Steven Moffat

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Steven Moffat

Moffat records the DVD audio commentary for Joking Apart, January 2006
Born 18 November 1961 (1961-11-18) (age 48)[1]
Paisley, Scotland
Occupation Screenwriter, television producer
Writing period 1988–present
Genres Comedy; drama
Spouse(s) Sue Vertue

Steven Moffat (born 18 November 1961[1]) is a Scottish television writer and producer.

Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his relationship with television producer Sue Vertue. In between the two relationship-centred shows, he wrote Chalk, a sitcom set in a comprehensive school inspired by his own experience as an English teacher.

A lifelong fan of Doctor Who, Moffat has written several episodes of the revived series and will succeed Russell T Davies as lead writer and executive producer as of its fifth series in 2010.[2] He has scripted the first The Adventures of Tintin film for director Steven Spielberg.

Many of the programmes upon which he has worked have won awards, including BAFTAs and Hugo Awards for some of his episodes of Doctor Who.

Contents

[edit] Early life and Press Gang

Moffat was born in Paisley, Scotland. After gaining a degree in English, he worked as a teacher.[3] In the 1980s he wrote a play entitled War Zones (performed at the 1985 Glasgow Mayfest) and a musical called Knifer.[4] His father, Bill Moffat, was a head teacher at a school in Scotland; when the school was used for Harry Secombe's Highway in the late 1980s, he mentioned to the producers that he had an idea for a television series about a school newspaper. The producers asked for a sample script, to which Bill Moffat agreed on condition his son wrote it.[3][5] Producer Sandra Hastie said that it was "the best ever first script" that she had read.[6]

The resulting series was titled Press Gang, starring Julia Sawalha and Dexter Fletcher, and ran for five series on ITV between 1989 and 1993, with Moffat writing all forty-three episodes. The programme won a BAFTA award in its second series.[7]

During production of the second series of Press Gang, Moffat was experiencing an unhappy personal life as a result of the break-up of his first marriage. The producer was secretly phoning his friends at home to check on his state.[8] His wife's new lover was represented in the episode "The Big Finish?" by the character Brian Magboy (Simon Schatzberger), a name inspired by Brian: Maggie's boy. Moffat brought in the character so that all sorts of unfortunate things would happen to him, such as having a typewriter dropped on his foot.[9]

[edit] Joking Apart

By 1990, Moffat had written two series of Press Gang, but the programme's high cost along with organisational changes at backers Central Independent Television cast its future in doubt.[9] As Moffat wondered what to do next and worried about his future employment, Bob Spiers, Press Gang's primary director, suggested that he meet with producer Andre Ptaszynski to discuss writing a sitcom.[10] Inspired by his experience working in education, Moffat's initial proposal was a programme similar to what would become Chalk, a sitcom set in a school that eventually aired in 1997.[11] During the pitch meeting at the Groucho Club, Ptaszynski realised that Moffat was talking passionately about his impending divorce and suggested that he write about that instead of a school sitcom.[11] Taking Ptaszynski's advice, Moffat's new idea was about "a sitcom writer whose wife leaves him".[12] Moffat wrote two series of Joking Apart, which was directed by Bob Spiers, and starred Robert Bathurst and Fiona Gillies. The show won the Bronze Rose of Montreux[10] and was entered for the Emmys.[13] In an interview with Richard Herring, Moffat says that "The sit-com actually lasted slightly longer than my marriage."[3]

Speaking about the autobiographical elements of the show, the writer jokes that he has to remember that his wife didn't leave him for an estate agent; his wife was an estate agent.[14][15] Conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based his relationship with his second wife, TV producer Sue Vertue.[16] Moffat reused the surname 'Taylor', which is Mark's surname in Joking Apart, for Jack Davenport's character Steve in Coupling.

He wrote three episodes of Murder Most Horrid, an anthology series of comedic tales starring Dawn French. The first ("Overkill", directed by Bob Spiers) was identified by the BBC as a "highlight" of the series.[17] His other two episodes were "Dying Live" (dir. Dewi Humphreys) and "Elvis, Jesus and Zack" (dir. Tony Dow).

