Michael Aitkens (born 1947) is a British actor and writer of drama scripts for movies, television and stage. His

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 ...

situation comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

'' Waiting for God'', first shown in 1990, was

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 ...

nominated.

Early life

Michael Aitkens was educated at Haileybury in England. He then lived in Australia for ten years and Los Angeles, United States, for two years, graduating from the

AFI Conservatory The AFI Conservatory is a private non-profit graduate film school in the Hollywood Hills district of Los Angeles. Students (called "Fellows") learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on stor ...

(Los Angeles) in 1981.

Career

Aitkens has worked in film, television and theatre since the late 1960s. More than 150 of his scripts have been produced in the UK, United States and Australia. Wanting to hone his skills in television, he moved to Australia in the early 1970s where he established himself as an actor in l series such as ''

Homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

'' (1972-74), ''

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series broadcast by the Nine Network and created by Crawford Productions airing between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first to follow up on the enor ...

'' (1972-73), '' Ryan'' (1974), ''

Matlock Police ''Matlock Police'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for The 0-10 Network (now known as Network 10) between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town of Ma ...

'' (1975), '' Rush'' (1976), '' Power Without Glory'' (1976), '' Bluey'' (1977) and '' Skyways'' (1979. He also started as a writer, on '' The Comedy Game'' (1971) and ''

''. From 1980 to 1981, Aitkens studied at the

in Los Angeles, after which he returned to Australia to worked as a writer on several television series including '' A Country Practice'' (1982-1984) and '' Special Squad'' (1985). He also had acting roles in '' A Country Practice'' as Jonathon Hawthorn, and popular children's '' series The Henderson Kids'' as Walter Mullens, the long lost father of main protagonists Tam and Steve Henderson (also featuring a young

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

and Ben Mendelsohn). Film roles included ''

Run Chrissie Run! ''Run Chrissie Run!'' (also known as ''Money Hunters'' and ''Moving Targets'' in the US) is a 1984 Australian Action film, action Thriller (genre), thriller film, directed by Chris Langman. Graham Hartley adapted the script from the novel ''When ...

'' (1986) and '' Backstage'' (1987). Since 1989, Aitkens has lived back in the UK, where he works as a writer/producer, mainly of his own original series, and formed an independent production company, Daisylu. His British writing credits include '' The Last Detective,'' '' Waiting for God'', ''The River'', ''Roy's Raiders'', '' Making News'', '' Stay Lucky'', '' Honey for Tea'', ''Class Act'', '' A Perfect State'', '' Harry and the Wrinklies'' and ''Life As We Know It''. He was a core writer for ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'' from 2006 to 2014. Aitkens is also an occasional humorous newspaper columnist.

Personal life

Aitkens was married to Australian actress Veronica Lang. He has two daughters, including actress, writer and director Daisy Aitkens.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Stage

Radio

Writing credits

Television

Stage

References

External links

*
MSN Entertainment – Michael Aitkens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitkens, Michael 1947 births Living people British expatriate male actors in Australia British expatriate male actors in the United States English male television actors English television writers Male actors from London Logie Award winners People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College British male television writers 20th-century English writers 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English writers 21st-century English male writers