Sarah Williams is a British producer and screenwriter perhaps best known for writing the scripts to the 2005 television film ''

Wallis & Edward ''Wallis & Edward'' (in Canada also known as ''Her Royal Affair'') is a 2005 British television film, scripted by Sarah Williams, dramatising the events of the Edward VIII abdication crisis. It was billed as the first scripted account of the ro ...

'' and co-writing the 2007 feature film ''

Becoming Jane ''Becoming Jane'' is a 2007 biographical film, biographical Romance film, romantic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Julian Jarrold. It depicts the early life of the British author Jane Austen and her lasting love for Thomas L ...

''. For her work adapting the novels '' Poppy Shakespeare'' and '' Small Island'' for television, Williams received two

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 ...

Award nominations.

Career

In 1992 Williams produced a series of documentary films for the BBC and Showtime USA '' Funny Business'', which starred

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

Roseanne Barr Roseanne Cherrie Barr (born November 3, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and former presidential candidate. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy before gaining acclaim in the television sitcom '' Roseanne'' (1988– ...

and

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—wa ...

. Williams worked as a co-producer in the film '' Up on the Roof'' in 1997, and the following year was a producer for the 1998 television film ''Jack and the Beanstalk'' starring Paul Merton. She also produced the wildlife documentary 'Operation Lemur" starring John Cleese, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award. The first authorial credit of Williams was the 2005 ITV television production ''

'', starring Joely Richardson. Williams then wrote ''The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton'' for BBC2, which came out in 2006. After reading in 2004 '' Becoming Jane Austen'', a 2003 biography by Jon Hunter Spence, Williams approached

Ecosse Films Ecosse Films is a British film and television production company based in London. Ecosse Films produces programs for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Showtime, Sky Atlantic, Starz Channel and WGBH. History The first production of Ecosse Films was the 1 ...

about the possibility of adapting it into a film about Austen's early life. The resulting film, ''

'', starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy was released in 2007. Williams was the screenwriter for the 2007

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...

, '' Sinking of the Lusitania: Terror at Sea''. The following year, Williams adapted the novel '' Poppy Shakespeare'' starring Anna Maxwell Martin and Naomie Harris for Channel Four television. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called her script an example of "good art," and she received a nomination for Best Television Short-Form Drama at the 2009

Awards. In 2009, Williams co-wrote the two-part television drama based on Andrea Levy's novel '' Small Island'. It also received a nomination for Best Television Short-Form Drama, this time at the 2010 Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards. Williams adapted a novel by

Sophie Hannah Sophie Hannah (born 1971) is a British poet and novelist. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 a junior research fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She lives with h ...

into the 2012 two-part series ''Case Sensitive'', starring

Olivia Williams Olivia Haigh Williams (born 26 July 1968) is a British actress who has appeared in British and American films and television. After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakesp ...

. In 2018 Williams wrote the three-part BBC TV series ''The Long Song'', based on

the novel ''The Novel'' (1991) is a novel written by American author James A. Michener. A departure from Michener's better known historical fiction, ''The Novel'' is told from the viewpoints of four different characters involved in the life and work of ...

Andrea Levy Andrea Levy (7 March 1956 – 14 February 2019) was an English author best known for the novels '' Small Island'' (2004) and ''The Long Song'' (2010). She was born in London to Jamaican parents, and her work explores topics related to British ...

, starring

Tamara Lawrance Tamara Naomi Lawrance (born 1994)Bowie-Sell, Daisy '' WhatsOnStage''. 14 February 2017. is a British actress. She is known for her performances as Prince Harry's republican girlfriend in the 2017 BBC television film ''King Charles III'', and as ...

Hayley Atwell Hayley Elizabeth Atwell (born 5 April 1982) is a British and American actress. Born and raised in London, Atwell studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and made her stage debut in a 2005 production of James Kerr's translation ...

and Sir

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer. Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ''The Lenn ...

. In 2019 she wrote a four-part original drama series 'Flesh and Blood' for ITV starring Imelda Staunton, Francesca Annis, Russell Tovey and Stephen Rea, broadcast in February 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Sarah British screenwriters Living people Year of birth missing (living people)