Steven Moffat
Steven William Moffat OBE (/ˈmɒfət/;[3] born 18 November 1961)[1] 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, and co-creating and co-writing the contemporary crime drama television series Sherlock, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. In the 2015 Birthday Honours, Moffat was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama.[4]
Steven Moffat
Television writer, television producer and screenwriter
1988–present
Comedy, drama, adventure, science fiction
2[2]
Born in Paisley, Scotland, Moffat, the son of a teacher, was formerly a teacher himself.[5] His first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage. Later in the 1990s, he wrote Chalk, inspired by his own experience as an English teacher. Moffat, a lifelong fan of Doctor Who, wrote the comedic sketch episode The Curse of Fatal Death for the Comic Relief charity telethon, which aired in early 1999. His early-2000s sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his relationship with television producer Sue Vertue.
In March 2004, Moffat was announced as one of the writers for the revived Doctor Who TV series. He wrote six episodes during Russell T Davies' first era as head writer, which aired from 2005 to 2008. Moffat's scripts during this era won him three Hugo Awards, a BAFTA Craft Award, and a BAFTA Cymru Award. Between episodes, he wrote and produced the modern-day drama series Jekyll, based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In May 2008, it was announced that Moffat would succeed Davies as showrunner, lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who. Around the same time, he dropped his contract with film director Steven Spielberg for a film trilogy based on artist Hergé's character Tintin. Part of the lone script he wrote was used in Spielberg's film The Adventures of Tintin, eventually released in 2011.
Moffat's work in the 2010s consisted mainly of his period as the head writer of Doctor Who during the fifth through tenth series, in which he won another Hugo, and Sherlock, which won Moffat a BAFTA Craft Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Both of these aired from 2010 to 2017. In the 2020s he wrote the BBC and Netflix drama co-productions Dracula (2020) and Inside Man (2022), and wrote two Doctor Who episodes for Davies' second era as head writer which are scheduled to air in 2024. He was also the playwright of the 2022 play The Unfriend.
Early life
Moffat was born in Paisley, Scotland,[5] where he attended Camphill High School.[6] He studied at the University of Glasgow, where he was involved with the student television station Glasgow University Student Television.[7] After gaining a Master of Arts degree in English from Glasgow,[8] he worked as a teacher for three and a half years at Cowdenknowes High School, Greenock.[9] In the 1980s he wrote a play entitled War Zones (performed at the 1985 Glasgow Mayfest and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe[10]) and a musical called Knifer.[11] He is an atheist.[12]
Career
Press Gang
Moffat's father Bill was a head teacher at Thorn Primary School in Johnstone, Renfrewshire;[2] when the school was used for Harry Secombe's Highway in the late 1980s, Bill 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 agreed on the condition his son Steven write it.[2][13][14] Producer Sandra Hastie said that it was "the best ever first script" that she had read.[15] The resulting series was titled Press Gang, starring Julia Sawalha and Dexter Fletcher, and it 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.[16]
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.[17] 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.[18]