Jeremy Dyson (born 14 June 1966) is a British author, musician and screenwriter who, along with

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and ''Dracula''. Together with ...

Steve Pemberton Steven James Pemberton (born 1 September 1967) is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He is best known as a member of ''The League of Gentlemen'' with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also c ...

and

Reece Shearsmith Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for being a member of ''The League of Gentlemen'', alongside Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. With Pemberton, he lat ...

, is one of

the League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives o ...

. He also created and co-wrote the West End show '' Ghost Stories'' and its

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

Early life

Dyson was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exis ...

, England, son of Elaine Saville and Melvin Dyson.Jeremy Dyson: Leeds writer in literary spotlight
, ''

Yorkshire Evening Post The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' is a daily evening publication (delivered to newsagents every morning) published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The paper provides a regional slant on the day's news, and tradi ...

'', 14 July 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2011 He has one older brother, Andrew Dyson, and a younger sister, Jayne Dyson. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School, now The Grammar School at Leeds. He studied

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. S ...

at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , t ...

and later completed an MA in screenwriting at the Northern Film School.Jeremy Dyson – Writer
", ghostsroriestheshow.co.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2011 He lived in

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was s ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, but now lives in

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward withi ...

. Jeremy is also Jewish, raised in a kosher home; though no longer practicing, it often appears in his work.

Career

Dyson is the co-creator of the West End play '' Ghost Stories'', and a member of the sketch comedy team The League of Gentlemen, the latter along with fellow performers Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, and Reece Shearsmith, all of whom he met while they were studying at Bretton Hall drama school.Salter, Jessica (2011)
World of Jeremy Dyson, writer
, ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad ne ...

'', 21 January 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2011 The League of Gentlemen initially began as a stage act in 1995, which was then transferred to BBC Radio 4 in 1997 as ''On the Town with the League of Gentlemen'', and then became a television series on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

in 1999. The latter saw Dyson and his colleagues awarded a

British Academy Television Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

, a

Royal Television Society Award The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

, and the prestigious

Golden Rose of Montreux The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lake ...

. Dyson has written several books including ''Bright Darkness: Lost Art of the Supernatural Horror Film'', a non-fiction guide to horror films, and two collections of short stories entitled ''Never Trust a Rabbit'' – short-listed for the Macmillan Silver Pen award – and ''The Cranes That Build The Cranes'' which won the 2010 Edge Hill award.Krieger, Candice (2010)
Jeremy Dyson snatches a prize for his ghoulish stories
, ''Jewish Chronicle'', 12 August 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2011 Five stories from ''Never Trust a Rabbit'' were read on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

in 2000. His novel ''What Happens Now'' was published on 6 April 2006 to favourable reviews and was nominated for the Goss first novel award.O'Grady, Carrie (2006)
Alistair in Wonderland: Carrie O'Grady finds pleasing symmetries in Jeremy Dyson's What Happens Now
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 8 April 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2011 He co-created (with Simon Ashdown) the BAFTA-nominated television series '' Funland'', which aired on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

, and wrote the ''Billy Goats Gruff'' episode of the BBC's 2008 series ''

Fairy Tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cul ...

''. He worked as script editor and writer on BBC1's BAFTA-award-winning ''

The Armstrong & Miller Show ''The Armstrong & Miller Show'' is a British sketch comedy television show produced by Hat Trick Productions for BBC One. It features the double act Armstrong and Miller and a number of notable scriptwriters including Andy Hamilton, co-creator ...

'' (2007–2010), where he created the licentious Brabbins and Fyffe, parodying Flanders and Swann, accident-prone historian Dennis Lincoln Park, disapproving lingerie saleswomen Lisa and Yvonne and the 'Kill Them' sketches, among others. He was the script editor of BBC Two sitcom '' Grandma's House'' (2010), BBC Three's '' Dead Boss'' (2012) and ''Walking and Talking'' (2012) for Sky Atlantic. In 2010 his short story "The Bear" – a story about identity – was read as part of the ''Twenty Minutes'' strand on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The sta ...

