Stephen Thompson (born 1967) is a British

playwright 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 screenwriter.

Background

Thompson studied at the University of Warwick. He gained a maths degree but also did some English studies in his third year. Thompson worked as a maths teacher for twelve years at Tiffin School, and was head of maths. Thompson left teaching in 2000 and became a full-time dad and house husband to his children. He has stated this was because his wife was earning much more money than him.

Career

In an interview, Thompson said "I took a sudden left turn and became a scriptwriter.” He trained on the RADA playwrights' course, and his first play, ''Damages'', was performed at the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...

in 2004, winning the

Meyer-Whitworth Award The Meyer-Whitworth Award was a literary prize established in 1991 and awarded from 1992 until 2011 to new British playwrights to help them further their careers. The £10,000 prize, one of the largest annual prizes for play writing in the UK, was ...

for new writing.Steve Thompson Profile
in ''The Guardian'', Retrieved 3 August 2010 In 2005, he was made Pearson writer in residence at the

where his next play ''Whipping It Up'' was also performed. ''Roaring Trade'' was performed by Paines Plough at the Soho Theatre. His most recent play ''No Naughty Bits'' was performed at Hampstead Theatre in September 2011. His first credit for television came on the medical soap ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'' in 2005. Since then, he has contributed scripts for several popular shows, including '' Silk'', ''

Upstairs Downstairs Upstairs Downstairs may refer to: Television *Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series), ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971 TV series), a British TV series broadcast on ITV from 1971 to 1975 *Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series), ''Upstairs Downstairs'' ...

'', ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'', and the first three series of '' Sherlock'' (the latter two both in collaboration with Steven Moffat). In 2016, he created the period drama series ''

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

'', which re-imagines the building of the Ribblehead Viaduct. In April 2016,

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

confirmed that a second series of ''Jericho'' was not going to be commissioned. On 3 October 2018, it was announced that Thompson would be teaming with Frank Spotnitz to develop a drama about Leonardo da Vinci. On 17 February 2019, it was revealed that Thompson was developing an adaptation of ''

Runestaff ''The Runestaff'' is a novel by British author Michael Moorcock, first published in 1969 under the title ''The Secret of the Runestaff''. The novel is the fourth in Moorcock's four book ''The History of the Runestaff'' series, and the narrativ ...

'' for BBC. On 16 August 2019, the BBC announced they would broadcast Thompson's adaptation of the popular Liebermann novels by Frank Tallis, ''Vienna Blood''. On 6 July 2020, Endor Productions and MR Film announced that a second series had been jointly recommissioned by ORF, ZDF, BBC and PBS. On 22 February 2022, a third series was commissioned.

Bibliography

* ''Damages'', Josef Weinberger Plays, 2004. * ''Whipping It Up'', Nick Hern Books, 2006. * ''Roaring Trade'', Nick Hern Books, 2009. * ''No Naughty Bits'', Nick Hern Books, 2011.

Television writing credits

Personal life

Thompson is married to the media barrister Lorna Skinner and they have five children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Stephen Living people 1967 births Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) English male dramatists and playwrights English dramatists and playwrights English television writers British television writers British science fiction writers English screenwriters English male screenwriters British male television writers