Nigel McCrery
 |
Nigel McCrery | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1953 London, UK |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, producer, writer |
| Children | 3 |
Nigel Colin McCrery (born 1953)[1] is an English screenwriter, producer and writer. He is the creator of the long-running crime dramas Silent Witness (1996–present) and New Tricks (2003–15).
Early life
[edit]McCrery was born in London. His father, Colin McCrery, served in the RAF, so the family travelled during his early childhood before settling in Nottingham.[1] He attended George Spencer Secondary School in Stapleford.[2]
Police career
[edit]After working in a series of jobs, McCrery joined the Nottinghamshire Constabulary in 1978. He worked on a number of murder cases and became interested in forensic science. In August 1987 he left the police to read modern history at Trinity College, Cambridge.[1][2]
Broadcasting
[edit]McCrery was selected for the BBC's Graduate Entry Scheme in 1990. After working on a variety of BBC documentaries, he joined the BBC drama department in 1992, becoming the researcher on Our Friends in the North.[2] He then went on to create the series Backup (1995–1997),[3] Silent Witness,[2][4] All The King's Men (1999), Born and Bred (2002–2006),[3] Impact (2003) and New Tricks (2003–2015).[5]
In 1992, while working as an assistant producer on the BBC1 show Tomorrow's World, McCrery arranged for the remains of the Tsar Nicholas II and the rest of the Russian Royal Family, executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918, to be flown to the UK for DNA examination to verify their identities. McCrery's car was then used to convey the bones of nine Romanovs to their destination.[6] He wrote in his book Silent Witnesses: "There can't be many people who've had an entire royal family in the boot of their car".[7]
McCrery is involved with the charity Care after Combat, which visits and helps former military personnel in prison.[citation needed]
Publications
[edit]McCrery has written several crime novels, in the series Silent Witness and The Detective Inspector Lapslie Books.[8] (five books with two more to come). A "Silent Witness" short story was serialised over three parts in the Mail On Sunday.
In non-fiction, he has published Silent Witnesses: A History of Forensic Science (2013),[7] Shoot!: How to Make a Video Film to Professional Standards (1993) and a number of books of military history: For Conspicuous Gallantry: A Brief History of the Recipients of the Victoria Cross from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire (1990), The Vanished Battalion: One of the Great Mysteries of the First World War Finally Solved (1992; also published as All the King's Men), Under the Buns of the Red Baron: The Complete Record of Von Richthofen's Victories and Victims Fully Illustrated (with Norman L. R. Franks and Hal Giblin, 1995), The Complete History of the SAS: The Full Story of the World's Most Feared Special Forces (with Barry Davies, 2003), Go!, Go!, Go!: The Dramatic Inside Story of the Iranian Embassy Siege (2008), Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Great War (2013), The Fallen Few of the Battle of Britain (2015), The Final Season: The Footballers who Fought and Died in the Great War (2015), Final Wicket: Test and First-Class Cricketers killed in the Great War (2015),[9] The Extinguished Flame: Olympians Killed in the Great War (2016),[9] Hear the Boat Sing: Oxford and Cambridge Rowers Killed in World War I (2017),[9] The Coming Storm: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two (2017), Final Scrum: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Second World War (2018), Season in Hell: British Footballers Killed in the Second World War (2019), The Undying Flame: Olympians Who Perished in the Second World War (2021), Dambusters: The Crews and Their Bombers (2021) and Virtus Vera Nobilitas: Students From Trinity College Cambridge Who Died During the Great War (2024).
McCrery's first play, Going Home, is about a survivor of the Holocaust who returns home after World War Two.[10]
Personal life
[edit]McCrery is dyslexic. His school invited him back in 2013 to open their new learning and inclusion centre, named for him.[2]
McCrery was diagnosed with a terminal illness in October 2024.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Titles by Nigel McCrery". Pen and Sword Books. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "New Tricks' Nigel McCrery honoured at Nottinghamshire school". BBC News. 14 March 2013.
- ^ a b c Michael Sheils McNamee (2 November 2024). "Terminal illness 'shock' for Silent Witness writer". BBC News.
- ^ Jaci Stephen (13 March 1996). "My days as murder policeman gave me a hit: ; Interview: Nigel McCrery; Silent Witness (BBC1, 9.30pm)". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012 – via Highbeam.
- ^ "'New Tricks' gets a fifth series". Digital Spy. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ "Nigel had royal skeletons in the boot of his car". Daily Post. Inverness. 19 January 2014.
- ^ a b Bernard Porter (9 August 2013). "Silent Witnesses: A History of Forensic Science by Nigel McCrery – review". The Guardian.
- ^ "Reviews: Palace Council, The Likeness and more". The Baltimore Sun. 20 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ a b c "Hear the Boat Sing: Oxford and Cambridge Rowers Killed in World War I by Nigel McCrery". The Western Front Association (review). Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ "Events: Going Home". University of Nottingham. January 2019.