[edit] Chalk and Coupling

According to an interview with The New York Times, Moffat met television producer Sue Vertue at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1996.[18] Vertue had been working for Tiger Aspect, a production company run by Peter Bennett-Jones. Bennett-Jones and his friend and former colleague Andre Ptaszynski, who had worked with Moffat on Joking Apart , told Moffat and Vertue that each fancied the other. A relationship blossomed and they left their respective production companies to join Hartswood Films, run by Beryl Vertue, Sue's mother.[5]

Before Moffat left Pola Jones for Hartswood, Ptaszynski produced Chalk, the series that the writer had pitched to him at the beginning of the decade.[5] Set in a comprehensive school and starring David Bamber as manic deputy head Eric Slatt and Nicola Walker as Suzy Travis, the show was based on Moffat's three years as an English teacher.[3] The studio audience responded so positively to the first series when it was taped that the BBC commissioned a second series before the first had aired. However, it was met less enthusiastically by critics upon transmission, who had taken exception to the BBC's publicity department comparing the show to the highly-respected Fawlty Towers.[5] In an interview in the early 2000s, Moffat refuses to even name the series, joking that he might get attacked in the street.[19]

After production wrapped on Chalk in 1997, Moffat announced to the cast that he was marrying Vertue.[20] When she eventually asked him for a sitcom, he decided to base it around the evolution of their own relationship. Coupling was first broadcast on BBC2 in 2000, with his wife producing for Hartswood Films. The series proved to be highly successful, running until 2004 and producing four series and twenty-eight episodes, all written by Moffat. He also wrote the original, unbroadcast, pilot episode for the American version of the same series, in 2003, although this was less successful and was cancelled after four episodes on the NBC network. Moffat has blamed its failure on an unprecedented level of network interference.[15]

[edit] Jekyll, Tintin and future projects

He wrote the Hartswood Films drama series Jekyll, a modern version of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which aired on BBC One in June and July 2007.[21] In an interview with The Age, James Nesbitt, who played the eponymous character, called Moffat "an eccentric, shy fellow", while commending his writing as "inventive and dark and funny".[22]

In June 2007 Moffat told The Stage that he is working on a new sitcom. Provisionally titled Adam and Eve, it concerns a boss and his PA, who are long-term friends but never get together.[23] In October 2007 it was reported that Moffat would be scripting a trilogy of The Adventures of Tintin films for directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.[24] According to The Times newspaper, Moffat had to be "love bombed" by Spielberg into accepting the offer to write the films, with the director promising to shield him from studio interference with his writing.[25] He had intended to complete work on the whole trilogy before resuming work on Doctor Who, but the intervening WGA strike meant he could submit a finished script for the first film only.[26] In July 2008, Moffat was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: "I could not work on the second Tintin film and work on Doctor Who. So I chose Doctor Who."[27]

Moffat remains a writer for Hartswood Films even after his appointment as show-runner for Doctor Who. He is also working with Mark Gatiss on a contemporary update of Sherlock Holmes, called Sherlock.[28] A 60-minute pilot, written by Moffat, was shot in January 2009, and a three-part series is being prepared for 2010 broadcast, which Gatiss will executive produce while Moffat concentrates on Doctor Who.[28][29][30]

[edit] Doctor Who

Moffat on the Doctor Who panel at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con.

Moffat has been a fan of Doctor Who since childhood.[31] His first professional contribution to Doctor Who was a prose story, "Continuity Errors", which was published in the 1996 Virgin Books anthology Decalog 3: Consequences. In 1999 he scripted the parody Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, which aired as part of the Comic Relief charity telethon. The co-producer for that year's Comic Relief telethon was Moffat's then-new wife, Sue Vertue.[32]

