View source for Paul Abbott

{{short description|English writer and producer}}
{{other people}}
{{EngvarB |date=August 2014}}
{{use dmy dates |date=August 2014}}
{{infobox writer
| image = Paul Abbott cropped.jpg
| caption = Abbott in 2011
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age |df=yes |1960|2|22}}
| birth_place = [[Burnley]], England 
| years_active = 1982&ndash;present
| occupation = {{hlist|Screenwriter|producer}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Sheila Culf|1981|1983|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|Saskia Downes|1993}}
}}
'''Paul Abbott''' (born 22 February 1960)<ref>{{cite web | last1=Aitkenhead | first1=Decca | title=Estate of play | work=The Guardian | date=11 July 2008 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jul/12/television }}</ref> is an English screenwriter and producer.

He became one of the most successful television writers in Britain following his work on popular series such as ''[[Coronation Street]]'' (1987–89, 1991–93), ''[[Cracker (British TV series)|Cracker]]'' (1995, 1996, 1999), and more widely known for creating some of the most acclaimed television dramas of the 1990s and 2000s, including ''[[Reckless (TV serial)|Reckless]]'' (1997), ''[[Touching Evil]]'' (1997–1999), ''[[Clocking Off]]'' (2000–2003), ''[[State of Play (TV series)|State of Play]]'' (2003), ''[[Shameless (British TV series)|Shameless]]'' (2004–13), and ''[[No Offence]]'' (2015–18).

==Early life==
Abbott was born into a dysfunctional family in [[Burnley]] on 22 February 1960,<ref>{{cite interview |last=Abbott |first=Paul |interviewer=[[Melvyn Bragg]] |title=The South Bank Show – Paul Abbott |work=[[The South Bank Show]] |publisher=[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] |date=15 May 2005 |url=http://www.itnsource.com/jp/shotlist//ITVProgs/2005/05/15/9A81612/}}</ref> the seventh of eight children.<ref name=Estate/><ref name=State>{{cite web|author=Stars and Stories |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/5212726/Paul-Abbott-profile-for-State-of-Play.html |title=Paul Abbott profile for State of Play |date=24 April 2009 |publisher=Telegraph |access-date=28 August 2013}}</ref> When he was nine, his mother left to pursue a relationship with another man who had a child around Abbott's own age; his father, whom Abbott described as "[[Laziness|bone idle]]", departed two years later. His mother had supported the family with three jobs. Abbott and his siblings were left in the care of their pregnant 17-year-old sister.<ref name=State/> His father did not claim benefits for the family for fear of alerting social services to their abandonment.<ref name=Estate/> Although he constantly skipped school, Abbott later cited his English teacher at [[Sir John Thursby Community College]] as an early positive influence on him.<ref name=State/>

Abbott was raped by a stranger at the age of 11, leading to him jumping from the roof of a multi-story car park in an attempt to take his own life.<ref name=Estate/><ref name=State/> Two years later, after another suicide attempt, he was committed to an adult mental hospital; he later became a voluntary patient.<ref name=State/> On his release, he was taken into foster care and placed with a much more settled working-class family, where having two parents who held steady employment and owned a television and car was a new experience for him. At the same time, he began attending a local [[Sixth form|Sixth Form College]] and started attending meetings of the Burnley Writers' Circle after seeing their advert in the local public library.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/970032/index.html |title=Paul Abbott biography |publisher=screenonline |date=13 June 1988 |access-date=28 August 2013}}</ref> He enrolled at the [[University of Manchester]] in 1980 to study psychology, but decided to leave to concentrate on writing when a radio play he wrote was accepted by the BBC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/970032/|title=BFI Screenonline: Abbott, Paul (1960-) Biography|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

==Career==
Abbott entered the ''Radio Times'' drama competition at the age of 22 which had the requirement to find a professional sponsor. A contact knew the address of the leading British dramatist [[Alan Bennett]] who, after seeing his script, was of the opinion that Abbott had written a perfectly acceptable piece of work which he would be happy to endorse. His work on [[Radio drama|radio plays]] for [[BBC Radio 4]] attracted the attention of producers at [[ITV Granada]] who hired him, at age twenty-four, to be a [[script editor]] on their long-running soap opera ''Coronation Street''. This made him at the time the youngest-ever person to occupy such a role on the programme.

He worked on ''Coronation Street'' for the next eight years as a story editor and from 1989 as a writer. He also worked on other programmes for Granada. In 1988, he co-wrote his first televised drama script, a one-off play for the ''[[Dramarama (TV series)|Dramarama]]'' anthology, with fellow ''Coronation Street'' writer [[Kay Mellor]]. The same year, he and Mellor co-created the children's medical drama ''[[Children's Ward]]'', which ran for many years—Abbott regularly contributed scripts until 1992, then returned briefly to the show in 1996.

