Ben Richards (born 1964) is a British screenwriter and novelist. He was the lead writer on ''Spooks'' and is the writer/creator of ''Party Animals, Outcasts, COBRA'' and ''Showtrial''. He also created ''The Tunnel'' from the Scandinavian original of “The Bridge” as well as adapting “ ''The Cuckoo’s Calling''," the first in Robert Galbraith’s ''Strike'' series for BBC1.

Career

Before writing

novels A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of '' ...

and

TV dramas In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular sup ...

, he worked for three years as a housing officer in

Newham The London Borough of Newham () is a London boroughs, London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of County Borough of West Ham, West Ham and County ...

and

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, London. As a research student at UCL's Department of Geography he spent a year investigating public housing in Chile and on his return to Britain began his first novel "to alleviate the boredom of analysing questionnaires" for his PhD thesis. Richards was a lecturer at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

and at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where he taught

development studies Development studies is an interdisciplinary branch of social science. Development studies is offered as a specialized master's degree in a number of reputed universities around the world. It has grown in popularity as a subject of study since the ...

, specialising in South America. He is now a full-time writer. His novels are ''Throwing the House out of the Window'' (1996), ''Don't Step on the Lines'' (1997), ''The Silver River'' (1999), ''A Sweetheart Deal'' (2001), ''The Mermaid and the Drunks'' (2004) and ''Confidence'' (2006). He also contributed to the

New Puritans The New Puritans was a literary movement ascribed to the contributors to a 2000 anthology of short stories entitled ''All Hail the New Puritans'', edited by Nicholas Blincoe and Matt Thorne. The project is said to have been inspired by the Dogme ...

anthology of 2000. As a screenwriter, Richards has written for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

('' Spooks'' and '' Party Animals''), ITV ('' The Fixer'') and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

(''

No Angels No Angels are an all-female Pop music, pop group from Germany, formed in 2000. Originally a quintet, consisting of band members Nadja Benaissa, Ludmilla Diakovska, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo, and Jessica Wahls, they originat ...

''). He has also written for the British-French crime drama television series '' The Tunnel'', an adaption of ''The Bridge'' (Danish-Swedish).

Writing credits

References

External links

3am interview
* 1964 births Living people Academics of the University of Birmingham 21st-century English novelists English male novelists English screenwriters English male screenwriters English science fiction writers English television writers English male television writers 21st-century English screenwriters 21st-century English male writers {{England-novelist-stub