Stephen Gallagher (born 13 October 1954) is an English screenwriter and novelist. Gallagher was born in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Gallagher has written novels and television scripts, including for the BBC television series Doctor Who — for which he wrote two serials, Warriors' Gate (1981) and Terminus (1983)—as well as for the series Rosemary & Thyme and Bugs , for two seasons of which he was script consultant along with Brian Clemens. He adapted his own novel Chimera as a 90-minute dramatized audio drama for BBC Radio 4 in 1985, [1] and as a miniseries of the same name that was shown on ITV in 1991. He also directed the miniseries adaptation of Oktober , as well as writing the feature-length episode The Kingdom of Bones for the BBC series Murder Rooms .
He created and wrote a science-based series for ITV, Eleventh Hour , starring Patrick Stewart as a government science investigator and advisor. The programme was rumoured to be ITV's answer to the new series of Doctor Who, but was more in the tradition of the hard-science thriller. Gallagher's series format was acquired for a US television remake by the CSI trio of CBS, Jerry Bruckheimer and director Danny Cannon. The series aired on CBS and starred Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton.
Life Line, broadcast in 2007, was a two-part supernatural mystery starring Ray Stevenson, Joanne Whalley and Jemima Rooper. Gallagher was later lead writer and story supervisor on NBC's 13-part series Crusoe , screened in 2008/2009, and contributed two episodes to the US version of Eleventh Hour including Medea, the season finale. In 2009 he served as Co-Executive Producer on Bruckheimer's crime show The Forgotten , starring Christian Slater. Legacy, a two-part story for season 16 of the BBC's Silent Witness , was Best Drama winner in the 2013 European Science TV and New Media Awards. He later wrote episodes of Stan Lee's Lucky Man .
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Key to collections: CA=Comparative Anatomy, OOHM= Out of his Mind, PM=Plots & Misadventures
Title | Year | First published | Reprinted/collected | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
A Mystery for Julie Chu | 2021 | Beyond the Veil, ed Mark Morris, Flame Tree Press | CA | Hunting magical memorabilia |
Blame the French | 2013 | Twisted Histories, ed Scott Harrison, Snowbooks | CA | Odysseus in a pub |
By the River, Fontainebleau | 2001 | "By the River, Fontainebleau". F&SF . 71 (2): 77–90. August 1986. | OOHM | French Impressionist horror |
Casey, Where He Lies | 1991 | Imagination 8, ed Ian Murphy, Kingfisher Press | OOHM | Master tape of the dead |
Comparative Anatomy | 1990 | Night Visions 8, Dark Harvest | CA | Mystery sea cruise |
Dead Man’s Handle | 1990 | Night Visions 8, Dark Harvest | Northern Chills, ed Graeme Hurry, 1994 | Low-rent park ride haunting |
DeVice | 1991 | Hotter Blood, ed Jeff Gelb | BDSM goes wrong | |
Doctor Hood | 2003 | The Dark, ed Ellen Datlow, TOR Books | PM | Scientific ghost hunt |
Dracula | 2018 | Dark Mirages, ed Paul Kane, PS Publishing | Commissioned BBC screenplay, 2 parts | |
Driving Force | 1989 | Fear Magazine, ed John Gilbert, May/June 1989, July 1989 (in two parts) | OOHM | Meat eating car |
EELS | 2007 | "Eels". Postscripts Magazine. 1 (10). Spring 2007. | CA | Eel breeding neighbour |
Eternal Flame | 2013 | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, ed Jacob Edwards, issue 55 | Magic gas tank | |
Fancy That! | 1995 | Shivers for Christmas, ed Richard Dalby, Michael O’Mara Books | OOHM | Rat breeder and customer |
Feeding Frenzy | 2001 | Walking in Eternity, ed Julian Eales, Factor Fiction | Doctor Who charity short | |
God’s Bright Little Engine | 1994 | Tombs, ed Peter Crowther and Edward E Kramer, White Wolf Publishing | OOHM | Repairman revenant |
Heroes and Villains (alt:Cheeky Boy) | 2015 | The Doll Collection, ed Ellen Datlow, TOR Books | CA | Creepy ventriloquism |
Homebodies | 1992 | Dark at Heart, ed Karen and Joe R Lansdale, Dark Harvest | Precursor to Red, Red Robin | |
Hounded | 2022 | Bonus e-story, Subterranean Press | Scheming dogs | |
Hunter, Killer | 1990 | Night Visions 8, Dark Harvest | PM | A bit like Predator |
In Gethsemane | 1995 | Heaven Sent, ed Peter Crowther, DAW Books | CA, OOHM | Conjuror vs Spiritualist |
Jailbird for Jesus | 2003 | The Best British Mysteries, ed Maxim Jakubowski | PM | Convenience store, undercover cop |
Life Line | 1989 | Dark Fantasies, ed Christopher Morgan, Legend | CA, OOHM | Haunted chat line |
Like Clockwork | 1987 | "Like Clockwork". The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction . 72 (3): 21–35. March 1987. | PM | Body part replacement tech |
Like Shadows in the Dark | 1987 | Shadows 10, ed Charles L Grant, Doubleday | OOHM | Precursor to The Boat House (1) |
