Chris Jury is an award-winning actor, writer, producer and director. Born in Coventry in the English Midlands, Chris studied Drama/English at Hull University and began working as an actor in the theatre with such names as Mike Bradwell, Danny Boyle and Anthony Minghella; And with companies as diverse as Hull Truck, The Bush and Stratford East. He also worked as an actor extensively in film and TV appearing most notably as Eric Catchpole in over 50 episodes of the BBC’s long running series, Lovejoy.
During the six years of Lovejoy he also ran his own TV production company, Picture That, and developed drama and comedy projects for all major Broadcasters including Shady, for Carlton, Moonstomping for C4 and Murder & Mayhem for BBC Scotland. After a brief spell working as Development Executive Television Drama at BBC Pebble Mill, in Birmingham, he wrote and directed a series of short films for Picture That, including, To Baldly Go, for C4 and the award winning, Puke Fiction, which he was subsequently commissioned to develop as a series for the C4 comedy department.
Since 1997 he has worked as a successful freelance writer in theatre, television and film but specialising in episodic television drama.
One of his recent theatre plays, The Liberty Tree, was one of the winners of the Script6 national playwriting competition run by The Space.
In November 2014, after several years of research and development, he completed his historical play, Nadya, about Stalin’s second wife, Nadya Alliluyeva, which was presented by The Production Exchange, at The Park Theatre, London, starring Michelle Terry, Stephen Tompkinson, Phyllis Logan, Shaun Prendergast, Dominic Mafham, Rupert Holiday Evans, David Robb and Jamie Foreman.
He has lectured on scriptwriting and Film & TV production at the University Of West London, Leeds Metropolitan University, Ruskin College Oxford and Bath Spa University.
He is currently writing, Rednecks, an historical television drama series set in the coal mines of 1920’s West Virginia and is in development with companies as diverse as Kudos, Red Planet, ITV Studios and the BBC.
TV WRITING CREDITS:
Holy City x 4 Episodes BBC TV
Casualty x 4 Episodes BBC TV
The Bill x 4 Episodes Talkback Thames/ITV
Doctors x 2 Episodes BBC TV
Mancini’s Empire x 1 Episode + Bible LWT
Puke Fiction 2 x 1 Episode + Bible C4 Comedy Dep.
One Inch Of Heaven x 1 Episode + Bible BBC TV
Roeg’s Rage x Detailed Treatment + Bible Chrysalis
The Hub x Bible/Budget/Schedule Chameleon TV/Grey Cat Productions/ITV
Wired x 1 Episode & Bible Above The Title Productions (Radio)
The Watsons x 1 Episode & Bible Grey Cat Productions/BSkyB
Critter’s Corner x 1 Episode & Bible BBC Children’s TV
The Wanderers x 1 Episode & Bible BBC Children’s TV
Suits x Treatment & Bible Box Television/BBC
Murder & Mayhem x 3 Episodes & Bible BBC Scotland/Picture That
Shady x 1 Episode & Bible Carlton Television/Noel Gay/Picture That
Queen Of Clubs x 1 Episode & Bible BBC/Picture That
Moonstomping x 3 Episodes & Bible Channel 4 Drama Dep.
The Innocent Pagoda x Treatment. Picture That
Seven Eleven x Treatment. Picture That
Big Cat x Treatment. Picture That
TELEVISION CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT:
Rednecks – 13 x 60’ Series. 1 Episode + Bible.
Hardwired – 6 x 60’ Series. 1 Episode + Bible.
Lost Souls – 6 x 50’ Series. Treatment.
After The Fall – 6 x 50’ Series. Treatment.
The Wake – 6 x 50’ Series. Treatment.
Birthright – 6 x 50’ Series. Treatment.
Running In the Family – 6 X 30’ series. 1 Episode + Bible.
Goombah – 6 x 60’ Series. 1 Episode + Bible.
Police & Thieves – 6 x 50’ Series. 1 Episode + Bible.
