Catherine Johnson (born 14 October 1957) is a British playwright, producing works for stage and television. She is best known for her book for the

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

-inspired musical '' Mamma Mia!'' and screenplay for the musical's

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

. The film became the highest-grossing British picture of all time in the UK, and the biggest selling UK DVD of all time in January 2009. She also co-wrote the 2018 sequel, ''

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again ''Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'' is a 2018 jukebox musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson (playwright), Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is the sequel and prequel to t ...

''. Johnson grew up in Wickwar near

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, and attended

Katharine Lady Berkeley's School Katharine Lady Berkeley's School is an Academy (English school), academy school near Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England, for ages 11 to 18. It has been ranked as the 4th best non-fee paying school in the South-West and 250th best in the w ...

in Wotton. She was expelled from school at 16, married at 18 and divorced by the age of 24. She moved to Bristol and finding herself unemployed and with one child to support and another on the way she spotted a notice in the local paper for the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

HTV West ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to broadcast by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, named " ...

playwriting competition. She wrote ''Rag Doll'', using the pseudonym Maxwell Smart, a play about incest and child abuse, which won the competition and was staged by the Bristol Old Vic. Further plays for the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. Artistic Directors * Brian McDermott ...

in London, Bristol Old Vic and Show of Strength followed along with work on television series including ''

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 ...

'', ''Love Hurts'' and ''

Byker Grove ''Byker Grove'' is a British teen drama and coming of age television series which aired between 1989 and 2006 on BBC One. The show was set in Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne and was filmed in nearby Benwell. It was created by writer Adele Rose a ...

''. In 2007 Johnson instituted The Catherine Johnson Award for Best Play written by the five

Pearson Playwrights' Scheme Pearson Playwrights' Scheme (formerly Thames Television Theatre Writers Scheme) is a British organisation established in 1973 to support theatre writing. It runs the Pearson Award for Best New Play. History In 1973, Howard Thomas, then managing ...

bursary winners from the previous year. Catherine won a bursary from the scheme in 1991. Catherine is a patron of the Wotton Electric Picture House in

, Bristol's Myrtle Theatre Company and ''Arts and Community'' in Thornbury.

Credits

Stage

* ''Rag Doll'' (

Studio) (Winner BOV/HTV Playwriting Award) 1988 * ''Boys Mean Business'' (

) 1989 * ''Dead Sheep'' (

) (Co-winner Thames TV Best Play Award) 1991 * ''Too Much Too Young'' (

and London Bubble) 1992 * ''Where’s Willy''? (

) 1994 * ''Renegades'' (

) 1995 * ''Shang-a-Lang'' (

& tour) 1998 * '' Mamma Mia!'' (LittleStar) 1999 * ''Little Baby Nothing'' (

) 2003 * ''Through The Wire'' (Shell Connections, RNT) 2005 * ''Through The Wire'' (new version) (Myrtle Theatre, Bristol 2006) * ''City of One'' (Myrtle Theatre, Bristol 2008) * ''Trade It?'' ( Show of Strength), Bristol 2008, contributor * ''Suspension'' (

) 2009

Television series

* ''

'' (Season 7, 1992, episodes 5 & 13)

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

*''Love Hurts'' (Season 2, episodes 5 & 7; Season 3 episodes 1, 2, 3, & 10)

*'' Band of Gold'' (Series 3, episodes 5 & 6)

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

*''

'' (Series 9)

*''Love in the 21st Century'' (episodes 2, 3 & 5)

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

*''Linda Green'' (episode 3)

Television films

*''Rag Doll'' ( HTV) *''Just Like Eddie'' ( HTV) *''Where’s Willy?'' ( HTV) *''Sin Bin'' (

) *''Forget You Ever Had Children'' (Picture Palace/ITV) in production *''Dappers'' (pilot – in production)

Feature films

'' Mamma Mia! (film series)'' *'' Mamma Mia! The Movie'' – screenplay *''

'' – story

Awards

Her career accolades to date include the

/ HTV Playwriting award (1987), and the Thames Television Writer-in-Residence and Best Play awards (1991) ''Mamma Mia!'' was also nominated for an

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...

for Best New Musical (2000) and for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Book of a Musical Book (2002). Catherine received ''The UK Film Council script award'' at The Women in Film and TV 2008 Awards and also jointly with Judy Craymer and

Phyllida Lloyd Phyllida Christian Lloyd, (born 17 June 1957) is an English film and theatre director and producer. Her theatre work includes directing productions at the Royal Court Theatre and Royal National Theatre, and opera director for Opera North and ...

, ''The ITV achievement of the year award''. '' Mamma Mia!'' was named Best Musical at the UK

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

in September 2008, and was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy The Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy is a Golden Globe Award that has been awarded annually since 1952 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Eligibility Eligible films must be at least 70 minutes in ...

in December 2008. In January 2009, ''Mamma Mia!'' was nominated for the ''Outstanding British Film'' award at the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

62nd British Academy Film Awards.

References

External links

*
Johnson speaks about Mamma Mia, BBC Points West, 9 July 2008

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Catherine 1957 births British dramatists and playwrights Culture in Bristol Living people People educated at Katharine Lady Berkeley's School Writers from Bristol Writers from Suffolk People from Wickwar WFTV Award winners