Little Angels | 2004 | Out of his Mind, collection, PS Publishing | CA, OOHM | Grandma’s revenge |
Little Dead Girl Singing | 2002 | Darrell Schweitzer; George H Scithers, eds. (March 1987). "Like Clockwork". Weird Tales. 55 (3). DNA Publications. | CA, PM | Weird Child in a contest |
Magpie | 1991 | Final Shadows, ed Charles L Grant, Doubleday | CA, OOHM | Schoolboy revenge |
Melody James | 2018 | The Brooligan Press | The carny and the spy | |
Misadventure | 2007 | Inferno, ed Ellen Datlow, TOR Books | CA | Spooky leisure centre |
Modus Operandi | 1989 | New Crimes, ed Maxim Jakubowski, Robinson | OOHM | Child and a burglary |
Mousetrap | 1992 | The Little Book of Horrors, ed Sebastian Wolfe, Xanadu | Short short | |
My Repeater | 2001 | "My repeater". F&SF . 100 (1): 122–136. January 2001. | CA, PM | Time travelling failures |
Night Flight | 2023 | Great British Horror 8, ed Steve J Shaw, Black Shuck Books | Author stalks fan | |
Nightmare, with Angel | 1983 | "Nightmare, with Angel". F&SF . 65 (5). November 1983. | Arizona motel killer. Unrelated to the novel of the same title | |
No Life For Me Without You, Vodyanoi | 1985 | "No Life For Me Without You, Vodyanoi". F&SF . 69 (3). September 1985. | OOHM | Precursor to The Boat House (2) |
Not Here, Not Now | 1995 | Cold Cuts 3, ed Paul Lewis, Steve Lockley, Alun Books | CA, OOHM | Reckless driver comeuppance |
O, Virginia | 1997 | Shades of Blonde, ed Carole Nelson Douglas, Forge | CA, OOHM | Parts of the stars |
Old, Red Shoes | 1998 | Jack the Ripper, ed Susan Casper and Gardner Dozois, Futura | OOHM | Ripper office pranksters |
One Dove | 2014 | Subterranean Magazine, ed William Schafer, Subterranean Press | CA | Edwardian crime |
Out of Bedlam | 2012 | Crimetime Online | Edwardian crime | |
Poisoned | 1997 | Kimota 6, ed Graeme Hurry | OOHM | Childhood accident with a twist |
Restraint | 2004 | Postscripts Magazine 1, ed Peter Crowther, PS Publishing | CA, PM | Pursued by ex, night, road, kids |
Ribbon of Darkness, Over Me | 1989 | "Ribbon of Darkness, Over Me". F&SF . 77 (2). August 1989. | Precursor to Down River | |
Shepherds’ Business | 2017 | New Fears, ed Mark Morris, Titan Books | CA | Scottish island horror |
The Adventure of the Seven Unnatural Women | 2022 | Gaslight Ghouls, ed Charles Prepolec and J R Campbell | Sherlock Holmes | |
The Back of His Hand | 1990 | Night Visions 8, Dark Harvest | CA, PM | Tattoo removal shocker |
The Backtrack | 2022 | Comparative Anatomy, Subterranean Press | CA | Buried secrets in a scrapped car |
The Beautiful Feast of the Valley | 2018 | The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories, ed Stephen Jones, Skyhorse Publishing | CA | Plutarch in the machine |
The Blackwood Oak | 2007 | Plots and Misadventures (collection) | Hunting fairies with pickup truck and cattle prod | |
The Boy Who Talked to the Animals | 1985 | "The Boy Who Talked to the Animals". F&SF . 68 (2). February 1985. | CA | Theme park behind the scenes |
The Box | 2006 | Retro Pulp Tales, ed Joe R Lansdale, Subterranean Press | CA | Haunted helicopter escape |
The Bucket Woman | 2006 | British Fantasy Society calendar | Short short horror | |
The Butterfly Garden | 2006 | Joe R Lansdale’s Lords of the Razor, ed William Schafer and Bill Sheehan, Subterranean Press | CA | Teen of the Flies |
The Drain | 1990 | Fantasy Tales, ed Stephen Jones, David A Sutton | OOHM | Kids on a quest |
The Governess | 2021 | The Brooligan Press | CA | Winner of the Arthur Conan Doyle Society’s inaugural award for fiction |
The Horn | 1989 | Arrows of Eros, ed Alex Stewart, New English Library | OOHM | Dead Mistress in a snowstorm |
The Kairos Ring | 2021 | BBC Audio original | Dr Who spinoff novella | |
The Jigsaw Girl | 1986 | Shadows 9, ed Charles L Grant, Doubleday | OOHM | Fortune telling toy |
The Plot | 2006 | Subterranean Magazine 5, ed William Schafer, Subterranean Press | CA, PM | Revenge on Victorian cleric |
The Price | 1985 | "The Price". Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine . 9 (6). May 1985. | CA | Twist of fate |
The Sluice | 1992 | Narrow Houses, ed Peter Crowther, Little, Brown | OOHM | Uncanny care home tale |
The Visitors’ Book | 1991 | Darklands, ed Nicholas Royle, Egerton Press | CA, OOHM | Dread in a holiday home |
The Wishing Ball | 1987 | Winter Chills 2, ed Peter Coleborn, British Fantasy Society | PM | Snuffing mom’s ex |
To Dance by the Light of the Moon | 1986 | "To Dance by the Light of the Moon". F&SF . 70 (1). January 1986. | CA | Stalking the late night DJ |
Twisted Hazel | 2020 | Tales of Dark Fantasy, ed William Schafer, Subterranean Press | CA | Young ghost made homeless |
With Her in Spirit | 2013 | Thirteen (audio original), Fantom Publishing | Inspired by true story |
