Jimmy McGovern


James Stanley McGovern is an English screenwriter and producer. He created the television series Cracker, a popular and critical success in the UK, for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He has also received recognition for Hillsborough, The Lakes, The Street and Accused, among others.

Early life

McGovern was one of nine children born to working class Liverpool born parents, William McGovern and Jane Warner. He had a stammer until the age of eight. He attended a Jesuit secondary school, St Francis Xavier's College in Liverpool. He taught for a time at Quarry Bank Secondary Comprehensive school, where he organised the end-of-school play.

Television writing career

In 1982, McGovern started his TV career working on Channel 4's soap opera Brookside. He tackled many social issues in the course of the series, especially unemployment – which was at a post-war high at the time. In 1993, he created the drama serial Cracker, about the work of a fictional criminal psychologist played by Robbie Coltrane. Made by Granada Television and screened on ITV, the series was a critical and popular success, lasting until 1995. Cracker also aired in the United States, on the Arts and Entertainment cable network. McGovern's writing earned him two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. In 1997 he created The Lakes, a drama that shared Brookside's realist setting and reused themes from Cracker, such as gambling addiction. In 2006, he created the BBC One drama, The Street; its third and final season aired in 2009.
McGovern also wrote the script for the television docudrama Hillsborough, based on the events of the stadium disaster in 1989, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans at an FA Cup semi-final. Among the cast of this drama was Christopher Eccleston, who also featured in Cracker, along with former Brookside actor Ricky Tomlinson. In 2013, Eccleston said it was the most important work he'd ever done. Newspapers cited Hillsborough as a factor in a new inquiry set up in 1997.
His series Accused aired from 2010 to 2012 on BBC One. It followed a similar format to The Street but with a crime component. The series' writers included McGovern, Danny Brocklehurst, Alice Nutter and Shaun Duggan. It was produced by Sita Williams.
In 2012, McGovern together with local Indigenous Australian writers from Sydney, developed the Australian television drama series Redfern Now, set among the Indigenous Australians of the Sydney suburb of Redfern. The six-part series follows a similar format to Accused, telling the stories of six inner-city households in one street whose lives are changed by a seemingly insignificant incident. The series debuted on 1 November 2012, was produced by Blackfella Films and has been commissioned for a second series.

Film writing

McGovern wrote the screenplay for the 1994 drama, Priest.

Theatre

McGovern wrote the book for the musical stage show King Cotton, which explores links between the Atlantic slave trade and industrialisation in North West England, as part of the Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008. King Cotton premiered at the Lowry in September 2007 before moving to the Liverpool Empire.

Producer

In 2009, McGovern was the executive producer on the BBC One miniseries Moving On.

Views

McGovern has described cinema scriptwriters as being treated like hacks and forced to crank out countless drafts by successive producers. McGovern has openly criticised dramas such as Footballers' Wives lamenting the lack of quality, believable storytelling in the early 2000s.
He believes that television directors are underrated. He says: "I have worked twice with David Blair" on The Lakes and The Street, "and I can tell you that he is the best there is. He can make a good project great... Why David hasn’t won the acclaim he deserves is a mystery to me".

Awards and honours

Filmography

ProgrammeDateChannelNotes
Brookside1982–1988Channel 4Writer of several episodes
Coronation Street1990ITVEpisode #1.3115
Screenplay1990BBC TwoSeries 5, episode 11: "Needle"
Traitors1990BBC TwoTV film. Dramatisation of the Gunpowder Plot
El C.I.D.1990–1991ITVWriter of 3 episodes: "A Proper Copper", "Christmas Spirit" and "Piece of Cake"
The Play on One1991BBC One1 episode: "Gas and Candles"
Cracker1993–1996, 2006ITVCreator, and writer of several episodes and 1 special
Priest1994-Film, starring Linus Roache
Hearts and Minds1995Channel 4Writer of all 4 episodes
Go Now1995BBC OneTV film, starring Robert Carlyle and Juliet Aubrey
Hillsborough1996ITVTV film. Dramatised reconstruction of the events of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster
Fitz1997ABC / ITV5 episodes
The Lakes1997–1999BBC OneCreator, and writer of 10 episodes
Heart1999-Film, starring Saskia Reeves and Christopher Eccleston
Dockers1999Channel 4TV film. Dramatisation of the Liverpool dockers' strike
Liam2000-Film, starring Ian Hart
Sunday2002Channel 4TV film. Based on the events of Bloody Sunday
Gunpowder, Treason & Plot2004BBC OneTV mini-series. Dramatisation of the lives of Mary, Queen of Scots and James I of England
The Street2006–2009BBC OneCreator, and writer of 17 episodes
Moving On2009–BBC OneCreator, and writer of several episodes
Accused2010–2012BBC One10 episodes
Common2014BBC OneTV film, set in the north west of England and based on the UK's controversial joint enterprise law
Banished2015BBC TwoTV mini-series. Creator, and writer of all 7 episodes
Defendant2016FR2A French language remake of the British drama series Accused
Reg2016BBC OneTV film. Fact-based drama about the campaign by Reg Keys to obtain answers after the death of his son in the Iraq War
Broken2017BBC OneWriter/co-writer of all 6 episodes
Care2018BBC OneTV film, starring Sheridan Smith. Co-written with Gillian Juckes.