Sally Abbott is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

screenwriter, playwright and former theatre producer, best known for the BBC1 crime drama ''

The Coroner ''The Coroner'' is a BBC Birmingham drama series starring Claire Goose as Jane Kennedy, a coroner based in a fictional South Devon coastal town. Matt Bardock stars as Detective Sergeant Davey Higgins. On 2 March 2017, the BBC announced that t ...

'', which ran for two series.

Career

She worked in theatre for 18 years as a producer, young people’s director and trainer at Contact Theatre, English Touring Theatre, Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre and the National Association of Youth Theatres, before concentrating on writing. She was awarded a place on the BBC Writer's Academy, a programme designed to train new writers for their long running television series, with her horror spec ''Camp Fear''. She went on to write for all four of the BBC's popular continuing dramas: ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'', ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' and its spinoff, ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

''. She also wrote for Series 8 of '' Death in Paradise'', Series 12 of ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a BBC period drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and 1960s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George, Bryony Hanna ...

'' and ITV's ''

Vera Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarrag ...

''. Abbott returned to the theatre, as a playwright, writing the stage monologue ''Borough Market, One Saturday'' (2017) and ''I Think We Are Alone'' (Frantic Assembly, 2020).

''The Coroner''

Abbott created ''The Coroner'' from an idea by Will Trotter, executive producer and head of BBC Drama Birmingham, about a woman coroner aged about 40 and in a location such as the Cotswolds or Devon. It starred

Claire Goose Claire Goose (born 10 February 1975) is a British actress. She played Tina Seabrook, a nurse in BBC One's ''Casualty'', DS Mel Silver in '' Waking the Dead'', and Sergeant (later Inspector) Rachel Weston in ITV's ''The Bill''. She also narrated ...

as Jane Kennedy, a

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

based in a fictional

South Devon South Devon is the southern part of Devon, England. Because Devon has its major population centres on its two coasts, the county is divided informally into North Devon and South Devon.For exampleNorth DevonanSouth Devonnews sites. In a narrower se ...

coastal town.

Matt Bardock Matthew Arthur Bardock was born in 1969 in Croydon. He is an English actor who is known for playing Jeff Collier in ''Casualty'', DS Clive Barnard in ''A Touch of Frost'', DS Davey Higgins in '' The Coroner'', Albie in '' The Lakes'', Mark Craig ...

stars as Detective Sergeant Davey Higgins. The series would have self-contained stories with drama and humour; a formula successfully used in ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

'' from the same production team. The characters, Jane and Davey, were based on Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey in ''

Adam's Rib ''Adam's Rib'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor from a screenplay written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. It stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as married lawyers who come to oppose each other in ...

'' with the unresolved sexual tension between them. Abbott wrote the Davey character with Matt Bardock in mind. She created four other characters to complete the cast. The BBC announced on 2 March 2017 that there would be no further series.

Personal life

Abbott is married to actor Michael Begley, with two children. Her son Tige is a member of the alt-garage band The Sukis.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Sally Living people 21st-century British women writers 21st-century British screenwriters British soap opera writers British television writers British women dramatists and playwrights Year of birth missing (living people) Women soap opera writers British women television writers