In 1994, he worked as the producer on the second season of Granada's drama series ''[[Cracker (British TV series)|Cracker]]'', about the work of a criminal psychologist played by [[Robbie Coltrane]]. The following year he switched to writing scripts for the programme and wrote several episodes. He made his first breakthrough with a programme of his own creation, the police drama serial ''Touching Evil'' in 1997. The series, starring popular actor [[Robson Green]], was a success, and two sequel serials—although not written by Abbott—followed. The series was re-made in 2004 for American television by the [[USA Network]].

After writing another serial starring Green, ''[[Reckless (TV serial)|Reckless]]'' and a few other productions for Granada, he began in 1999 a collaboration with the independent [[Red Production Company|Red Production Company]]. He contributed an episode to their anthology series ''Love in the 21st Century'', screened on Channel 4, and in 2000 created and wrote the series ''Clocking Off'' for them, which was screened on BBC One. Set in one factory in Lancashire, the series focused on a different member of factory staff each episode. The first season won the [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] award for [[British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series|Best Drama Series]], and the equivalent at the Royal Television Society awards; Abbott personally was recognised with the RTS Best Writer award. ''[[Clocking Off]]'' ran for four seasons, although Abbott's contributions to the final two runs were minimal as he was by this time busy working on other projects.

In 2001, he created another Red series screened on BBC One, the comedy-drama ''[[Linda Green]]''; although this was somewhat less successful and ran for only two seasons before cancellation. In 2000, he was due to adapt the [[D. H. Lawrence]] novel ''[[Sons and Lovers]]'' as a four-part television serial but pulled out due to work commitments.

2002 saw Abbott experimenting with a new genre when he wrote the political thriller ''[[State of Play (TV series)|State of Play]]'', which was directed by [[David Yates]] and produced for the BBC by [[Hilary Bevan Jones|Hilary Bevan-Jones]]. In late 2003, Abbott and Bevan-Jones founded their own independent [[production company]], [[Tightrope Pictures]], based in [[Soho]], London.<ref>[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/970032/index.html British Film Institute screenonline database]. Accessed 22 October 2007.</ref><ref name=Estate>Decca Aitkenhead, [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jul/12/television "Estate of Play"], ''The Guardian'', 12 July 2008. Accessed 14 July 2008.</ref>

In early 2004, [[Channel 4]] screened ''Shameless'', a new Abbott series very loosely based on his experiences and family life growing up in Burnley,<ref>{{cite web|author=Ian Wylie|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/nov/29/shameless-creator-paul-abbott-new-series|title=Shameless creator Paul Abbott talks about his new Channel 4 series|publisher=Guardian |date=29 November 2010 |access-date=18 May 2014}}</ref> although the action of the programme itself was changed to [[Manchester]] in the present day. At the 2006 [[British Academy Television Awards]], he was given the honorary [[Dennis Potter]] Award for Outstanding Writing in Television, and in July of the same year ''[[Radio Times]]'' magazine placed him at No. 5 in a poll of industry professionals to find [[Radio Times's Most Powerful People|The Most Powerful People in Television Drama]]. Abbott was the highest-placed writer on the list, those above him being actors and executives.

Tightrope Pictures have produced several high-profile dramas for the [[BBC]], including [[Richard Curtis]]'s ''[[The Girl in the Café]]'' (also directed by David Yates for [[BBC One]], 2005) and an adaptation of [[William Golding]]'s novel ''[[To the Ends of the Earth]]'' ([[BBC Two]], 2005). In 2009, Abbott acted as executive producer on the film version of ''[[State of Play (film)|State of Play]]'' for Universal Pictures.

The first series of ''[[No Offence]]'' aired on [[Channel 4]] beginning in May 2015. In 2021, Sky Max would broadcast Abbott's newest crime series, ''Wolfe''.

==Academic recognition==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=January 2025}}
In July 2006, it was announced that the [[University of Salford]] had appointed Abbott as a visiting professor; the same month, [[Manchester Metropolitan University]] awarded him with an [[honorary degree|honorary doctorate]]. His November 2006 lecture at Salford entitled "The 21st Century Box" explored how media is changing and provided "first aid for British television makers". Attendees included the Mayor and Mayoress of Salford.

In 2013, Dr. Beth Johnson from the [[University of Leeds]] published the first book-length academic study of Abbott's work alongside Manchester University Press.

In 2015, Abbott was awarded an honorary doctorate from [[Keele University]].