FEATURE FILMS CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT:
No One There – Ghost/Horror
Human Resources- Sci-Fi Comedy Satire
RADIO CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT:
Lavender Blue – BBC R4
All At Sea – BBC R4
Nadya – BBCR3
THEATRE CREDITS:
PEGGY RAMSEY FOUNDATION A substantial grant from The Peggy Ramsay Foundation, to travel to USA to research a .play about the West Virginia Mine Wars.
PEGGY RAMSEY FOUNDATION A substantial grant from The Peggy Ramsay Foundation, to further develop Nadya after the reading.
NADYA Writer. A play about Stalin’s second wife, Nadya Alliluyeva, which was given a rehearsed reading at The Park in London with a cast including Michelle Terry, Stephen Tompkinson, Phyllis Logan, Shaun Prendergast, Dominic Mafham, Rupert Holiday Evans, David Robb and Jamie Foreman.
THE LIBERTY TREE Writer/Director. A two act comedy juke-box musical inspired by the work of Erwin Piscator produced by Public Domain at The Cockpit Theatre in London as a community/trade-union theatre project.
DEFIANCE A two-act drama written as part of the Script6 programme. Performed at The Space, London, in June 2014 and published in an anthology of new plays by Play Dead Press.
PEGGY RAMSEY FOUNDATION A substantial grant from The Peggy Ramsay Foundation to make a research trip to Moscow and Georgia for a play about Stalin’s private life.
SCRIPT6 NATIONAL PLAYWRITING AWARD Run by The Space Theatre in London, the Script6 national playwriting competition enabled six up-and-coming playwrights to write a brand-new full-length play through a programme of workshops and script development.
REALITY CHOKES Director. Premiere of New Comedy as part of the 40 year Anniversary Celebrations of Pentameters Theatre in Hampstead. Also Executive Producer of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival remount of the original London production.
THE DIG Co-Writer. The Cambridge Theatre Company. National Tour.
PUBLIC DOMAIN Artistic Director – Founded Public Domain Arts & Media with Producer Kerry Irvine to facilitate and produce projects of creative activism.
MILLENNIUM MYSTERY PLAYS Artistic Director of the Blockley Millennium Mystery Plays (1997-2005), a large-scale community theatre project in the N. Cotswolds.
RELATED ACTIVITIES:
AGITPOP Devised, produced and presented the Pop & Politics Show On North Cotswold Community Radio.
TOLPUDDLE RADICAL FESTIVAL Co-founder of the Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival with Reuben Irving of Worcester University, an initiative arising from the Radical Film Network.
DGGB – DIRECTOR’S GUILD Chair of TV Committee 2002-2004. Currently a member of Director’s UK.
WGGGB – WRITER’S GUILD Member of TV Committee of WGGB from 2014.
WEBSITES:
Public Domain arts & Media – http://www.publicdomain.org.uk
Blockley Mystery Plays – https://blockleymysteryplays.wordpress.com/
Liquid Soap – https://recordedmediabaacting.wordpress.com/liquid-soap/
I Am Not a Number – http://www.iamnotanumber.org.uk/
Agitpop – www.agitpop.org.uk
Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival – http://www.tolpuddleradicalfilm.org.uk/
Have you ever though of writing a New Tricks episode?
Love to of course but it is one of the most competitive shows to get on.
New Tricks is getting the axe but what about writing a Law & Order: UK episode?
Love to.
Just watching Lovejoy and having a nip about on the web, very interesting website and had no idea you had done so many different things, brill.
A Catchpole and Son …. Lovejoy follow on ?
That would be well good
I often relate my Favourite tv shows and songs to comfort food for my mind , it evokes memories of pleasure and pain , of days long past , and means so much to us ,to the generation that lived through those particular moments in our lives, though also being conscious that to another generation waiting in the wings that they cannot mean as much , what a bittersweet journey this life is.