. Due to Dyson's self-confessed lack of acting skills, he does not appear in ''The League of Gentlemen'' television series or any of its offshoots, apart from very brief cameos. He worked as the assistant producer instead. In the film adaptation he is played by

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...

,Dalton, Stephen (2008)
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse; K-Pax; Kill Bill: Vol One
, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its s ...

'', 14 March 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2011 although Dyson appears in the background of a few scenes. Dyson has an interest in the

supernatural fiction Supernatural fiction or supernaturalist fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that exploits or is centered on supernatural themes, often contradicting naturalist assumptions of the real world. Description In its broadest definition, super ...

of English writer

Robert Aickman Robert Fordyce Aickman (27 June 1914 – 26 February 1981) was an English writer and conservation movement, conservationist. As a conservationist, he co-founded the Inland Waterways Association, a group which has preserved from destruction and r ...

and has adapted Aickman's work in a number of media.Jeremy Dyson On Robert Aickman: Talk
", '' The List''. Retrieved 2 July 2011 With

Andy Nyman Andrew Nyman (born 13 April 1966) is an English actor, director, writer and magician. Early life and career Nyman was born on 13 April 1966 in Leicester, Leicestershire. His first noteworthy performance was in 2000 as Keith Whitehead in '' Dead ...

, he co-wrote and co-directed the supernatural-themed stage production '' Ghost Stories''. The play broke box office records at the

Liverpool Playhouse The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, England. It originated in 1866 as a music hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the early careers of many actors and actres ...

and Lyric Hammersmith theatres, where it had its first run between February and April 2010. It transferred to the

Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by ...

in the West End in June 2010, where it ran for thirteen months. In January 2011, he returned to the Lyric Hammersmith with ''Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales'', the first stage adaptation of

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has b ...

's short stories '' Tales of the Unexpected''.Johnson, Angela (2011)
Jeremy Dyson discusses adapting Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales from the page to the stage
", Click Liverpool, 31 March 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2011 A

of ''Ghost Stories'', directed by Dyson and Nyman, and starring Nyman, premiered in 2017. Dyson was script editor on the BBC Two comedy-thriller ''

The Wrong Mans ''The Wrong Mans'' is a British BBC Television comedy-drama series, co-produced with the American online television provider Hulu. It premiered on BBC Two on 24 September 2013 and in the United States on 11 November 2013. Considered a critical ...

'' written by

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey''. In the U ...

Mathew Baynton Mathew John Baynton (born 18 November 1980) is an English actor, writer, comedian, singer, and musician best known as a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the TV series ''Horrible Histories''; as well as an a ...

and

Tom Basden Thomas William Basden (born 30 November 1980) is an English actor, comedy writer, and a member of the British four-man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collabo ...

. The show is about a pair of lowly office workers who become unwittingly embroiled in a deadly criminal conspiracy. Its first series was broadcast in 2013. He has written and acted as script supervisor for the BBC sketch comedy series ''

Tracey Ullman's Show ''Tracey Ullman's Show'' is a British sketch comedy television series starring Tracey Ullman. ''Tracey Ullman's Show'' premiered on BBC One on 11 January 2016. The programme marks her first project for the broadcaster in over thirty years, and h ...

'' and '' Tracey Breaks the News'' starring

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows ''A Kick Up the Eighties'' (w ...

. Alongside his writing work, Dyson plays keyboards in a pop band called Rudolf Rocker, and has previously been a member of Leeds band, Flowers for Agatha in the 1980s.

References

External links

*
Transcript of talk with Jeremy Dyson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyson, Jeremy 1966 births Alumni of the University of Leeds 21st-century British novelists English screenwriters English male screenwriters English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights Living people British radio writers British comedy writers People educated at Leeds Grammar School The League of Gentlemen English Jews