Sarah Dollard (born 21 January 1980) is an Australian television screenwriter, living and working in the United Kingdom. She made her start in writing for television on the long-running Australian soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'', before moving to the UK in 2008. She created and wrote the Welsh

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

series '' Cara Fi'' (Love Me), which debuted on

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

in 2014. She is

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

nominated for her work as a Producer on ''

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American alternative history regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series Bridgerton (novel series), of the same name by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted ...

''.

Career

''Neighbours''

Dollard worked on ''

'' for four years, as a storyliner, a script editor, a story editor, and a writer of over thirty episodes. Before leaving Australia, she also worked in script development for popular children's television series '' The Saddle Club'', and in development on other children's shows with the

Australian Children's Television Foundation The Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) is a national non-profit children's media production and policy hub. The ACTF helps develop children's television policy; distributes and pays for Australian children's television series; s ...

Move to the UK

After moving to the UK, Dollard began working in the script departments of British

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

TV shows. She worked on season two of

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 ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

series ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

'', before moving on to '' Primeval'' in 2010, where she script-edited seasons four and five of the sci-fi series and wrote all five episodes of the '' Primeval'' web-series that introduced season four. Dollard wrote the fifth episode of the fifth season of

Toby Whithouse Toby Lawrence Whithouse (; born 5 July 1970) is an English actor, screenwriter and playwright. His highest-profile work has been the creation of the BBC Three supernatural television series ''Being Human (British TV series), Being Human''. He ...

's popular

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

series '' Being Human'', featuring guest star

Kathryn Prescott Kathryn Prescott (born 4 June 1991) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Emily Fitch on the E4 teen drama series '' Skins'' (2009–2010) and the titular character in the MTV teen drama '' Finding Carter'' (2014–2015). Caree ...

, of '' Skins'' fame.

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

called the episode, titled ''No Care, All Responsibility'', "the latest in a string of knockout episodes – sweet and chilling in equal measure". Dollard also penned the

webisode A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cab ...

s that accompanied '' Being Human'' season five, focusing on the character of Alex Millar, played by

Kate Bracken Kate Bracken (born 12 June 1990) is a Scottish actress. Bracken is best known for her role as Alex Millar in '' Being Human''. Early life Bracken grew up just outside Fort William near the village of Spean Bridge. She attended Kilmonivaig Pr ...

. She wrote episode three of

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 ...

spy thriller '' The Game'', and co-wrote episode five with series creator

''Cara Fi'' and beyond

Dollard created and wrote her own

rom-com Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Romantic comedy e ...

series '' Cara Fi'' (Love Me) with Touchpaper Television, for the Welsh broadcaster

. The eight episode series focuses on a sleepy seaside village in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

that runs out of women, so the locals advertise their single men on the side of milk cartons leaving the dairy. Each episode focuses on a new woman arriving in the village to be set up with a local man. The show debuted in November 2014 on

, and was subsequently on the

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

. In 2015, she wrote the tenth episode of the ninth series of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', titled "

Face the Raven "Face the Raven" is the tenth episode of the Doctor Who (series 9), ninth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 21 November 2015, and was written by Sarah Dollard and directed ...

". She also wrote an episode of the UK-US co-produced comedy-drama ''

You, Me and the Apocalypse ''You, Me and the Apocalypse'' is a British-American comedy-drama miniseries. The series was green-lit on 8 January 2015. It debuted on Sky 1 on 30 September 2015 and on NBC on 28 January 2016. Sky 1 said in March 2016 there would be no sec ...

'', and ITV period drama The Halcyon. She returned to write the episode " Thin Ice" for Series 10 of

. In 2018, she wrote the seventh episode for ''

A Discovery of Witches ''A Discovery of Witches'' is a 2011 historical-fantasy novel and the debut novel by American scholar Deborah Harkness. It follows Diana Bishop, a history of science professor at Yale University, as she embraces her magical blood after finding ...

'', a television series based on the novel trilogy of the same name by

Deborah Harkness Deborah Harkness (born 1965) is an American scholar and novelist, best known as a historian and as the author of the All Souls Trilogy, which consists of ''The New York Times'' best-selling novel '' A Discovery of Witches'' and its sequels '' ...

. In October 2018 it was announced that the show would be renewed for a 2nd and 3rd season with Dollard as one of the main script writers. Dollard was a writer and producer on the first season of Netflix's historical romance series ''

''. The season was nominated for an

for Outstanding Drama Series, and Dollard is listed as a nominated producer. In December 2016 it was announced that Dollard would adapt YA novel '' Cuckoo Song'', by Frances Hardinge, for television. In December 2020 it was announced that

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

had greenlit the series. In July 2022, it was announced the project has been cancelled. On August 31, 2023, it was announced that Dollard would adapt the mystery thriller ''Generation Loss'' by Elizabeth Hand, for television. On March 14, 2024, it was announced that Dollard would write and executive produce the noir series ''The Undertow'', based on the Norwegian series ''Twin'', for Netflix.

References

External links

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Profile
at The Perfect Blend {{DEFAULTSORT:Dollard, Sarah 1980 births Living people Australian soap opera writers British women television writers Australian expatriates in England British soap opera writers British science fiction writers 21st-century British women writers Australian women science fiction and fantasy writers Australian science fiction writers Women soap opera writers 21st-century British screenwriters Australian women television writers