In 2004 Moffat was signed to write for the revival of Doctor Who proper. His contribution for the first series, transmitted in 2005, was the Hugo Award-winning[33][34] two-part story "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". In the DVD audio commentary he says that he waited forty years to see his name appear on top of that theme music.[31] He wrote an episode for each of the two following series of Doctor Who: "The Girl in the Fireplace" in the 2006 series (which won the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form[35] and was nominated for a 2006 Nebula Award[36]) and "Blink" in the 2007 series. In the Doctor Who Magazine reader poll for the 2007 series, Moffat was voted as best writer and "Blink" as the best story. The episode was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Script.[36] In 2008 it secured him his third Hugo win, again for Best Dramatic Presentation,[37] the BAFTA Craft Award for Best Writer,[38] and a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Screenwriter.[39] He also wrote the 2007 Children in Need "special scene" "Time Crash".[40]

He wrote a two-part story for series four in 2008, titled "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead". This made Moffat and series executive producer Russell T Davies the only writers to have contributed scripts to all four series of the revived show. In March 2008, Davies said that he often rewrites scripts from other writers, but "doesn't touch a word" of Moffat's episodes.[15]

The BBC announced in May 2008 that Moffat would be taking over from Russell T Davies as head writer and executive producer for the revived show's fifth series, to be broadcast in 2010.[2] Commenting on his appointment, Moffat said it was "the proper duty of every British subject to come to the aid of the TARDIS".[26]

In addition to his television episodes, Moffat has also contributed stories to Panini Publishing's Doctor Who Storybook series, penning the short stories "What I Did On My Christmas Holidays By Sally Sparrow" for the 2006 book (which later formed the basis of his TV episode "Blink"),[41] "Corner of the Eye" for the 2007 volume and "A Letter From the Doctor" which opens the 2009 Storybook.

[edit] Writing credits

Production Notes Broadcaster
Press Gang
  • 43 episodes (1989-1993)
 ITV
Joking Apart
  • 13 episodes (1991-1995)
 BBC2
Murder Most Horrid
  • "Overkill" (1994)
  • "Dying Live" (1996)
  • "Elvis, Jesus and Zack" (1999)
 BBC2
Chalk
  • 12 episodes (1997)
 BBC1
Doctor Who BBC One
Coupling
  • 28 episodes (2000-2004)
 BBC Two
BBC Three
Jekyll
  • 6 episodes (2007)
 BBC One
Sherlock
  • Pilot (2010)
 BBC One
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn N/A

