A multi award winning screenwriter and producer, Steven Moffat
was born in Paisley, Scotland. After graduating with an MA in
English from Glasgow University, he worked as a teacher for three
years before being commissioned to write the pilot script for a
children's television series about the creation of a school
newspaper. Entitled 'Press Gang', the series ran for five series on
ITV, and won the Royal Television Society Award and a BAFTA in its
second series. Moffat wrote all 43 episodes of the run. During this
time he also wrote 'Joking Apart', a sitcom that ran for two series
and was based upon the breakdown of his first marriage. He also
wrote three episodes of Murder Most Horrid, starring Dawn French,
from the second series onwards.
Steven met his second wife, Sue Virtue, at the Edinburgh
Television Festival in 1996. Soon after, Moffat wrote 'Chalk', a
sitcom based more explicitly upon his three years spent as a
teacher. In 1997, after the second series was complete, Moffat
announced he and Vertue were to be married, and both decanted to
Hartswood Wood films, a production company run by Sue's mother
Beryl. When asked for a sitcom by his new production company,
Moffat created 'Coupling', a semi autobiographical series about his
courtship and relationship with Sue. Both of the lead characters in
the series are named after Steven and Sue. Running for four series,
Coupling proved successful after an initially slow start,
eventually winning 'Best TV Comedy' at the 2003 TV Comedy Awards. A
planned American version of the show was green lit by the NBC
network with a pilot episode written by Moffat, though NBC
cancelled the series after only broadcasting four episodes. Moffat
is on record for blaming an unprecedented level of network
interference by NBC for the demise of the series.
In 2004 Steven Moffat achieved a childhood dream - being asked
to write for the revived series of Doctor Who. He had previously
written prose novels and a spoof homage for a Children in Need
broadcast, but this was the real thing. His contribution to the
first series of the revival starring Christopher Eccleston, was the
two part story 'The Empty Child' and 'The Doctor Dances', notable
for introducing the character of Captain Jack Harkness, played by
John Barrowman, who would go on to become the lead in the spin off
series 'Torchwood'. He went on to write episodes for every series
of the revival, the only writer to have done so, including in the
David Tennant era 'The Girl in the Fireplace', 'Blink' - which
introduced the infamous Stone Angels to the series, and the two
part story 'Silence in the Library' / 'Forest of the Dead', which
introduced the important ongoing character of River Song. Moffat's
first three contributions to the series are multi award winning,
with all of the episodes winning the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic
Presentation [short form]. 'Blink' also won the BAFTA award for
Best Writer and the BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Screenwriter.
In 2007 Moffat wrote all six episodes of 'Jekyll,' a modern
updating and reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous novella
'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,' for Hartswood, and was
commissioned by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson to write a
trilogy of films based upon Herge's 'The Adventures of Tintin'.
Moffat completed multiple drafts of the first film 'The Secret of
the Unicorn' [2011], before being approached by the BBC in 2008 to
take over as Head Writer and Executive Producer on Doctor Who.
Weighing the options, Moffat's childhood love of the BBC Series won
out, and with mutual understanding with Spielberg and Jackson, left
the Tintin projects. Taking over in June 2009, Steven Moffat
brought in Matt Smith as The Doctor, following David Tennant's
departure. Breaking from the norm thus far, he has created an
ongoing overarching storyline that crosses between the series, all
while guiding Doctor Who to a much anticipated celebration of it's
50th anniversary in 2013.
Remaining at Hartswood, he co-created 'Sherlock' with Mark
Gatiss during the transition to Doctor Who in 2008, writing a pilot
script that was shot in January 2009. While not used in its first
form, the BBC commissioned Hartswood to a series of three feature
length episodes, a format that proved successful following the
BBC's production of 'Wallander,' starring Kenneth Branagh.
Expanding on the pilot script, Steven Moffat contributed 'A Study
in Pink', the first episode of Sherlock's first series, based upon
'A Study in Scarlet', the story that detailed the first meeting
between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Sherlock met with huge
success on its broadcast in 2010, with the BBC recommissioning it
for a second series. Moffat again wrote the first episode of the
second series of the show, 'A Scandal in Belgravia', based in part
upon the short Holmes story 'A Scandal in Bohemia'.
BAFTA Cymru
Won: In 2008, Best Screenwriter for Doctor Who:
Blink
BAFTA Scotland
Nominated: In 2008, Writing in Film or
Television for Doctor Who
British Academy Television Awards
Won: In 1991, Best Children's Programme for
Press Gang and in 2008, Best Writer for Doctor Who: Blink
Nominated: In 1992, Best Children's Programme
for Press Gang
British Comedy Awards
Won: In 2003, Best TV Comedy for Coupling
Bronze Rose of Montreux
Won: In 1995, the comedy award for Joking
Apart
Emmy Award
Nominated: In 2011, Best Script for a TV Movie
or Miniseries for Sherlock
Hugo Award
Won: In 2006, Best Dramatic Presentation, Short
Form for Doctor Who: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, in 2007,
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for Doctor Who: The Girl in
the Fireplace; in 2008, Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for
Doctor Who: Blink and in 2011, Best Dramatic Presentation, Short
Form for Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
Nominated: In 2009, Best Dramatic Presentation,
Short Form for Doctor Who: Silence in the Library/Forest of the
Dead and in 2011, Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for Doctor
Who: A Christmas Carol
Nebula Award
Nominated: In 2006, Best Script for Doctor Who:
The Girl in the Fireplace and in 2006, Best Script for Doctor Who:
Blink
Royal Television Society Awards
Won: In 1991, Best Children's Programme
(Entertainment / Drama) for Press Gang
Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award
Won: In 2007, Best Soap / Series (TV) along
with Chris Chibnall, Paul Cornell, Russell T Davies, Helen Raynor
and Gareth Roberts for Doctor Who, Series Three
Nominated: In 2009, Television drama series
along with Russell T Davies for Doctor Who, Series Four