Tom Bidwell

Tom Bidwell is a British screenwriter and playwright.[1]

Tom Bidwell
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, playwright
Known forMy Mad Fat Diary
Watership Down
The Irregulars

Early life

Raised in Lancashire, Bidwell developed cancer in his shoulder at the age of 15, which was successfully treated. He completed his GCSEs and later obtained a degree in English and Drama at university.[2]

Career

After writing plays, Bidwell got his break through a BBC Radio 4 play, later adapted into a 2009 short film, Wish 143. The story focuses on a terminally ill teenager who wishes to lose his virginity. It would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award in 2011 for Best Live Action Short Film. He was awarded a place on the BBC Writer's Academy, a programme designed to train new writers for their long running television series. He went on to write for all four of the BBC's popular continuing dramas: Doctors, EastEnders, Casualty and its spinoff, Holby City.

Bidwell went on to work on the E4 teen comedy-drama My Mad Fat Diary. The series was nominated for multiple BAFTA awards.[3] Bidwell was approached by MTV to work on an American remake of the series, which was not made.[4] In July 2014, it was announced that BBC would be airing a new animated serial of Watership Down, helmed by Bidwell.[5] The series was a co-production between BBC and Netflix, with a budget of £20 million.[6] The drama won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program.[7]

On 20 December 2018, it was announced that Netflix was planning a new adventure series with Bidwell, based on the Baker Street Irregulars from the Sherlock Holmes novels. Bidwell described the program as "my dream project and my oldest idea"[8] and it takes a different view of Holmes and his relationship to the Irregulars, which has the band of street kids solve cases. The eight-episode The Irregulars premiered on 26 March 2021.[9] Bidwell also scripted an adaptation of The Velveteen Rabbit.[10]

References
  1. "Tom Bidwell".
  2. Hattenstone, Simon (24 February 2011). "Tom Bidwell survived cancer at 15. Can he now win an Oscar?". The Guardian.
  3. "Bafta unveils list of 'Breakthrough Brits'". BBC News. 25 September 2013.
  4. "Tom's Mad Fat success story heads to the States". Chorley Guardian. 24 April 2014.
  5. "Watership Down to be adapted on TV". Digital Spy. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  6. Plunkett, John (27 April 2016). "BBC and Netflix team up for new Watership Down production". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. "Daytime Emmy winners 2019: Full list of Creative Arts winners on Friday night". GoldDerby. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  8. Carr, Flora (20 December 2018). "Netflix is planning a new Sherlock Holmes series called The Irregulars". Radio Times. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  9. Bucksbaum, Sydney (22 February 2021). "Sherlock Holmes gets a supernatural twist in first look at Netflix's The Irregulars". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  10. "New TV Adaptation of Kids' Classic 'The Velveteen Rabbit' in the Works (EXCLUSIVE)". 13 December 2018.
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