Stephen Butchard
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, television producer
Known forThe Last Kingdom
Vincent
Good Cop

Stephen Butchard is a British screenwriter and television producer, best known for adapting Bernard Cornwell's The Saxon Stories into the BBC/Netflix drama series The Last Kingdom.[1]

Early life

Butchard was born in Liverpool. He trained as an engineer and spent a year in Beijing, China (September 1993 to October 1994), working on the Beijing underground rail network.

Career

Butchard began writing plays while working as an engineer. In 1997, he won the Dennis Potter Award for '‘Soft Sand, Blue Sea’', which secured him representation.[2] During the 2000s, he wrote several television films and series such as Always and Everyone, House of Saddam and Vincent. In 2010, BBC One would broadcast his mini-series Five Daughters, starring Ian Hart and Sarah Lancashire.[3] Set in 2006, it is about the Ipswich serial murders. Butchard said about the project. "Our hope is that this drama provides a glimpse of the real girls their families knew, and also leads to further debate on the impact of drugs and sex industries upon every town, every city in this country... and what action is, or isn't, being taken."[4]

In 2012, Butchard wrote the cop drama Good Cop, following a constable whose partner is murdered.[5] Following the shooting of two police officers in Tameside, Greater Manchester, on 18 September, the BBC postponed the final episode, originally scheduled for Thursday 20 September. It would air later, on Saturday 13 October 2012.[6] Butchard adapted and showran the first three series of The Last Kingdom, which saw a transition from BBC Two to Netflix as distributor for the third series.[7] In 2020, Channel 4 and Hulu broadcast his thriller Baghdad Central.[8]

In 2023, Butchard adapted The Good Mothers, a non-fiction book by British author Alex Perry on the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mafia, into a television series for Disney+. The series had its international premiere at 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in Berlinale Series on 21 February 2023,[9] and won the Berlinale Series Award.[10]

References

  1. ^ Laura Prudom (9 July 2014). "'The Last Kingdom': BBC, Carnival Producing New Viking Drama". Variety. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  2. ^ "'The Last Kingdom' - an interview with screenwriter Stephen Butchard". 7 October 2015.
  3. ^ French, Dan (1 December 2009). "Sarah Lancashire for Ipswich murders drama". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  4. ^ "Five Daughters: new drama commissioned for BBC One". BBC Press Office. British Broadcasting Corporation. 29 August 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  5. ^ "BBC One - Good Cop". BBC. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Police drama Good Cop pulled after Manchester shootings". BBC News. BBC. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  7. ^ "The Last Kingdom season 3, review: a rise in blood and gore after move to Netflix". iNews. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  8. ^ Morris, Anthony (28 May 2020). "'Baghdad Central' is noir in the desert". SBS. Special Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  9. ^ Whittock, Jesse (16 January 2023). "Berlinale Series Unveils Eight World Premieres & TV Jury". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  10. ^ Roxborough, Scott (22 February 2023). "Berlin: Disney+ Mafia Drama 'The Good Mothers' Wins Inaugural Berlinale Series Award". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 February 2023.

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