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Christopher Antony Chibnall (born 21 March 1970) is an English

television writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and producer, best known as the creator and writer of the award-winning

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 ...

mystery-crime drama ''

Broadchurch ''Broadchurch'' is a British crime drama television series broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV for List of Broadchurch episodes, three series between 2013 and 2017. It was created by Chris Chibnall, who acted as an executive producer and wrote a ...

'' and as a showrunner of the long-running

BBC #REDIRECT 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. ...

...

sci-fi series ''

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 ...

''. Chibnall wrote five episodes of the series under previous showrunners

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include '' Queer as Folk'', '' The Second Coming'', ''Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scie ...

and

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...

, and was also the head writer for the first two series of the spinoff ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing ...

''.

Early life and career

Chibnall was brought up in

Formby Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "Fo ...

, Sefton,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

. He studied drama at

St Mary's University, Twickenham , mottoeng = Show Thyself to be a Mother , established = 1850 (as St Mary's College)2014 (gained university status) , type = Public university , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , endowment ...

, subsequently gaining an MA in Theatre and Film from the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. His early career included work as a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

archivist and

floor manager A floor manager or floor director is a member of the crew of a television show. The floor manager is responsible for giving information from the director in the control room, to the crew on the studio floor, and then back to the director. Duties * ...

for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

, before leaving to work as an administrator for various theatre companies. From 1996 to 1999 he worked as administrator with the

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...

company Complicite (where he met his wife Madeline), before leaving to become a full-time writer.

Career

Theatre writing

Chibnall's first short play was produced as part of Contact Theatre's Young Playwright's Festival in 1988, and was directed by Lawrence Till. While studying at college, he wrote two plays, ''Victims'' and ''Now We Are Free'', which were performed at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

and directed by Edward Lewis. In 1998, he became Writer in Residence with GRiP Theatre Company, writing three full-length plays, including ''Best Daze'' and ''Gaffer!'' and several short plays. Chibnall's successor as Writer in Residence was Matthew Broughton. ''Gaffer!'' was revived at

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a h ...

in 2004. Chibnall took part in an attachment at the Royal National Theatre Studio in 1999, followed by a year-long attachment to Soho Theatre in 2000, which resulted in his play ''Kiss Me Like You Mean It'', produced at

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

and directed by Abigail Morris. Its cast included

Catherine McCormack Catherine Jane McCormack (born 3 April 1972) is an English actress of stage and screen. Her film appearances include ''Braveheart'' (1995), ''The Land Girls'' (1998), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), ''Dancing at Lughnasa'' (1998), ''Spy Game'' (20 ...

, Jason Hughes, Marlene Sidaway and

Harry Towb Harry Towb (27 July 1925 – 24 July 2009) was an actor from Northern Ireland. Early life and career Towb was born in Larne, County Antrim, to a History of the Jews in Russia, Russian-Jewish father and an History of the Jews in Ireland, Irish- ...

. The play was shortlisted for 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 ...

, and has subsequently been produced in various venues around the world, including a successful three-month run in Paris in 2004.

Television writing

Chibnall's first produced script for television was the successful

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

''Stormin' Norman'', starring

James Bolam James Christopher Bolam (born 16 June 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in ''The Likely Lads'' and its sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', Jack Ford in ''When the Boat Comes In'', Roy Fi ...

, made by

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Televi ...

for

. In 2001 he was approached, together with writer Nigel McCrery, to develop the format for a drama series which became ''

Born and Bred ''Born and Bred'' was a British light-hearted drama series aired on BBC One which ran from 21 April 2002 to 3 August 2005. It was created by Chris Chibnall and Nigel McCrery. Initially the cast was led by James Bolam and Michael French as a ...

''. With a cast including Bolam and

Michael French Michael French (born Michael Clark, 17 September 1962) is an English actor, known for his roles as David Wicks in ''EastEnders''; Nick Jordan, a consultant and Clinical Lead, Senior Consultant in emergency medicine in '' Casualty'' and former ...

, ''Born and Bred'' ran on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

for four years from 2002 to 2005. Chibnall served as head writer and consultant producer (later executive producer), writing seventeen of its thirty-six hour-long episodes. Chibnall was the only writer other than the show's creators to write for both series of the double International Emmy-award-winning BBC One police drama ''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

'' (2006–07). He was part of the production team who accepted the 2007 BAFTA Audience Award onstage at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...

