Alexander Peter Moffat (born 2 June 1962) is a British playwright and screenwriter.

Early life

Moffat was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, to John Laidlaw Moffat, who was in the

Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operation ...

, and Norma Guthrie. His grandfather and great-grandfather were shepherds in

Tweedsmuir Tweedsmuir ( gd, Sliabh Thuaidh) is a village and civil parish in Tweeddale, the Scottish Borders Council district, southeastern Scotland. Geography The village is set in a valley, with the rolling hills and burns on both sides, covering some ...

. Their lives inspired his TV series ''The Village''. Moffat's father joined the Colonial Police Force in

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

and later the Army, so the family, including young Peter, moved from country to country every two years,"TV writer Peter Moffat reveals the Scottish roots behind epic drama The Village"
/ref> which inspired his series ''

The Last Post The "Last Post" is either an A or a B♭ bugle call, primarily within British infantry and Australian infantry regiments, or a D or an E♭ cavalry trumpet call in British cavalry and Royal Regiment of Artillery (Royal Horse Artillery and R ...

''.

Career

Moffat's first play was ''Fine and Private Place'' and was broadcast on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

in 1997. His best-known plays are ''Nabokov's Gloves'' and ''Iona Rain''. Moffat is a former

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

; one of his early commissions was for an episode of ''

Kavanagh QC ''Kavanagh QC'' is a British television series made by Central Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. All five series are available on DVD in both Region 1 and Region 2. Plot The series starred John Thaw as barrister James Kavanagh QC, wh ...

''. He has since created three British television legal dramas: ''

North Square ''North Square'' is a British television drama series written and created by Peter Moffat, and broadcast by Channel 4 from 18 October to 20 December 2000. Starring an ensemble cast, including Phil Davis, Rupert Penry-Jones, Helen McCrory and Ke ...

'', ''

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

'' and ''

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

''. He also wrote the miniseries ''

Cambridge Spies ''Cambridge Spies'' is a four-part British drama miniseries written by Peter Moffat and directed by Tim Fywell, that was first broadcast on BBC Two in May 2003 and is based on the true story of four brilliant young men at the University of Cambr ...

'' and the television film ''

Einstein and Eddington ''Einstein and Eddington'' is a British single drama produced by Company Pictures and the BBC, in association with HBO. It featured David Tennant as British scientist Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, and Andy Serkis as Albert Einstein. This is the ...

'', as well as a reinterpretation of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' for the

BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...

's ''

ShakespeaRe-Told ''ShakespeaRe-Told'' is the umbrella title for a series of four television adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays broadcast on BBC One during November 2005. In a similar manner to the 2003 production of ''The Canterbury Tales (TV series), Th ...

'' series. Moffat wrote the historical drama '' The Village'', depicting life in a

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

village through the eyes of a central character, Bert Middleton. The first series, covering the years 1914 to 1920 in six episodes, premiered on BBC1 in 2013, and a second and final series, set in the 1920s, was made in 2014. Moffat envisions more series totalling up to 42 episodes that will continue the story through the 20th century. The proposed project is similar to the German film series ''

Heimat ''Heimat'' () is a German word translating to 'home' or 'homeland'. The word has connotations specific to German culture, German society and specifically German Romanticism, German nationalism, German statehood and regionalism so that it ha ...

'', written and directed by

Edgar Reitz Edgar Reitz (born 1 November 1932) is a German filmmaker and Professor of Film at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung (State University of Design) in Karlsruhe. He is best-known for his internationally acclaimed '' Heimat film series'' (1 ...

, which told the story of a German family from 1919 to 2000. The BBC broadcast Moffat's drama series ''

Undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

'' in 2016. Moffat took inspiration for the fictional drama from real-life revelations about British police officers who had formed long-term relationships with activists they were investigating while undercover, as well as from the London

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

's secret surveillance of the family of murdered teenager

Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

. His drama series '' Your Honor'', starring

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2 ...

as a conflicted New Orleans judge, began its run on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

on 6 December 2020. In 2022, it was announced that Moffat would be writing a new film based on Prince Andrew's 2019 interview with ''Newsnight''.

Awards

Moffat won the Writer's Award from the

Broadcasting Press Guild The Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) is a British association of journalists dedicated to the topic of general media issues. History The Guild was established in 1974 as a breakaway of The Critics' Circle. Currently it groups over 100 staff and fr ...

for ''North Square'', and was nominated for a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

in 2004 for writing ''

Hawking Hawking may refer to: People * Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), English theoretical physicist and cosmologist *Hawking (surname), a family name (including a list of other persons with the name) Film * ''Hawking'' (2004 film), about Stephen Haw ...

'', a TV drama about the scientist Stephen Hawking. In 2009, he was awarded two BAFTAs for ''Criminal Justice'', one for Best Television Drama Serial and one for Best Craft Writer.

Personal life

Peter Moffat is married to barrister and author Leonora Klein and has two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moffat, Peter 1962 births Living people Writers from Edinburgh British television writers British dramatists and playwrights British male dramatists and playwrights British male television writers