Jed Mercurio

Jed Mercurio (born 1966) is a British television writer, producer, director and novelist. A former hospital doctor[1] and Royal Air Force officer,[2] Mercurio has been ranked among UK television’s leading writers.[3][4] In 2017, Mercurio was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Television Society[5] and the Baird Medal by RTS Midlands.[6]

His chief works for television are the series Line of Duty, Bodyguard, Bodies (based on his 2002 novel), The Grimleys and Cardiac Arrest.[7] His books are Bodies (2002), Ascent (2007), American Adulterer (2009) and, for children, The Penguin Expedition (2003).[8]

Early life

Mercurio was born in Nelson, Lancashire, but grew up in Cannock, Staffordshire.[9] His parents were Italian immigrants, with his father working as a coal-miner.[10] He studied at the University of Birmingham Medical School;[1] in his third year, in August 1988, he was commissioned as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force Medical Branch[2] and received flying training with the University Air Squadron,[1] with the intention of specialising in aviation medicine.[11][12] He was promoted flying officer in Jun 1991,[13] but resigned his commission in February 1992.[14]

During practice as a hospital physician, Mercurio answered an advertisement in the British Medical Journal and, despite negligible writing experience,[1] scripted the BBC medical drama Cardiac Arrest under the pseudonym John MacUre.[15] Subsequently he retired from medicine to pursue a writing career under his own name.[9]

Career

Mercurio's writing debut, Cardiac Arrest (1994–96), caused controversy due to its revisionist depiction of hospital life,[16][17] though the series was twice nominated in the Best Original Drama category by the Writers' Guild of Great Britain[18] and topped a poll of UK medical professionals as the most realistic medical drama of all time.[19] Mercurio served as medical advisor on the second series of Cardiac Arrest, which he cites as his apprenticeship in producing/directing.[11]

Jed Mercurio entered a new genre when he created The Grimleys, a comedy series set in his native Black Country which ran for three seasons (1999-2001) on ITV.[20]

Mercurio adapted his first novel, Bodies (2002),[21] into an award-winning television series.[22] Mercurio assumed the producer/showrunner position for the first time on Bodies (2004–06), a role he has fulfilled on all his subsequent original series.[11] The Times ranked Bodies in "Shows of the Decade" and The Guardian placed it in "The Greatest TV Dramas of All Time."[23] The series won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama Series, was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series and Mercurio was also twice nominated as Best Drama Writer by the Royal Television Society.[24]

His critically acclaimed second novel, Ascent (2007),[25] was ranked among the 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read.[26]

Mercurio's next original drama series, Line of Duty (first broadcast 26 June 2012), premiered as BBC2's then best-performing drama series in 10 years with 4.1 million viewers.[27] A well-received second series (first broadcast 12 February 2014) [28] resulted in the BBC commissioning two further series for production in 2015 and 2016.[29] The first series was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama Series and earned Mercurio his third nominations as Best Drama Writer by the Royal Television Society and The Writers' Guild of Great Britain.[30] In 2014, Line of Duty was named in the Top 50 BBC2 Shows of All-Time,[31] and named best television drama of the year by The Observer,[32] and in 2016 ranked among the best BBC shows of all time[33] and among the best police series of all time.[34] In 2015, the second series won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama Series.[35] and was nominated for four BAFTA Awards.[36][37] Season 3 of Line of Duty became the most watched drama series broadcast on BBC2 in the multichannel era.[38] Season 4 transferred to BBC One, consisting of six episodes broadcast from 26 March 2017.[39]

Mercurio's third medical drama series, Critical, ran for 13 episodes on Sky1 from 24 February 2015 to predominantly positive reviews,[40][41][42][43] but was cancelled on 15 July 2015 after one season.[44]

Jed Mercurio created and wrote Bodyguard, serving as showrunner on the six-part series starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes.[45] The series began broadcasting on BBC One on 26 August 2018,[46] achieving the highest viewing figures for a new BBC drama in the multichannel era.[47]

