Steven Moffat

Steven Moffat

OBE
Moffat in 2017
Moffat in 2017
BornSteven William Moffat
(1961-11-18) 18 November 1961 (age 62)[1]
Paisley, Scotland
OccupationTelevision writer, television producer, and screenwriter
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
Period1988–present
GenreComedy, drama, adventure, science fiction
Spouse
​
(m. 1997)​
Children2[2]

Steven William Moffat OBE (/ˈmɒfət/;[3] born 18 November 1961)[1] is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as the second showrunner and head writer of the 2005 revival of the BBC sci-fi television series Doctor Who (2010–17), and for co-creating and co-writing the BBC crime drama television series Sherlock (2010–17). In the 2015 Birthday Honours, Moffat was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama.[4]

Born in Paisley, Scotland, Moffat, the son of a teacher, was formerly a teacher himself.[5] His first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage. Later in the 1990s, he wrote Chalk, inspired by his own experience as an English teacher. Moffat, a lifelong fan of Doctor Who, wrote the comedic sketch episode The Curse of Fatal Death for the Comic Relief charity telethon, which aired in early 1999. His early-2000s sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his relationship with television producer Sue Vertue.

In March 2004, Moffat was announced as one of the writers for the revived Doctor Who TV series. He wrote six episodes during Russell T Davies' first era as head writer, which aired from 2005 to 2008. Moffat's scripts during this era won him three Hugo Awards, a BAFTA Craft Award, and a BAFTA Cymru Award. Between episodes, he wrote and produced the modern-day drama series Jekyll, based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In May 2008, it was announced that Moffat would succeed Davies as showrunner, lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who. Around the same time, he dropped his contract with film director Steven Spielberg for a film trilogy based on artist Hergé's character Tintin. Part of the lone script he wrote was used in Spielberg's film The Adventures of Tintin, eventually released in 2011.

Moffat's work in the 2010s consisted mainly of his period as the head writer of Doctor Who during the fifth through tenth series, in which he won another Hugo, and Sherlock, which won Moffat a BAFTA Craft Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In the 2020s, he wrote the BBC and Netflix drama co-productions Dracula (2020) and Inside Man (2022), the HBO sci-fi romance mini-series The Time Traveler's Wife (2022), and the ITV comedy-drama Douglas Is Cancelled (2024). In 2024, he returned to Doctor Who to write two episodes for Davies' second tenure as showrunner.

  1. ^ a b Moffat, Steven (4 March 2009). "Production Notes". Doctor Who Magazine. No. 405. p. 11.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lourie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ As pronounced by Moffat in his 2016 Oxford Union Address.
  4. ^ United Kingdom: "No. 61256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 2015. p. B14.
  5. ^ McLean, Gareth (22 March 2010). "Steven Moffat: The man with a monster of a job". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2010.