Shada is a story from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by the series' script editor Douglas Adams, it was intended as the final serial of the 1979–80 season but was never originally completed, owing to strike action at the BBC during studio recording. Entering production as a six-part story in 1979, plans were later revised for the story to be broadcast as a four-part story in 1980. Ultimately however, the story was never completed in either format.
Terminus is the fourth serial of the 20th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 15 to 23 February 1983.
Terror of the Autons is the first serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 January 1971.
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Ian Don Marter was an English actor and writer, known for his role as Harry Sullivan in the BBC science-fiction television series Doctor Who from December 1974 to September 1975, with a non-regular, one-serial return in November and December 1975. He sometimes used the pseudonym Ian Don.
Target Books is a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became well known for their highly successful range of novelisations and other assorted books based on the popular science fiction television series Doctor Who. Their first publications based on the serial were reprints in paperback of three novels which had been previously published as hardbacks by Frederick Muller Ltd: Doctor Who and the Daleks and Doctor Who and the Crusaders by David Whitaker, and Doctor Who and the Zarbi by Bill Strutton. As these sold well further novelisations of the show were commissioned. In 1975 Universal-Tandem was sold by its American owners, the Universal-Award group, to the British conglomerate Howard and Wyndham. The company was renamed Tandem Publishing Ltd before being merged with the paperback imprints of Howard and Wyndham's general publishing house W. H. Allen Ltd to become Wyndham Publications Ltd in 1976. However, during 1977 and 1978, the Wyndham identity was phased out and, until 1990, Target books were published by 'the paperback division of WH Allen & Co'.
BBC Books is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The imprint has been active since the 1980s.
Eleventh Hour is a four-part British television series developed by Granada Television for ITV, created by writer Stephen Gallagher.
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the eighth story of twelve in the collection The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was originally published in Strand Magazine in February 1892.
Carnival Film & Television Limited, trading as Carnival Films, is a British production company based in London, UK, founded in 1978. It has produced television series for all the major UK networks including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky, as well as international broadcasters including PBS, A&E, HBO and NBC. Productions include single dramas, long-running television dramas, feature films, and stage productions.
Robot is the first serial of the 12th season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 28 December 1974 to 18 January 1975. It was the first full serial to feature Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, as well as Ian Marter as new companion Harry Sullivan. In the serial, the director of an English research institute plots to use an experimental robot to steal nuclear launch codes and blackmail the world's governments with them.
Warriors' Gate is the fifth serial of the 18th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by Stephen Gallagher and was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 January 1981.
Dr. Who is a character based on the Doctor, the protagonist featuring in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Boris Karloff (1887–1969) was an English actor. He became known for his role as Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 Frankenstein, leading to a long career in film, radio, and television.
An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse, employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One, began on radio and then expanded to television.
James Goss is an English writer and producer, known both for his work in cult TV spin-off media, including tie-in novels and audio stories for Doctor Who and Torchwood, and for his fictional works beyond established universes.
Karl Swenson was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor. Early in his career, he was credited as Peter Wayne.
Chimera is a British science-fiction horror drama made by Zenith Productions and Anglia Films for ITV in 1991. It is based on the 1982 novel of the same name about genetic engineering by Stephen Gallagher. Gallagher had previously adapted the novel as a 90 minute dramatised audio drama for BBC Radio 4 in 1985. The theme music of the TV mini-series was "Roisin Dubh" by Nigel Hess and Chameleon.