
Toby Lawrence Whithouse is an English actor, screenwriter and playwright. His highest-profile work has been the creation of the BBC Three supernatural television series Being Human. He also created the Channel 4 television comedy-drama series No Angels, the BBC America/BBC Two espionage drama series The Game and has written seven episodes for BBC One's Doctor Who. His work on Doctor Who was primarily for the Doctors played by Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi.
Neil Brand is an English dramatist, composer and author. In addition to being a regular silent film accompanist at London's National Film Theatre, Brand has composed new scores for two restored films from the 1920s, The Wrecker and Anthony Asquith's Underground.
Michael J. Bullen is an English screenwriter. Bullen grew up in the West Midlands of England, attending the Solihull School and later Magdalene College, Cambridge. He left with a degree in history of art and became a radio producer for the BBC World Service. Unhappy with the quality of British television targeted at people his age, Bullen took a course in screenwriting and developed a one-off comedy drama for Granada Television. This led to the commissioning of Cold Feet, a multiple-award-winning comedy drama that aired for two separate runs on the ITV network, the first from 1998 to 2003, and the second from 2016 to 2020. The series won Bullen the Writer of the Year award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards. He wrote two more series for Granada; Life Begins, which ran for three years, and All About George, which ran for only one. His works have been described as being "about the intricacies of interpersonal relationships and what happens when they break down".
Jonathan Myerson is a British dramatist and novelist, writing principally for television and radio. His partner is novelist Julie Myerson.
"Planet of the Dead" is the first of four special episodes of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who broadcast in between mid-2009 and early 2010. It was simultaneously broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 11 April 2009. The specials served as lead actor David Tennant's final stories as the Tenth Doctor. He is joined in the episode by actress Michelle Ryan, who plays Lady Christina de Souza, a one-off companion to the Doctor. The episode was written by Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts, the first co-writing credit since the show's revival in 2005. "Planet of the Dead" serves as the 200th story of Doctor Who.
Silk is a British television drama series produced by the BBC which was broadcast over three series on BBC One between 22 February 2011 and 31 March 2014. Created by Peter Moffat, the series follows the daily goings on of Shoe Lane Chambers and its members in their personal and professional lives.
Evan Eynon Evans billed as Eynon Evans and also known as E. Eynon Rees, was a Welsh writer and film actor of the 1950s, mainly known for his radio and television work. During the 1940s he appeared on the BBC radio variety show Welsh Rarebit as the comedic character Tommy Troubles, reaching an audience of 12 million.
Maxine Evans is a Welsh actress who has worked extensively in television and theatre roles. She is best known for playing Rhian in the Sky1 TV comedy drama series Stella. and is also well known for appearing in one episode of the spin-off series of Doctor Who called Torchwood as her role of Helen Sherman in the episode "Countrycide" with actor Owen Teale. Maxine also played the character of Mrs Busby in the BBC drama Call The Midwife
Elizabeth Gwladys Davies was a British radio drama producer and director, and a prolific dramatist who contributed scripts to radio, primarily at the BBC, for over fifty years. Her work appeared on the BBC Home Service and radio For the Forces during the Second World War and continued to appear on BBC Radio 4 well into the 1990s. As a director of drama she produced the long-running radio soap opera Mrs Dale's Diary and worked closely with writers ranging from the Trinidadian author Samuel Selvon to the historian Lady Antonia Fraser, while directing hundreds of plays and serials for the radio. She died at the age of 100.