Russell Lewis (born 11 September 1963) is an English television writer and former actor. He is the writer of the ''
Inspector Morse
Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...
'' prequel ''
Endeavour'' (2012–present), and the first two series of ''
Grace
Grace may refer to:
Places United States
* Grace, Idaho, a city
* Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois
* Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office
* Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...
'' (2021-2022).
Career
Lewis was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and began his career as a child actor, first appearing in the films ''
The Looking Glass War
''The Looking Glass War'' is a 1965 spy novel by John le Carré. Written in response to the positive public reaction to his previous novel, ''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', the book explores the unglamorous nature of espionage and the da ...
'' (1970) and ''
Sunday Bloody Sunday
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1983 album ''War'' and was released as the album's third single on 21 March 1983 in the Netherlands and West Germany. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is noted ...
'' (1971). He played the 7-year-old Winston Churchill in ''
Young Winston
''Young Winston'' is a 1972 British biographical adventure drama war film covering the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, based in particular on his 1930 book, ''My Early Life''. The first part of the film covers Churchill' ...
'' (1972), and featured in the 1973 horror films ''
Tales That Witness Madness'' (as a boy who befriends an invisible tiger) and ''
Voices''. He also starred as George Gathercole in ''
The Kids from 47A
''The Kids from 47A'' is a British children's television series produced by Associated Television. Three series were made; the first (comprising 15 episodes) was shown in 1973, the second (13 episodes) and third (13 episodes) in 1974. The third ...
''. He appeared as the young Lucius in ''
I, Claudius
''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the Ro ...
'' (1976) and in an episode of ''
London's Burning'' in 1989.
By the mid-1980s, Lewis had begun to write for television series; his writing credits include episodes of ''
Perfect Scoundrels
''Perfect Scoundrels'' is an early-1990s British television comedy-drama following two con-men's travels while conning various people. Produced by TVS Television for the ITV network, it ran for three series between 22 April 1990 and 30 May ...
'', ''
Taggart
''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries "Killer" from 6 until 20 Septembe ...
'', ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused o ...
'', ''
Wycliffe'', ''
Inspector Morse
Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...
'', ''
Kavanagh QC'', ''
The Ambassador'', ''
Monsignor Renard'', ''
Playing the Field
''Playing the Field'' is a BBC television drama series following the lives of the Castlefield Blues, a fictitious female football team from South Yorkshire.
Outline
Inspired by Pete Davies's book ''I Lost My Heart to the Belles'' – which w ...
'', ''
Without Motive'', ''
The Last Detective
''The Last Detective'' is a British TV comedy drama series, broadcast on ITV between 7 February 2003 and 31 May 2007, starring Peter Davison as the title character, Detective Constable " Dangerous Davies". The series is based on the "Dangero ...
'', ''
Murphy's Law'', ''
Spooks'' and ''
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
''. Lewis has co-written three of the ''
Sharpe'' films, ''
Sharpe's Battle'', ''
Sharpe's Challenge
''Sharpe's Challenge'' is a British TV film from 2006, usually shown in two parts, which is part of an ITV series based on Bernard Cornwell's historical fiction novels about the British soldier Richard Sharpe during the Napoleonic Wars. Contra ...
'' and 2008's ''
Sharpe's Peril
''Sharpe's Peril'' is a British TV film from 2008, usually shown in two parts, which is part of an ITV series based on Bernard Cornwell's historical fiction novels about the English soldier Richard Sharpe during the Napoleonic Wars. Unlike mo ...
''. He also penned several episodes of ''
Cadfael
Brother Cadfael is the main fictional character in a series of historical murder mysteries written between 1977 and 1994 by the linguist-scholar Edith Pargeter under the name "Ellis Peters". The character of Cadfael himself is a Welsh Benedic ...
'' and an episode of ''
Hornblower''.
In 2009, Russell adapted
Agatha Christie's novel ''
The Pale Horse
''The Pale Horse'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1961,Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of ...
'' for the fifth series of ITV's ''
Agatha Christie's Marple
''Agatha Christie's Marple'' (or simply ''Marple'') is a British ITV television programme loosely based on the books and short stories by British crime novelist Agatha Christie. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the firs ...
'', starring
Julia McKenzie
Julia Kathleen Nancy McKenzie (born 17 February 1941) is an English actress, singer, presenter, and theatre director. She has premièred leading roles written by both Alan Ayckbourn and Stephen Sondheim. On television, she is known for her BAFT ...
, which first aired in 2010.
He devised and wrote the ''Inspector Morse'' prequel ''
Endeavour'' which was first broadcast on 2 January 2012. He wrote the pilot film and all 32 of the subsequent one-hour-thirty instalments so far, ranging from Series 1 in 2013 to Series 8 in 2021. Series 9 is expected to air later in 2022 as the final series after 10 years on air.
In 2021, Lewis recorded an Audio Commentary for the first episode of ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused o ...
'' that he wrote, entitled "Forget-Me-Not", alongside actress
Lynne Miller (WPC Cathy Marshall), released o
The Bill Podcast Patreon Channel
Lewis wrote ''
Grace
Grace may refer to:
Places United States
* Grace, Idaho, a city
* Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois
* Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office
* Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...
'', which is based on the bestselling books by author
Peter James. The first series was one standalone episode, with the second series premiering on 24 April 2022.
Awards
In 1993, Lewis won the
Writers' Guild of Great Britain
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG).
History
The un ...
TV - Original Drama Series Award for ''
Between the Lines''. The award was shared with the other writers of the show at the time,
J.C. Wilsher,
Rob Heyland, Steve Trafford and Michael Russell.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Russell
1963 births
Living people
People from Sutton Coldfield
British television writers
Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands
English male child actors
English male television actors
English male film actors
English television writers
English screenwriters
English male screenwriters
British male television writers