. During 2005, Chibnall was in charge of developing a proposed fantasy series involving the mythical magician Merlin for BBC One's early Saturday evening family drama slot. Despite several scripts being written, BBC Head of Drama

Jane Tranter Jane Tranter (born 17 March 1963) is an English television executive who was the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base from 2009 until 2015. From 2006 to 2008, she was the BBC's controller of ...

eventually decided not to green-light the project, although it later emerged, without Chibnall's involvement, as '' Merlin'' (2008–2012). In 2007,

Dick Wolf Richard Anthony Wolf (born December 20, 1946) is an American film and television producer, best known for his ''Law & Order'' franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four international spinoffs. He is al ...

and Kudos Film and Television selected Chibnall to become the

show runner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

's '' Law & Order: UK'', a police procedural/legal drama based on the original US series. Chibnall was the lead writer and executive producer, writing six of the first thirteen episodes based on scripts from the US series. ITV commissioned a second run of thirteen episodes, but having set up the series Chibnall made the decision to leave the programme, to focus on other writing projects. Chibnall also show-ran ''

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...

'', an adult retelling of the Arthurian legend for the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

network. It went to air early in April 2011 and was filmed in

Ardmore Studios Ardmore Studios, in Bray, County Wicklow, is Irelands's only four wall studio. It opened in 1958 under the management of Emmet Dalton and Louis Elliman. Since then, it has evolved through many managements and owners. It has been the base for ...

near

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. The show was cancelled after a single season, though again Chibnall claimed he had chosen not to be involved in the second series in any case, due to other writing priorities. In December 2013, Chibnall wrote a two-part dramatisation '' The Great Train Robbery'', which tells the story of the Great Train Robbery on 8 August 1963. Coincidentally, the first part was shown on the same day that train robber

Ronnie Biggs Ronald Arthur Biggs (8 August 1929 – 18 December 2013) was an English criminal who helped plan and carry out the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He subsequently became notorious for his escape from prison in 1965, living as a fugitive for 36 ye ...

died. In 2013, Chibnall created and wrote a detective series for

called ''

'', starring

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...

Jodie Whittaker Jodie Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress who is best known for portraying the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022) and as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017). She came to prominence ...

Andrew Buchan Andrew Buchan (born 19 February 1979) is an English stage and television actor known for his roles as Mark Latimer in the ITV drama ''Broadchurch'' (2013–17), as Scott Foster in the BBC political drama '' Party Animals'' (2007), as John Merc ...

Arthur Darvill Thomas Arthur Darvill (born 17 June 1982) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Rory Williams, a companion of the Eleventh Doctor in the television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2012), as well as Rip Hunter in ''Legends of Tomorrow'' ( ...

Pauline Quirke Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990 British Comed ...

and David Bradley. The series received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. It followed the story of the fictional seaside town of Broadchurch, struggling to come to terms with the possible murder of a young boy. Viewing figures peaked at nearly 9 million viewers in the finale. Due to its popularity, a second series was announced at the end of the first series, with location filming finishing in October 2014. The second series aired in 2015 and a third and final series aired in 2017.

''Doctor Who''

Chibnall is a long-time fan of ''

'', and appeared on the

...
discussion programme ''Open Air'' in 1986 as a member of the Liverpool local group of the ''Doctor Who'' Appreciation Society, criticising ''

The Trial of a Time Lord The twenty-third season of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', known collectively as ''The Trial of a Time Lord'', aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. It contained four adventures: ''The Mysterious ...

'' (1986), especially the ''

Terror of the Vervoids ''Terror of the Vervoids'' is the third serial of the larger narrative known as ''The Trial of a Time Lord'' which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast ...

