James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

s from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

. He also received recognition for creating drama series such as '' Hillsborough'', '' The Lakes'', '' The Street'', and '' Accused'', among others. On 8 December 2021, McGovern was awarded the Freedom of The City of Liverpool in recognition of his life's work.

Early life

McGovern was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in September 1949, the son of working-class parents Jane (née Warner) and William McGovern. He was the fifth of nine children. He has a stammer, for which he received no therapy and which affects him still. Brought up a Catholic, he attended St Francis Xavier's College which moved to the Woolton suburb of Liverpool in 1961.

Career

Television

In 1982, McGovern started his TV career working on

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 ...

's soap opera '' Brookside''. He tackled many social issues in the course of the series, especially unemployment – which was at a post-war high at the time. In 1993, he created the drama serial '' Cracker'', about the work of a fictional criminal psychologist played by

Robbie Coltrane Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He was appointe ...

. Made by Granada Television and screened on ITV, the series was a critical and popular success, lasting until 1995. ''Cracker'' also aired in the United States, on the Arts and Entertainment cable network. McGovern's writing earned him two

s from the

. In 1997 he created '' The Lakes'', a drama that shared ''Brookside's'' realist setting and reused themes from ''Cracker,'' such as gambling addiction. In 2006, he created the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

drama, '' The Street''; its third and final series aired in 2009. McGovern also wrote the script for the television

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

'' Hillsborough'' (1996), based on the events of the stadium disaster in 1989, which claimed the lives of 97

fans at an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

semi-final. Among the cast of this drama was Christopher Eccleston, who also featured in ''Cracker'', along with former ''Brookside'' actor Ricky Tomlinson. Eccleston later said it was the most important work he'd ever done. Newspapers cited ''Hillsborough'' as a factor in a new inquiry set up in 1997. In 2009, McGovern was the executive producer on the BBC One miniseries '' Moving On''. His series '' Accused'' aired from 2010 to 2012 on BBC One. It followed a similar format to '' The Street'' but with a crime component. The series' writers included McGovern, Danny Brocklehurst, Alice Nutter and Shaun Duggan. It was produced by Sita Williams. In 2012, McGovern and local Indigenous Australian writers from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

developed the Australian television drama series '' Redfern Now'', set among the

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

of the Sydney suburb of Redfern. The six-part series follows a similar format to ''Accused'', telling the stories of six inner-city households in one street whose lives are changed by a seemingly insignificant incident. The series debuted on 1 November 2012, was produced by Blackfella Films and has been commissioned for a second series. In June 2021, McGovern's series ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', starring Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, aired on

. The series was directed by Lewis Arnold. It won the BAFTA for best miniseries in 2022.

Film

McGovern wrote the screenplay for the 1994 drama, ''

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

''.

Stage

McGovern wrote the book for the musical stage show '' King Cotton'', which explores links between the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

and industrialisation in North West England, as part of the

European Capital of Culture 2008. ''King Cotton'' premiered at the Lowry in September 2007 before moving to the Liverpool Empire.

Views on writing

McGovern has described cinema scriptwriters as being treated poorly and required to produce an abundance of drafts by successive producers. McGovern has openly criticised dramas such as '' Footballers' Wives'' lamenting the lack of quality, believable storytelling in the early 2000s. He believes that television directors are underrated. He says: "I have worked twice with David Blair" on ''The Lakes'' and ''The Street'', "and I can tell you that he is the best there is. He can make a good project great... Why David hasn’t won the acclaim he deserves is a mystery to me".

Filmography

Awards and honours

* Two Edgar Awards for ''Cracker''. * International Emmy for best drama series for ''The Street'' in 2010 and ''The Accused'' in 2011. * Lifetime Achievement award from the

Royal Television Society 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 ...

for his body of work.
the Freedom of Liverpool
on 8 December 2021, from Liverpool City Council, in recognition of his life's work.

BAFTAs

Notes

External links

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

webcast *
TV drama must stop relying on irony and costumes, says Jimmy McGovern
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGovern, Jimmy 1949 births Living people 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English screenwriters 21st-century English male writers BAFTA winners (people) English male television writers Cracker (British TV series) English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights English television writers English people of Irish descent Edgar Award winners International Emmy Award–winning screenwriters People educated at Quarry Bank High School People educated at St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool British showrunners British television show creators Writers from Liverpool