==Writing credits==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Production
! Notes
! Broadcaster
|-
|''[[Dramarama (TV series)|Dramarama]]''
|
*"Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night" (1988)
| rowspan="5" |[[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]
|-
|''[[Children's Ward]]''
|
*32 episodes (1989–1992)
|-
|''[[Coronation Street]]''
|
*7 episodes (story associate, 1987–1989), 8 episodes (1991–1993)
|-
|''[[Medics (British TV series)|Medics]]''
|
*"Born Losers" (1995)
|-
|''[[Cracker (British TV series)|Cracker]]''
|
*"Best Boys: Part 1" (1995)
*"Best Boys: Part 2" (1995)
*"True Romance: Part 1" (1995)
*"True Romance: Part 2" (1995)
*"White Ghost" (1996)
|-
|''[[Springhill (TV series)|Springhill]]''
|
*Co-creator (1996-1997)
|Channel 4/Sky One
|-
|''[[Reckless (TV serial)|Reckless]]''
|
*6 episodes (1997)
| rowspan="5" |ITV
|-
|''[[Touching Evil]]''
|
*16 episodes (1997–1999)
|-
|''[[Police 2020]]''
|
*Unaired pilot (1997)
|-
|''Reckless: The Sequel''
|
*Television film (1998)
|-
|''[[Butterfly Collectors]]''
|
*Miniseries (1999)
|-
|''[[Cracker: Mind Over Murder]]''
|
*"First Love: Part 1" (1999)
*"First Love: Part 2" (1999)
*"Best Boys" (1999)
|[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
|-
|''Love in the 21st Century''
|
*"Reproduction" (1999)
| rowspan="2" |[[Channel 4]]
|-
|''The Secret World of Michael Fry''
|
*2 episodes (2000)
|-
|''Best of Both Worlds''
|
*3 episodes (2001)
| rowspan="3" |[[BBC One]]
|-
|''[[Clocking Off]]''
|
*13 episodes (2000–2002)
|-
|''[[Linda Green]]''
|
*7 episodes (2001–2002)
|-
|''[[Tomorrow La Scala!]]''
|
*Feature film (co-written with Francesca Joseph, 2002)
|N/A
|-
|''[[State of Play (TV series)|State of Play]]''
|
*6 episodes (2003)
|BBC One
|-
|''Alibi''
|
*Television film (2003)
|ITV
|-
|''[[Shameless (British TV series)|Shameless]]''
|
*11 episodes (2004–2013)
|Channel 4
|-
|''Mrs In-Betweeny''
|
*Television film (2008)
|[[BBC Three]]
|-
|''[[Exile (TV series)|Exile]]''
|
*3 episodes (2011)
|BBC One
|-
|''[[Hit & Miss]]''
|
*6 episodes (2012)
|[[Sky Atlantic]]
|-
|''[[Twenty8k]]''
|
*Feature film (co-written with Jimmy Dowdall, 2012)
|N/A
|-
|''[[No Offence]]''
|
*8 episodes (2015–2018)
|[[Channel 4]]
|-
|''[[Wolfe (TV series)|Wolfe]]''
|
*Pilot, also producer of series (2021–)
|[[Sky Max]]
|}

