Steven Moffat

Few ever made a mark on British television quite like Steven Moffat. Although he started out as the creator of programs such as the teen comedy-drama "Press Gang" (CITV 1989-1993) and the sexy and formally innovative sitcom "Coupling" (BBC2 / BBC3 2000-04), Moffat gained worldwide recognition for his contributions as the lead writer and executive producer of the rebooted "Doctor Who" (BBC1 2005- ) and the co-creator of the critically-acclaimed reworking "Sherlock" (BBC 2010- ).

Steven Moffat was born in Paisley, Scotland on November 18, 1961. He attended Camphill High School and attended the University of Glasgow, where he earned an MA in English. After graduating, he worked at the Cowdenknowes High School as a teacher for three and a half years while he began to pen plays and musicals. However, he received his big break from an unlikely source: his father, Bill Moffat. A head teacher at Thorn Primary School, Bill Moffat pitched an idea for a television series to a group of producers when his school was used as a set for Harry Secombe's series "Highway" (ITV 1983-1993). The elder Moffat convinced the producers to take a look at a script his son wrote, which they immediately loved. The stroke of good fortune resulted in the production of "Press Gang," a comedy-drama about a high school newspaper. It was a runaway hit which ran for five series and earned Moffat his first BAFTA TV Award, for Best Children's Programme.

Despite his newfound success as a writer of a hit children's show, Moffat's personal life was foundering. His first marriage was on the rocks and divorce proceedings were underway. However during a pitch with producer Andrew Ptaszynski, Moffat was able to turn lemons into lemonade when he created a sitcom about the rise and eventual fall of a married couple called "Joking Apart" (BBC2 1993-95). The show was a modest hit and gained a loyal fanbase despite its brief two-season run. The experience gained from drawing inspiration from his own life came in handy for his next couple of projects. He returned to a series he had pitched earlier to Ptaszynski about a comprehensive school named Galfast High. The series was called "Chalk" (BBC1 1997) and Moffat pulled from his three and a half years of experience as a high school teacher for prime comedic material. After "Chalk" ended its production, Moffat began work on another sitcom. Now drawing from happier material due to his recent marriage to television producer Sue Vertue, Moffat and his new wife created the series "Coupling," which followed the sexual misadventures of six thirty-something friends. Although it was slow to gain viewership, "Coupling" was Moffat's biggest success to date. The show was named "Best TV Comedy" at the 2003 British Comedy Awards and even spawned short-lived American and Greek adaptations.

Next for Moffat was an opportunity to realize one of his childhood dreams. Like many Brits of his generation, Moffat was a fan of the "Doctor Who" series. So when he was given the opportunity to write for the 2005 revival of the popular sci-fi series, he didn't hesitate for a moment. The rebooted "Doctor Who" unsurprisingly gained a large audience, and fans of the show nodded in approval of Moffat's cleverly dark episodes, particularly the first season's two-part episode, "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances." As Moffat gained more recognition, he was given license to work on adaptations of other famous European literary institutions. In 2008, Moffat grabbed his second BAFTA win, for Best Writer for his contributions to "Doctor Who." He was tapped to be the writer of the drama series "Jekyll" (BBC1 2007), a serial adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella. In the same year, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson hired him to write the script for "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011), a 3D computer-animated adaptation of the comic series of Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Meanwhile, BBC announced in May 2008 that Moffat would be bumped up as the head writer and executive producer of "Doctor Who."

However, Moffat had his eyes set on tackling another popular British institution: Sherlock Holmes. Along with Mark Gatiss, Moffat created "Sherlock," a contemporary adaptation of the popular Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, "Sherlock" was an immediate unbridled success. Moffat and the series itself would win multiple BAFTA awards and several Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Moffat's years of writing for television and the continued success of "Doctor Who" and "Sherlock" did not go unnoticed by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In 2012, the Academy awarded Moffat a Special Award in recognition of his outstanding creative writing contribution to television.