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Ben Richards (writer)

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Ben Richards
Born1964 (age 59–60)
England, UK
OccupationNovelist, screenwriter and television producer.
Period1996–present
GenreDrama, adventure, science fiction

Ben Richards (born 1964) is a British screenwriter and novelist. He was the lead writer on Spooks and is the writer/creator of Party Animals, Outcasts, COBRA and Showtrial. He also created The Tunnel from the Scandinavian original of “The Bridge” as well as adapting “The Cuckoo’s Calling," the first in Robert Galbraith’s Strike series for BBC1.[1]

Career

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Before writing novels and TV dramas, he worked for three years as a housing officer in Newham and Islington, London. As a research student at UCL's Department of Geography[2] he spent a year investigating public housing in Chile and on his return to Britain began his first novel "to alleviate the boredom of analysing questionnaires" for his PhD thesis.[3] Richards was a lecturer at the University of Birmingham and at University College London, where he taught development studies, specialising in South America.[3] He is now a full-time writer.

His novels are Throwing the House out of the Window (1996), Don't Step on the Lines (1997), The Silver River (1999), A Sweetheart Deal (2001), The Mermaid and the Drunks (2004) and Confidence (2006). He also contributed to the New Puritans anthology of 2000.

As a screenwriter, Richards has written for the BBC (Spooks and Party Animals), ITV (The Fixer) and Channel 4 (No Angels). He has also written for the British-French crime drama television series The Tunnel, an adaption of The Bridge (Danish-Swedish).[4]

Writing credits

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Production Notes Broadcaster
Spooks 16 episodes (2003–2006, 2008–2009) BBC One
No Angels 3 episodes (2004–2005) Channel 4
Party Animals 6 episodes (2007) BBC Two
The Fixer 9 episodes (2008–2009) ITV
Outcasts 8 episodes (2011) BBC One
The Tunnel 12 episodes (2013-2016) Sky Atlantic
Canal+
Fortitude "Episode #1.7" (2015) Sky Atlantic
Strike 3 episodes (2017) BBC One
HBO
Cobra 18 episodes (2020-present) Sky One
Altice Studio
Showtrial 10 episodes (2021-present) BBC One
The Diplomat 6 episodes (2023) Alibi

References

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  1. ^ Viner, Brian (8 February 2011). "Last Night's TV". The Independent. London.
  2. ^ "Prof. Alan Gilbert > Research Students". UCL Department of Geography. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  3. ^ a b Ben Richards (8 January 2001). "Confessions of a former housing officer". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "Ben Richards: There's more light at the end of this well established Tunnel". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 24 March 2016. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
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