Jonathan Myerson (born 12 January 1960 in Cardiff, Wales) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and novelist, writing principally for television and radio. His partner is novelist

Julie Myerson Julie Myerson (born Julie Susan Pike; 2 June 1960) is an English author and critic. As well as fiction and non-fiction books, she formerly wrote a column in ''The Guardian'' entitled "Living with Teenagers", based on her family experiences. She ...

. Myerson's first play ''Making a Difference'' was commissioned by the

Oxford Playhouse Company Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfor ...

. A subsequent work, ''Diary of a Nobody'' was written for the National Theatre. His work includes '' Number 10'', a five-part series for

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 Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

about a fictional

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and his staff in

Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk ...

, including an episode in which

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three consti ...

is invaded by

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. His animated film of '' The Canterbury Tales'' was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

(as

animated short film Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

) in 1999 and won the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film in addition to four Emmys. He has also written scripts for several British television drama series including ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'', '' EastEnders'', ''

Jupiter Moon ''Jupiter Moon'' is a science fiction soap opera television series first broadcast by British Satellite Broadcasting's Galaxy channel in 1990. 150 episodes were commissioned and made, but only the first 108 were broadcast before the closure of ...

'' and ''

The Legend of William Tell ''The Legend of William Tell'' is a 16-part television fantasy/drama series produced in 1998 by Cloud 9 Productions in New Zealand. The basic premise of the series — a crossbow-wielding rebel defies a corrupt governor — and the name of t ...

'' as well as being involved in animation. He has written scripts for '' Testament: The Bible in Animation'' and '' The Canterbury Tales'' (as being head director and executive director) and voice directed ''

Animated Tales of the World ''Animated Tales of the World'' is a 2001 animated series that aired on HBO and S4C. It was produced by Children's Television Trust International and Christmas Films for S4C and Channel 4. The series is an anthology serie adapting a unique stor ...

''. In June 2017, Myerson's ''That was Then'' was broadcast in five parts as BBC Radio Four's ''

15 Minute Drama ''15 Minute Drama'', previously known as ''Woman's Hour Drama'', was a BBC Radio 4 Arts and Drama production strand that was broadcast between 1998 and 2021. It consisted of 15-minute episodes, broadcast every weekday 10:45–11:00 am (i.e. ...

''. His radio dramatizations include ''The Republicans'', a suite of six plays about recent US presidents first broadcast in 2018. Myerson is the author of two novels, ''Noise'' (1998) and ''Your Father'' (1999) and is a founding partner of The Writer's Practice, a literary consultancy. He was a Labour councillor for Clapham Town Ward,

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area ex ...

from

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

to 2006Opinions: 'Town hall blues' by Jonathan Myerson , Prospect Magazine May 2007 issue 134
/ref> , he is the Course Director, MA in Creative Writing (Novels) at City University London's Journalism Department.

Family

He lives in South

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 ...

with novelist

, and two of their three children, Chloe and Raphael. The family was secretly the subject of the "Living with Teenagers" column in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' newspaper before later being identified. It was revealed in 2009 that their third child, Jake, had several years earlier been thrown out of the family home by the parents for smoking

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternativel ...

. Both he and his wife have been criticized for their lack of empathy and poor understanding of youth culture. In an article in ''The Guardian'', Myerson reported that, upon hearing his son would achieve "A" grades at

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private s ...

, he said: "He needs to fail one of these GCSEs. He needs to realise what he's doing."

External links

Jonathan Myerson
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myerson, Jonathan 1960 births Living people British male novelists Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the London Borough of Lambeth British television writers Welsh television writers British male television writers British television directors Welsh television directors Welsh voice directors Writers from Cardiff British animated film directors Welsh novelists 20th-century British novelists 20th-century British male writers