'' segment. In 2005, Chibnall was appointed head writer and co-producer of science-fiction drama ''

''. The series, a spin-off from ''Doctor Who'', premiered on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

in October 2006 to a then record-breaking audience for a non-sport programme digital channel broadcast in the UK. The programme went on to win "Best New Drama" at the 2007 TV Quick Awards and "Best Drama Series" at the BAFTA Cymru 2007 awards. The series has also been nominated for both Hugo and Saturn awards. In the US, the programme has been broadcast on BBC America and HDNet, to critical acclaim. Chibnall wrote eight episodes during the first two series, including both series' finales, and the premiere episode of series two. He worked closely with

across all aspects of the show's production. While working on ''Torchwood'', Chibnall also wrote the 2007 episode " 42" for the third series of ''Doctor Who''. He returned for the 2010 series, penning the two-part story "

The Hungry Earth "The Hungry Earth" is the eighth episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on 22 May 2010 on BBC One. It was written by Chris Chibnall, who had previously written for ...

" / " Cold Blood", which reintroduced the

Silurians The Silurians are a race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. The species first appeared in ''Doctor Who'' in the 1970 serial '' Doctor Who and the Silurians'', and were created ...

to the series. Chibnall also wrote the second and fourth episodes for the seventh series in 2012, "

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" is the second episode of the Doctor Who (series 7), seventh series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It first aired on BBC One in the UK on 8 September 2012 and on BBC America on the ...

" and "

The Power of Three In mathematics, a power of three is a number of the form where is an integer – that is, the result of exponentiation with number 3, three as the Base (exponentiation), base and integer as the exponent. Applications The powers of three ...

", as well as the online/red button exclusive '' Pond Life''. He also penned another short, P.S., but it was never filmed, and was eventually presented online in storyboard format. In January 2016, the BBC announced that Chibnall would replace

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

of ''Doctor Who'' and would be the head writer and executive producer, starting with the

eleventh In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a f ...

series of the revived era. Matt Strevens joined Chibnall as co-executive producer, after having also been an executive producer on ''

An Adventure in Space and Time ''An Adventure in Space and Time'' is a 2013 British biographical television film, starring David Bradley, Brian Cox, Jessica Raine and Sacha Dhawan. Directed by Terry McDonough, and written by regular ''Doctor Who'' writer Mark Gatiss, it p ...

''. When discussing whether the next Doctor would be a woman, he stated in February 2017 "Nothing is ruled out but I don't want the casting to be a gimmick and that's all I can say”. After

was announced as the

Thirteenth Doctor The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the fictional protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, ''Doctor Who''. She is portrayed by English actress Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, sta ...

in July 2017, Chibnall said, "I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we’re thrilled to have secured our number one choice." As with the last change of showrunners, Chibnall wrote the final moments of Moffat's last episode " Twice Upon a Time", so as to allow him to write Whittaker's first lines on the show. This previously happened in the 2010 special " The End of Time", when Moffat took over for Russell T. Davies in the final moments of the episode, writing

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the Eleventh Doctor, eleventh incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the BBC series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targarye ...

's first words as the

Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As with previous incarnations of the Docto ...

. On 29 July 2021, the BBC announced that Chibnall would be stepping down from his role as the showrunner of ''Doctor Who'', and

will be leaving her role as the Thirteenth Doctor. On 24 September 2021, the BBC announced that Chibnall would be succeeded by a returning Davies as the showrunner of ''Doctor Who''. Chibnall's run as showrunner has been divisive among fans of ''Doctor Who'', receiving praise for the series improved production values, but criticism for the scripts,

characterization Characterization or characterisation is the representation of persons (or other beings or creatures) in narrative and dramatic works. The term character development is sometimes used as a synonym. This representation may include direct methods ...

, and the

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

of the Doctor's origins in the episode "

The Timeless Children "The Timeless Children" is the tenth and final episode of the Doctor Who (series 12), twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 1 March 2020. It was written by Chris Chibnall ...

". Some have further accused Chibnall's run as being too

politically correct ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

or "

woke ''Woke'' ( ) is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination". Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social ineq ...

"; conversely, others have argued it promotes

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

through its perceived messaging and portrayal of minorities.

Selected credits

References

External links

Interview with Chibnall
at bbc.co.uk *
Interview about his play ''Gaffer'', from September 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chibnall, Chris 1970 births Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham Alumni of the University of Sheffield BBC television producers British male dramatists and playwrights British male screenwriters British male television writers British screenwriters British television writers English adoptees Living people People from Formby Showrunners