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Award
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Work
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Category
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Result
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Reference
|-
|1993
|[[Writers' Guild of Great Britain|Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award]]
|''[[Coronation Street]]''
|TV – Original Drama Series (with [[Martin Allen (writer)|Martin Allen]], Ken Blakeson, [[Frank Cottrell-Boyce]], Tom Elliott, [[Barry Hill (British writer)|Barry Hill]], [[Stephen Mallatratt]], Julian Roach, [[Adele Rose]], [[Patrea Smallacombe]], [[John Stevenson (scriptwriter)|John Stevenson]], Peter Whalley, [[Mark Wadlow]] and Phil Woods)
|{{won}}
|
|-
|1995
|[[British Academy Television Awards]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[Cracker (British TV series)|Cracker]]''
|Best Drama Series
|{{won}}
|
|-
|1996
|Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award
|TV – Original Drama Series (with [[Jimmy McGovern]])
|{{won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1998
|[[Edgar Awards|Edgar Allan Poe Awards]]
|''Cracker'': "[[Cracker (UK TV series)#Stories|White Ghost]]"
|Best Television Feature or Miniseries
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|[[British Academy Television Awards]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[Touching Evil]]''
|Best Drama Series (with Jane Featherstone)
|{{nom}}
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |[[Royal Television Society]]s
| rowspan="3" |Best Writer
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|''[[Reckless (TV serial)|Reckless]]''
|{{nom}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2001
|rowspan="2"|''[[Clocking Off]]''
|{{won}}
|
|-
|Best Drama Series (with [[Nicola Shindler]] and Ann Harrison-Baxter)
|{{won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2002
|[[Television and Radio Industries Club|TRIC Awards]]
|''[[Linda Green]]''
|Comedy (with Beryl Richards and Matthew Bird)
|{{won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |British Academy Television Awards
|rowspan="2"|''Clocking Off''
| rowspan="2" |Best Drama Series (with Nicola Shindler and Juliet Charlesworth)
|{{nom}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2003
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|''[[State of Play (TV series)|State of Play]]''
|Best Drama Series (with [[David Yates]] and [[Hilary Bevan Jones]])
|{{nom}}
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |2004
|rowspan="3"|''[[Shameless (British TV series)|Shameless]]''
|Dennis Potter Award
|{{won}}
|
|-
|[[Broadcasting Press Guild]]
|Writer's Award
|{{won}}
|
|-
|[[Prix Italia]]
|TV Drama - Series and Serials (with [[Mark Mylod]], [[Dearbhla Walsh]] and [[Jonny Campbell (director)]])
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|[[Monte-Carlo Television Festival|Golden Nymph]]
|rowspan="3"|''State of Play''
|Mini-Series - Best Script
|{{won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |2005
|Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
|Writer's Award
|{{won}}
|
|-
|[[Edgar Awards]]
|Best Television Feature or Mini-Series Teleplay
|{{won}}
|
|-
|[[Primetime Emmy Awards]]s
|''[[The Girl in the Café]]''
|Outstanding Made for Television Movie (with [[Richard Curtis]] and Hilary Bevan Jones)
|{{won}}
|
|-
|[[National Comedy Awards]]
|rowspan="4"|''Shameless''
|Best TV Comedy Drama
|{{won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |Royal Television Society Awards
| rowspan="2" |Best Writer
|{{won}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2006
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|[[Banff World Media Festival|Banff Rockie Award]]
|Best Continuing Series
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|2007
|Royal Television Society Awards
|''[[Instinct (TV serial)|Instinct]]''
|Best Drama Series (with [[Terry McDonough]], Paul Frift and Hilary Bevan Jones)
|{{won}}
|
|-
|2008
|TRIC Awards
|rowspan="9"|''Shameless''
|TV Drama Programme
|{{nom}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2009
|British Academy Television Awards
|Best Drama Series (with [[George Faber (TV producer)|George Faber]], John Griffin and Johann Knobel)
|{{nom}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[TV Choice]]s
| rowspan="2" |Best Drama Series
|{{nom}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2010
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|TRIC Awards
|TV Drama Programme
|{{nom}}
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2011
|TV Quick Awards
|Best Drama Series
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|[[National Television Awards]]s
|Most Popular Drama
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|2012
|British Academy Television Awards
|Best Soap & Continuing Drama (with George Faber, [[David Threlfall]] and Lawrence Till)
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|2014
|OFTA Television Awards
|Best Writing in a Comedy Series (with [[John Wells (filmmaker)|John Wells]], [[Nancy Pimental]], [[Etan Frankel]], [[Sheila Callaghan]], [[Davey Holmes]] and [[Krista Vernoff]])
|{{nom}}
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|2016
|[[Royal Television Society|RTS Programme Awards]]
|rowspan="2"|''[[No Offence]]''
| rowspan="2" |Best Drama Series (with Martin Carr, [[Catherine Morshead]] and Anna Ferguson)
|{{won}}
|
|-
|[[British Academy Television Awards|BAFTA Television Awards]]
|{{nom}}
|
|}

==References==
;General
*{{cite news |author=Jeffries, Stuart |date=7 February 2005 |title=Why I Write |url=https://www.theguardian.com/arts/features/story/0,11710,1407328,00.html |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] }}
*{{cite news |author=O'Carroll, Lisa |date=16 May 2003 |title=Abbott turns his 'sub-working class' life into drama |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/may/16/broadcasting.channel4 |newspaper=The Guardian }}
*{{cite news |author=Wylie, Ian |date=24 April 2007 |title=Abbott blasts today's TV |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/film_and_tv/s/1005/1005424_abbott_blasts_todays_tv.html |newspaper=Manchester Evening News }}

;Specific
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=0008036}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100824060557/http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/insight_paul_abbott.shtml "Writers Room"], Question and Answer with Paul Abbott, BBC website
*[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/970032/ Paul Abbott entry at the British Film Institute's screenonline]
*[https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/s/217/217242_paul_abbott_masterclass.html/ Paul Abbott to work with MA Students at Salford University]
*[http://www.mmu.ac.uk/news/news-items/468/ Abbott Receives Honorary Doctorate from Manchester Metropolitan University]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015615/http://www.rts.org.uk/Information_page_+_3_pic.asp?sec_id=633&from=section%2F Royal Television Society Past Award Winners (Downloadable PDF)]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr Desert Island Discs]

{{Paul Abbott}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Paul}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
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[[Category:Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester]]
[[Category:BAFTA winners (people)]]
[[Category:British showrunners]]
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