Andrew Norriss (born 1947) is a British

children's author Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

and a writer for

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

Background

Andrew Norriss was born at

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...

in Scotland in 1947. He was educated at

St John's School, Leatherhead Seek those things which are above , established = , closed = , type = Public School Independent school Co-educational day, weekly and flexi boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , ...

followed by University at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

(1966–70). After teaching at Stroud School, Romsey he trained for his PGCE at

University of Winchester , mottoeng = Wisdom and Knowledge , established = 1840 - Winchester Diocesan Training School1847 - Winchester Training College1928 - King Alfred's College2005 - University of Winchester , type = Public research university ...

from 1973 to 1974, then taught History at

Peter Symonds College Peter Symonds College is a sixth form college in Winchester, Hampshire, in the south of England. Founded as a boys' grammar school, it is one of the few specialist sixth form colleges which is also a boarding school. It serves Falkland Island ...

, Winchester from 1974 to 1985. Whilst teaching he started writing television sitcoms and children's comedy dramas with Richard Fegen. He now lives in Hampshire with his wife, and writes children's books.

Writing

Norriss won The Whitbread (Costa) Children's Book Award (1997) for his

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

''Aquila'', which he wrote both as a book and as the ''

Aquila Aquila may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Aquila'', a series of books by S.P. Somtow * ''Aquila'', a 1997 book by Andrew Norriss * ''Aquila'' (children's magazine), a UK-based children's magazine * ''Aquila'' (journal), an or ...

'' series for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

. He also adapted his book ''

Matt's Million ''Matt's Million'' was a children's programme broadcast in 1996 on CiTV. It was written by author Andrew Norriss who had created many children's shows such as ''Bernard's Watch'' and '' Woof!''. It starred Peter England as Matt and Claire Parf ...

'' for ITV and novelized the second to fourth series of his TV show ''

Woof! ''Woof!'' is a British children's television series produced by Central Independent Television about the adventures of a boy who shapeshifts into a dog. It was based on the book by Allan Ahlberg. It was directed by David Cobham with the screen ...

'' (itself based on a book by

Allan Ahlberg Janet Ahlberg (21 October 1944 – 15 November 1994; née Hall) and Allan Ahlberg (born 5 June 1938) were a British married couple who created many children's books, including picture books that regularly appear at the top of "most popular" lis ...

), the first three series of ''

Bernard's Watch ''Bernard's Watch'' (informally known as ''Bernard'' in the reboot series) is a British children's drama series about a young boy who could stop time with a magical pocket watch. The show was created by Andrew Norriss and was produced for sev ...

'' and the second series of Aquila, as well as creating and co-writing the successful sitcom ''

The Brittas Empire ''The Brittas Empire'' is a British sitcom created and originally written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen. Chris Barrie played titular character Gordon Brittas, the well-intended but hugely incompetent manager of the fictional Whitbury New T ...

''. Norriss has retired from giving talks in schools and libraries around the country for children and teachers, but is still writing. His 2015 book ''Jessica's Ghost'' is published by

David Fickling Books David Fickling Books Ltd (DFB) became an independent publishing house in July 2013 following 12 years with Scholastic and then Random House. They have published several prize-winning and bestselling books including '' Lyra's Oxford'' (from the ...

and was shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award in 2016.

Children's books

*''Woof! The Tale Wags On'' (1989) *''Woof! The Tales Gets Longer'' (1991) *''Woof! A Twist in the Tale'' (1992) *''Matt's Million'' (1995) *''Aquila'' (1997) *''Bernard's Watch'' (1999) *''The Touchstone'' (2004) *''The Unluckiest Boy in the World'' (2006) *''The Portal'' (2007) *''Ctrl-Z'' (2009) *''Aquila 2'' (2010) *''I Don't Believe It, Archie!'' (2011) *''Archie's Unbelievably Freaky Week'' (2012) *''Jessica's Ghost'' (published in the United States as ''Friends for Life'') (2015) *''Mike'' (2018) *''Felix Unlimited'' (2021)

Mainstream television

*''

'' – BBC *''

The Labours of Erica ''The Labours of Erica'' is a British television sitcom starring Brenda Blethyn Brenda Blethyn (''née'' Bottle; 20 February 1946) is an English actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Can ...

'' – Thames/ITV *''

Ffizz ''Ffizz'' is a British television sitcom created by ITV which ran from 9 September 1987 to 29 August 1989 which followed Jack Mowbray (Richard Griffiths Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor of fil ...

'' – Thames/ITV *''

Chance in a Million ''Chance in a Million'' is a British sitcom broadcast between 1984 and 1986, produced by Thames Television for Channel 4. The series was co-written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen and starred Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn. The producer an ...

'' – Thames/Channel 4

Children's television

*''

'' – Carlton/ITV *''

'' – BBC *''

'' – Carlton/ITV *''

'' – Central/ITV; based on the book by Allan Ahlberg

References

External links

Andrew Norriss' homepage

Information about Andrew Norriss' work

Bibliography
Living people British male screenwriters British children's writers Alumni of the University of Winchester Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead 1947 births {{UK-child-writer-stub