[edit] Awards and nominations

Award Year Details Episode / Series
British Academy Television Awards 1991 Won Best Children's Programme (Entertainment / Drama) Press Gang[42]
1992 Nominated Best Children's Programme Press Gang[42]
2008 Won Best Writer Doctor Who: "Blink"[38]
Royal Television Society Awards 1991 Won Best Children's Programme Press Gang[43][44]
Bronze Rose of Montreux 1995 Won Comedy Joking Apart[44]
British Comedy Awards 2003 Won Best TV Comedy Coupling[45]
Hugo Awards 2006 Won Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Doctor Who: "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances"[33][34]
2007 Won Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Doctor Who: "The Girl in the Fireplace"[35]
2008 Won Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Doctor Who: "Blink"[37]
2009 Nominated Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Doctor Who: "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead"[46]
Nebula Awards 2006 Nominated Best Script Doctor Who: "The Girl in the Fireplace"[36]
2007 Nominated Best Script Doctor Who: "Blink[36]
Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards 2007 Won Best Soap / Series (TV) (with Chris Chibnall, Paul Cornell, Russell T Davies, Helen Raynor and Gareth Roberts) Doctor Who, Series Three[47]
2009 Nominated Television drama series (with Russell T Davies) Doctor Who, Series Four[48]
BAFTA Cymru 2008 Won Best Screenwriter Doctor Who: "Blink"[39]
BAFTA Scotland 2008 Nominated Writing in Film or Television Doctor Who[49]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Moffat, Steven (March 4th 2009). "Production Notes". Doctor Who Magazine (405): 11. 
  2. ^ a b "Doctor Who guru Davies steps down". BBC News. 2008-05-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7411177.stm. Retrieved 2008-05-20. 
  3. ^ a b c d Herring, Richard (1997). "Interview With Steven Moffat" (Reproduced on Richard Herring's website). The Guardian Guide. http://www.richardherring.com/press/press.php?id=10. Retrieved 2007-05-11. 
  4. ^ Staff writer (5 January 1989). "Write first time". The Stage: p. 15. 
  5. ^ a b c d After the Chalk Dust Settled, featurette on Chalk Series 1 DVD, ReplayDVD.co.uk, prod. & dir. Craig Robins
  6. ^ Paul Cornell (1993) "Press Gang" In: Cornell, Paul.; Martin Day, Keith Topping (1993). The Guinness Book of Classic British TV. Guinness. pp. 215. ISBN 0-85112-543-3. 
  7. ^ McGown, Alistair. "Press Gang (1989-93)". BFI Screenonline. http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/571944/index.html. Retrieved 2006-12-21. 
  8. ^ Steven Moffat & Julia Sawalha, "Yesterday's News" Press Gang: Season 2 DVD audio commentary
  9. ^ a b Steven Moffat & Julia Sawalha, "The Big Finish?" Press Gang: Season 2 DVD audio commentary
  10. ^ a b Kibble-White, Graham (May 2006). ""Fool if you think it's over"". Off the Telly. http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/comedy/jokingapart.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-22. 
  11. ^ a b Ptaszynski, Andre; Moffat, Steven, Joking Apart, Series 2, Episode 1 DVD audio commentary
  12. ^ Fool if You Think It's Over, featurette, Joking Apart, Series 1 DVD, Dir. Craig Robins
  13. ^ Jarvis, Shane (8 May 2006). "Farce that rose from the grave". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/05/08/bvjoke08.xml. Retrieved 2007-03-01. 
  14. ^ Moffat, Steven, Joking Apart, Series 2, Episode 6 DVD audio commentary
  15. ^ a b c Dowell, Ben (2008-05-20). "Profile: Steven Moffat". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/20/bbc.television4. Retrieved 2008-12-23. 
  16. ^ "Coupling". bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/. Retrieved 2008-03-12. 
  17. ^ "Murder Most Horrid". BBC Comedy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/murdermosthorrid/index.shtml. Retrieved 2008-02-12. 
  18. ^ Sternbergh, Adam (2003-09-07). "Selling Your Sex Life". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03EFD61538F934A3575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2008-04-01. 
  19. ^ Coupling: Behind the Scenes, featurette (2002, prod./dir. Sarah Barnett & Christine Wilson) Couping Season 1 DVD (Region 1), BBC Video, ISBN 0790773392
  20. ^ Chalk Series 1 DVD audio commentary, ReplayDVD
  21. ^ Dempsey, John (2006-03-29). "'Hyde' parks at BBC". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117940582.html?categoryid=19&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-07-28. 
  22. ^ Idato, Michael (2008-02-28). "Finding love amid the horror". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/finding-love-amid-the-horror/2008/02/27/1203788419102.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1. Retrieved 2008-12-23. 
  23. ^ "All about 'Eve'". Chortle. 2007-06-12. http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2007/06/12/5422/all_about_%27eve%27. Retrieved 2007-06-12. 
  24. ^ Mayberry, Carly (2007-10-03). "British writer on Tintin case". Reuters. http://uk.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUKN0235596020071002. Retrieved 2007-10-03. 
