Alice Nutter (born Anne Holden; 10 July 1962) is a British musician, best known as part of the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

music group

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enou ...

, and writer for theatre, radio and television.

Early life

She was born in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

and attended

Towneley High School Unity College is a mixed 11-16 comprehensive school in Burnley, Lancashire, England. History Former school Towneley High School originally opened in 1941. During its history it had been a technical school, an all-boys school, and latterly a ...

Musical career

Nutter joined

in 1982, not long after the band formed, and took up residence in their squat in

Armley Armley is a district in the west of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It starts less than from Leeds city centre. Like much of Leeds, Armley grew in the Industrial Revolution and had several mills, one of which houses now the Leeds Industrial ...

.; Steve Bottoms, 'Struggling to be Human', in the programme for the 2013 West Yorkshire Playhouse production ''My Generation''. With her music and politics closely integrated, Nutter picketed during the 1984-85 miners' strike and the 1986

Wapping dispute The Wapping dispute was a lengthy failed strike by print workers in London in 1986. Print unions tried to block distribution of ''The Sunday Times'', along with other newspapers in Rupert Murdoch's News International group, after production wa ...

. In 1997, the band had an international hit with their song "

Tubthumping "Tubthumping" is a song released by British rock band Chumbawamba from their eighth studio album, ''Tubthumper'' (1997). It is the band's most successful single, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart. It topped the charts in Australia, ...

", on which Nutter was a vocalist. She performed with the band on numerous international television shows and at the 1998

BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

. Nutter left Chumbawamba in 2006 to start a new career as a playwright. In 2012, she returned to the band for "Going Going", their final live performance at the

Leeds City Varieties The Leeds City Varieties is a Grade II* listed music hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History Leeds City Varieties was built in 1865 as an adjunct to the White Swan Inn in Swan Street by architect George Smith for Charles Thornton. Alon ...

Writing career

Her theatre work includes ''Foxes'' (2006) at the

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 ...

and ''Where's Vietnam?'' (2008) for

Red Ladder Theatre Company Red Ladder Theatre Company is a national touring theatre company, funded by the Arts Council England and Leeds City Council. It is based at the Yorkshire Dance Centre, Leeds. The company was founded in London in 1968, during the Vietnam War, as a ...

at West Yorkshire Playhouse. Her radio work includes the afternoon play ''Snow In July'' (2008) for Radio 4 and the play ''My Generation'' (2012) for Radio 3. In 2013, ''My Generation'' was brought to the West Yorkshire Playhouse by its artistic director James Brining in the first full-scale, main-stage production of Nutter's work.Steve Bottoms, 'Struggling to be Human', in the programme for the West Yorkshire Playhouse productio
''My Generation''
. Staged October 5–26, 2013 In 2016, the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds staged Nutter's play the Barnbow Canaries about women munition workers in Barnbow, Leeds, during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The factory the women were working in exploded one day in December 1915 and killed 35 and injured many more. For television, Nutter has written an episode of

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

's series ''

The Street The Street may refer to: Geographical *Wall Street in New York City's Financial District * The Street, Lawshall, Suffolk, England * The Street (Heath Charnock), a building and bridleway in Rivington, Lancashire, England Film and television * ''The ...

'' (2007) and an episode of the BBC medical drama ''

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 ...

'' (2009). She has also written an episode of '' Moving On'', Jimmy McGovern's series, ''

Accused Accused or The Accused may refer to: * A person suspected with committing a crime or offence; see Criminal charge ** Suspect, a known person suspected of committing a crime * The Accüsed, a 1980s Seattle crossover thrash band *''The Accused'', a ...

'' and period drama '' The Mill''. Nutter wrote a biographical drama based on the life of the Mancunian comedian

Bernard Manning Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner. Manning gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as '' The Comedians'' and ''The Wheeltappers and ...

, but cuts to the

BBC4 BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

budget led to the piece never being filmed. In March 2014,

Spanner Films Spanner Films is a small London-based documentary company founded by film director Franny Armstrong in 1997. Productions The company's earliest production was '' McLibel'' (1997/2005), a documentary film about David Morris and Helen Steel, a pos ...

announced that Nutter would be one of the writers for ''Undercovers'', a television drama series about the undercover police officers who infiltrated the British activist scene for 50 years, and the women who unknowingly had long-term relationships and even children with the spies. The series was also written by

Simon Beaufoy Simon Beaufoy (; born 26 December 1966) is a British screenwriter. Born in Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, he was educated at Malsis School in Cross Hills, Ermysted's Grammar School and Sedbergh School, he read English at St Peter's College ...

, and was to be produced by

Tony Garnett Tony Garnett (3 April 1936 – 12 January 2020) was a British film and television producer, and actor. Best known for his thirteen-year association with director Ken Loach, his work as a producer continued into the 21st century. Early life and ...

. The project did not come to fruition, but she later worked on the FX series ''

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

'' with Beaufoy about the

Getty family The Getty family of the United States identify with George Franklin Getty and his son Jean Paul Getty as their patriarchs. In the 20th century they were heavily involved in the petroleum industry. The Getty family is of Scots-Irish ancestry f ...

and the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, broadcast on BBC2 in 2018. She is currently working on the development of another FX series with Beaufoy.

Personal life

She changed her name by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party (law), party. Et ...

, feeling "an affinity" to the woman accused and hanged as a result of the 17th century Pendle witch hunt. Nutter is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

."Singer and atheist Alice Nutter, a Jewish student and an Anglican businessman each join a Muslim family in Bradford to experience Ramadan first hand, and through some hard conversations get a unique view of what it's like to be a Muslim in contemporary Britain.
TRILT
'Fast Friends, BBC1, Sunday 14 Nov 04, 23:45 (35 mins)' (accessed May 22, 2008).

Writing credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

MBA Literary and Script Agents: Alice Nutter

Alice Nutter interview
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nutter, Alice Living people 1962 births People from Burnley Chumbawamba members British television writers English anarchists English dramatists and playwrights English television writers English screenwriters British women television writers English atheists