Jimmy McGovern
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Jimmy McGovern (born 1949) is a BAFTA award-winning English television scriptwriter from Liverpool.
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[edit] Early career
McGovern started his career working on Channel 4's soap opera Brookside in 1982, tackling many social issues such as unemployment.
[edit] Successes
In 1993, he created the drama serial Cracker about the work of a criminal psychologist played by Robbie Coltrane. Made by Granada Television and screened on ITV, the series was a critical and popular success. Cracker also aired in the United States, on the Arts and Entertainment cable network. McGovern's writing earned him two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. In 1997 he created The Lakes, a drama that shared Brookside's realist setting and reused themes from Cracker such as gambling addiction. In 2006 he created the BBC One drama The Street, its third and final season aired in 2009.
[edit] Opinions
McGovern has described cinema scriptwriters as being treated like hacks and forced to crank out countless drafts by successive producers. McGovern has openly criticised dramas like Footballer's Wives, lamenting the lack of quality, believable storytelling in the early 2000s. He also believes that television directors are underrated. He says: “I have worked twice with David Blair [on The Lakes and The Street], and I can tell you that he is the best there is. He can make a good project great... Why David hasn’t won the acclaim he deserves is a mystery to me.”[1]
[edit] Musical
McGovern has also completed a musical stage show called King Cotton, exploring links between the transatlantic slave trade and industrialisation in North West England, as part of the Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008. King Cotton premiered at The Lowry in September 2007 before moving to the Liverpool Empire.
[edit] Producer
In 2009, McGovern was the executive producer on BBC One miniseries Moving On.
[edit] Current
His new series, Accused started filming in May 2010. It follows a similar format to The Street but with a crime component. Scripts are written by McGovern, Danny Brocklehurst, Alice Nutter and two new writers. It is produced by Sita Williams.
[edit] Filmography
As writer
| Programme | Date | Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brookside | 1982 | Channel 4 | |
| Cracker | 1993-2006 | ITV1 | |
| Hearts and Minds | 1995 | Channel 4 | |
| The Lakes | 1997-1999 | BBC One | |
| Hillsborough | 1996 | ITV1 | Dramatised reconstruction of the events of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster |
| Dockers | 1999 | Channel 4 | Dramatisation of the 1995-98 Liverpool Dockers' Strike |
| Sunday | 2002 | Channel 4 | Based on the events of Bloody Sunday |
| Gunpowder, Treason & Plot | 2004 | BBC One | Dramatisation of the lives of Mary, Queen of Scots and James I of England |
| The Street | 2006-2009 | BBC One | |
| Accused | 2010 | BBC One |
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Seeing the director’s point of view". Financial Times. 2006-08-27. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/50cfb916-35e9-11db-b249-0000779e2340.html.