  25. ^ Harlow, John (2008-06-08). "Police deployed against paparazzi". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article4072239.ece. Retrieved 2008-06-12. 
  26. ^ a b Staff writer (2008-07-21). "Dr Who writer denies Tintin row". BBC News Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7517423.stm. Retrieved 2008-07-21. 
  27. ^ Graham, Caroline (2008-07-19). "£500,000 Mr Spielberg? Sorry, I've got a date with the Beeb, says the new Dr Who writer". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1036567/500-000-Mr-Spielberg-Sorry-Ive-got-date-Beeb-says-new-Dr-Who-writer.html. Retrieved 2008-07-20. 
  28. ^ a b "BBC Drama announces Sherlock, a new crime drama for BBC One". bbc.co.uk. 2008-12-19. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/12_december/19/sherlock.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-19. 
  29. ^ Parker, Robin (2008-08-23). "Doctor Who's Moffat to pen modern Sherlock Holmes". Broadcast Now. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2008/08/doctor_whos_moffat_to_pen_modern_sherlock_holmes.html. Retrieved 2008-08-23. 
  30. ^ McMahon, Kate (14 July 2009). "BBC1 unveils new dramas". Broadcast. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/commissioning/bbc1-unveils-new-dramas/5003543.article. Retrieved 14 July 2009. 
  31. ^ a b Steven Moffat, "The Empty Child", Doctor Who, DVD audio commentary
  32. ^ ""Positive Comedy" Graham Kibble-White talks to Steven Moffat". Off the Telly. March 2001. http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/interviews/stevenmoffat.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-11. 
  33. ^ a b "Hugo and Campbell Awards Winners". Locus Online. 2006-08-26. http://www.locusmag.com/2006/News/08_HugoCampbellWinners.html. Retrieved 2006-08-27. 
  34. ^ a b Lyon, Shaun (2006-08-27). "Doctor Who Wins Hugo" (Website). Outpost Gallifrey. 
  35. ^ a b "2007 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. 2007-09-01. http://www.thehugoawards.org/index.php?page_id=127. Retrieved 2007-09-01. 
  36. ^ a b c d Rowe, Josiah (2008-01-21). ""Blink" gets Nebula nod". Outpost Gallifrey. Outpost Gallifrey. http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EkppAplkAkQBWREwTW&tmpl=newsrss&style=feedstyle. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
  37. ^ a b "2008 Hugo Nomination List". Denvention 3: The 66th World Science Fiction Convention. World Science Fiction Society. 2008. http://www.denvention.org/hugos/08hugonomlist.php. Retrieved 2008-03-21. 
  38. ^ a b "TV Craft Winners Round-Up". BAFTA. 2008-05-11. http://bafta.org/awards/television-craft/tv-craft-winners-round-up,426,BA.html. Retrieved 2008-05-11. 
  39. ^ a b Wright, Laura (2008-04-28). "Thank you all for putting up with Dr Who". icWales. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/04/28/thank-you-all-for-putting-up-with-dr-who-91466-20830365/. Retrieved 2008-04-29. 
  40. ^ "Who Needs Another Doctor?". BBC.co.uk. 2007-10-21. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/10/21/50016.shtml. Retrieved 2007-11-18. 
  41. ^ Moffat, Steven. "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2007/blink_annual.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-22. 
  42. ^ a b "Search results: Steven Moffat". BAFTA. http://www.bafta.org/search.html?q=steven%20moffat&w=true. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
  43. ^ "Press Gang". ITV. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20080117190229/http://www.itv.com/BestofITV/kids/pressgang/default.html. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
  44. ^ a b "Biography - Steven Moffat (writer)". bbc.co.uk. 2004-06-16. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/06_june/16/coupling_biog_moffat.shtml. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
  45. ^ "Past Winners - 2003". British Comedy Awards. http://www.britishcomedyawards.com/pastwinners03.html. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
  46. ^ Hinman, Michael (9 August 2009). "'Doctor Horrible,' 'Wall-e' Big Winners At Hugos". Airlock Alpha. http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6605. Retrieved 10 August 2009. 
  47. ^ "Guild Award Winners". Writers' Guild of Great Britain. 2007-10-19. http://www.writersguild.org.uk/public/003_WritersGuil/173_WGGBNewsGui.html. Retrieved 2008-07-17. 
  48. ^ "Writers' Guild Awards 2009 shortlists announced". Writers' Guild of Great Britain. 2009-10-30. http://www.writersguild.org.uk/public/003_WritersGuil/388_WGGBNewsGui.html. Retrieved 2009-12-01. 
  49. ^ "Nominations: BAFTA Scotland". BAFTA Scotland website. http://www.baftascotland.co.uk/Awards-2008/nominations. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 

[edit] External links

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v • d • e
Television series by Steven Moffat
Press Gang (1989–1993) · Joking Apart (1993–1995) · Chalk (1997) · Coupling (2000–2004) · Jekyll (2007) · Sherlock (2010)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Moffat"