Stephen Wyatt, born 4 February 1948 in
Beckenham
Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
(now
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
), is a British writer for theatre, radio and television.
Early life and education
Wyatt was raised in
Ealing
Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Ealing was histor ...
, West
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. He was educated at
Latymer Upper School
(Slowly Therefore Surely)
, established =
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, sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School
, type = Public schoolIndependent day school
, head_label = H ...
and then
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...
. After a brief spell as lecturer in Drama at
Glasgow University
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, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
, he began his career as a freelance
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
in 1975 as writer/researcher with the
Belgrade Theatre
The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built in Britain after the Second World War and is now a Grade II listed building.
Background
Coventry was the fastest growing city in ...
Coventry in Education team.
Full listings of his work can be found on his website www.stephenwyatt.co.uk.
Theatre work
His subsequent young people's theatre work includes ''The Magic Cabbage'' (
Unicorn Theatre
The Unicorn Theatre is a children's theatre in the London Borough of Southwark, in England. It is a custom-built, RIBA Award–winning building on Tooley Street, which opened in 2005. The theatre was designed by Keith Williams, built by Arup an ...
, 1978), ''Monster'' (
York Theatre Royal
York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St Leonard's Place, in York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 750 people. Whilst the theatre is traditionally a proscenium theatre, it was reconfigured for a season in 2011 to offer ...
, 1979) and ''The Witch of Wapping'' (Half Moon, 1980).
In 1982 and 1983, he was Resident Writer with the Bubble Theatre for whom he wrote ''Glitterballs'' and ''The Rogue's Progress''.
His other theatre work includes ''After Shave'' (
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London. , 1978), ''R.I.P Maria Callas'' (
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
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 ...
/ Hen and Chickens, 1992), ''A Working Woman'' - from
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
’s L'Assommoir (
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Having originally opened in 1970 in a different location in Leeds, it reopened as West Yorkshire Playhouse, on Quarry Hill, in March 1990. After a refurbishment in 2018-20 ...
, 1992), ''Pick Yourself Up'' (Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch, 2011), ''A Victorian Mikado'' (Krazy Kat Theatre, 2011), ''The Standard Bearer'' (Waterloo East Theatre, London / Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre, Los Angeles, 2014), ''The Devil in the Belfry'' - libretto after a scenario by
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
(Gottingen 2013), and ''Told Look Younger'' (
Jermyn Street Theatre, London, 2015).
He also collaborated with Jeff Clarke on ''The Burglar's Opera'' for
Opera della Luna
Opera della Luna (OdL), founded in 1994, is a British touring theatre troupe of actor-singers focusing on comic works. Led by artistic director Jeff Clarke, it takes its name from Haydn's operatic setting of Goldoni's farce '' Il mondo della lun ...
(2004) "stolen from an idea by
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...
with music nicked from
Sir Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', ''The Pirates of Penzance' ...
" and with the Weaver Dance Company on ''The Loves of Mars and Venus'' and ''The Loves of Pygmalion''.
His new comedy ''Two Cigarettes in the Dark'' starring Penelope Keith and directed by Alan Strachan opens at the Chichester Festival Theatre in February 2022.
Television work
Wyatt's first work for television was ''Claws'', filmed by the BBC in 1987, starring
Simon Jones and
Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Blethyn (''née'' Bottle; 20 February 1946) is an English actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, and two Academy Award nominations.
Blethyn ...
. He was then commissioned by
Andrew Cartmel
Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British author and journalist. He was the script editor of '' Doctor Who'' during the Sylvester McCoy era of the show between 1987 and 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other television ser ...
to write two scripts for the science-fiction 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 ...
'', which were called ''
Paradise Towers
''Paradise Towers'' is the second serial of the 24th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 to 26 October 1987.
In the serial, Kroagnon, the incorporeal arch ...
'' and ''
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
''The Greatest Show in the Galaxy'' is the fourth and final serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 14 December 1988 to 4 January 198 ...
'', both starring
Sylvester McCoy
Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...
as the
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy.
W ...
. His other television credits include scripts for ''
The House of Eliott
''The House of Eliott'' is a British television series produced and broadcast by the BBC in three series between 1991 and 1994. The series starred Stella Gonet as Beatrice Eliott and Louise Lombard as Evangeline Eliott, two sisters in 1920s Lond ...
'' and ''
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 ...
''.
In 2020 Big Finish brought out ''The Psychic Circus'', Stephen's audio drama prequel to ''The Greatest Show in the Galaxy''.
Radio work
He has worked for
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 ...
since 1985 as both an adapter and an original playwright.
Radio adaptations
* ''Sketches by Boz'' (1998–1999)
* ''The Old Wives' Tale'' (2003)
* ''Gilbert without Sullivan'' (2003–2004)
* ''Vanity Fair'' (2004)
* ''Oblomov'' (2005)
* ''Tom Jones'' (2007)
* ''The Talented Mr Ripley'' (2009)
* ''Alice Through the Looking Glass'' (2012)
* ''The Divine Comedy'' (2014)
Original plays
* ''Fairest Isle'' (1995, Sony Award Winner)
* ''Gray's Elegy'' (2000)
* ''Party Animal'' (2003)
* ''Dr Brighton and Mr Harding'' (2006)
* ''Memorials to the Missing'' (2007)
* ''Gerontius'' (2011)
* ''Finlandia'' (2015)
* ''The Psychic Circus (Big Finish 2020)''
* ''The Seven Ages of Woman'' (2021)
Publications
* ''Three plays by Pinero'' - Introduced by Stephen Wyatt (Methuen, 1985)
* ''Paradise Towers'' (Target Books, 1988)
* ''The Greatest Show in the Galaxy'' (Target Books, 1989)
* ''Memorials to the Missing'' (London, 2007)
* ''R.I.P, Maria Callas and other monologues for stage and radio'' (London, 2007)
* ''Gilbert without Sullivan'' (London, 2007)
* ''L'Assommoir'' (London, 2007)
* ''The Speculator'' (London, 2009)
* ''So You Want To Write Radio Drama?'' with Claire Grove (Nick Hern Books, 2013)
* ''The World and His Wife: A true story told by two unreliable narrators'' (Book Guild 2019)
* ''Hurst on Film'' with Caitlin Smith (Quartertoten 2021)
* 'The Secret Life of Caretaker Number 112 Stroke 9 Subsection 7' in ''Build High for Happiness'' (Obverse Books 2021)
* ''The Wallscrawler and Other Stories'' (Obverse Books 2022)
Awards
His play ''Memorials to the Missing'' (2007) won the
Tinniswood Award
The Tinniswood Award is a British annual award for original radio drama. It is named in memory of Peter Tinniswood, who died in 2003, and was established by the Society of Authors and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain; it is sponsored by the A ...
for best original radio script of 2007 and Silver in the Best Drama category of the 2008
Sony Radio Academy Awards
The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...
.
His radio drama ''Gerontius'' (2010) won the 2011 Tinniswood Award for Best Radio Drama Script.
References
External links
Official Website* https://writersguild.org.uk/find-a-writer/
Stephen Wyatt Interview at Best British TV*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt, Stephen
1948 births
Living people
People from Beckenham
People educated at Latymer Upper School
Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
Academics of the University of Glasgow
British science fiction writers
British soap opera writers
British television writers
British male dramatists and playwrights
British instructional writers
English screenwriters
English male screenwriters
English radio writers
English television writers
English soap opera writers
English dramatists and playwrights
English male dramatists and playwrights
British male television writers