Filmography

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Albiston, Isabel (24 February 2007). "The world of ..." The Telegraph.
  2. 1 2 "No. 51518". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 November 1988. p. 12221.
  3. ↑ "Broadcast Hot 100 2013". broadcastnow.co.uk. 5 December 2013.
  4. ↑ Lazarus, Susannah (18 September 2017). "Radio Times TV 100". Radio Times.
  5. ↑ Harding, Laura (13 September 2017). "Russell T. Davies among RTS fellowship recipients". Irish Independent.
  6. ↑ "Royal Television Society Midlands Awards 2017 - Winners Announced". Film Birmingham. 1 December 2017.
  7. ↑ Jed Mercurio filmography at the International Movie Database, IMDb.com, retrieved 6 October 2013
  8. ↑ Jed Mercurio Author Profile at Rogers, Coleridge & White Literary Agency website, Rcwlitagency.com, retrieved 6 October 2013
  9. 1 2 Laws, Roz (7 April 2016). "Who is the man behind gripping TV drama Line of Duty?". Birmingham Mail.
  10. ↑ Laws, Roz (24 March 2017). "Who is the man behind gripping TV drama Line of Duty?". Birmingham Mail.
  11. 1 2 3 Brown, Maggie (10 February 2014). "Line of Duty's Jed Mercurio". The Guardian.
  12. ↑ Llewellyn-Smith, Julia (23 March 2014). "Line of Duty:'Sometimes justice is not done in the real world'". Telegraph.
  13. ↑ "No. 52646". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 September 1991. p. 13423.
  14. ↑ "No. 52857". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 March 1992. p. 4255.
  15. ↑ Curtis, Chris (20 September 2012), Jed Mercurio: taking aim at the target culture, Broadcastnow.co.uk, retrieved 6 October 2013
  16. ↑ Dillner, Louise (23 April 1994). "Frightening realism". The British Medical Journal.
  17. ↑ Revill, Jo (10 September 2006). "Nurse! Let's put this medical drama back on the screens". The Guardian.
  18. ↑ "Cardiac Arrest at the International Movie Data Base".
  19. ↑ "Top of the TV Medics". BBC Online. 9 November 1999.
  20. ↑ Rampton, James (1999-03-06). "Still Crazee Now - Arts & Entertainment". The Independent. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  21. ↑ Myerson, Julie (6 April 2002). "Close to the Bone". The Guardian.
  22. ↑ Royal Television Society Programme Awards 2005, Rts.org.uk, retrieved 6 October 2013
  23. ↑ Lusher, Tim (12 January 2010). "The Top 50 TV Dramas of All Time". The Guardian.
  24. ↑ "Bodies at the International Movie Data Base".
  25. ↑ Faber, Michel (10 March 2007). "Rocket Man". The Guardian.
  26. ↑ "1000 Novels Everyone Must Read". The Guardian. 22 January 2009.
  27. ↑ Curtis, Chris (20 September 2012). "Jed Mercurio: taking aim at the target culture". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  28. ↑ Moir, Jan (17 March 2014). "Is Line of Duty the best cop show ever?". Daily Mail.
  29. ↑ Sweeney, Mark (8 April 2014). "Line of Duty set to return for third and fourth series". Guardian.
  30. ↑ Sandwell, Ian (5 December 2014). "Writers' Guild shortlist unveiled". Screen International.
  31. ↑ Hogan, Michael; et al. (18 April 2014). "The Top 50 BBC Two shows of all-time". The Telegraph.
  32. ↑ Ferguson, Euan (7 December 2014). "The best British TV Dramas of 2014". The Observer.
  33. ↑ Tate, Gabriel; et al. (2 November 2016). "The 80 Best BBC Shows of All Time". The Telegraph.
  34. ↑ Ross, Graeme (12 November 2016). "The 20 Greatest TV Cop Shows of All Time". The Independent.
  35. ↑ Klompus, Jack (18 March 2015). "Casualty, Harry & Paul, Line of Duty win at RTS Programme awards". Digital Spy.
  36. ↑ "Bafta TV Awards 2015: Winners in full". BBC News. 10 May 2015.
  37. ↑ "BAFTA TV Craft Awards 2015".
  38. ↑ Plunkett, John (28 April 2016). "Line of Duty outranks Wolf Hall to take BBC2 ratings crown". The Guardian.
  39. ↑ "Line of Duty to move to BBC1 for two more series". Radiotimes.com. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  40. ↑ Billen, Andrew (25 February 2015). "TV Review: Critical; Immigration Street". The Times.
  41. ↑ Jones, Ellen E. (25 February 2015). "Critical, Sky1 - TV Review". The Independent.
  42. ↑ Wollaston, Sam (25 February 2015). "Last Night's TV". The Guardian.
  43. ↑ Hogan, Michael (25 February 2015). "Critical episode 1 review". The Telegraph.
  44. ↑ Jeffrey, Morgan (15 July 2015). "Sky1 calls time on Critical: No second series for medical thriller". Digital Spy. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  45. ↑ "Meet the cast of Bodyguard on BBC1".
  46. ↑ Hughes, Sarah (12 August 2018). "Jed Mercurio on Bodyguard, jeopardy … and the next Line of Duty". the Guardian.
  47. ↑ Corrodus, Corrine (4 September 2018). "Bodyguard is the biggest drama on British TV in over a decade". The Telegraph.
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