Steven Moffat To Receive Special BAFTA

Doctor Who and Sherlock show-runner Steven Moffat is to be awarded a special BAFTA in recognition of his outstanding contribution to television.

copyright BBC

Moffat will receive the award at the television BAFTA’s which will take place in London on May 27th. The special award is presented in memory of the playwright Dennis Potter. Other recipients include former Doctor Who show-runner Russell T Davies and Above Suspicion & Prime Suspect creator Lynda La Plante.

Blimey! A Special Award! I didn’t even know I was ill! So thrilled by this – especially after two years of Sherlock and Doctor Who, my two favourite shows ever. Of course the work, and the people I get to work with, has always been all the reward I need – a fact I’m very glad that BAFTA has disregarded.” – Steven Moffat

Moffat’s work is being recognised because of his long standing contribution to television across a number of genre’s. In the late 1980s co-created the fondly remembered CITV series Press Gang which starred Julia Sawalha, Dexter Fletcher and Gabrielle Anwar. Moffat also wrote several episodes of the 1990s Dawn French comedy series Murder Most Horrid. He also created the popular BBC Two sitcom Coupling which starred Jack Davenport, Sarah Alexander and Ben Miles.

In 2007 he penned the six-part BBC series Jekyll starring Michelle Ryan, James Nesbit and  Gina Bellman. When Doctor Who was revived in 2005 under Russell T. Davies the writer was chosen to pen a number of episodes such as The Empty Child, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink. When it was announced that Davies was stepping down as show-runner Steven Moffat was hired as his replacement and has so far over-seen two seasons in charge with his third currently in production.

In 2010 as well as continuing to act as show-runner on Doctor Who Moffat co-created Sherlock with writer Mark Gatiss. So far two seasons have aired with a third in development with a likely air-date of next year depending on the availability of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

[Written by Dominic Knight]