Sally Wainwright

Sally Anne Wainwright OBE (born 1963) is an English television writer, producer, and director. She is known for her dramas, which are often set in West Yorkshire, where she originates from, and feature "strong female characters". Wainwright has been praised for the quality of her dialogue. Wainwright began her career as a scriptwriter on the long-running radio serial drama The Archers, and worked on the television soap operas Emmerdale and Coronation Street in the 1990s. Her first original drama, At Home with the Braithwaites, aired between 2000 and 2003. After two self-described "flops" in the mid-2000s, Wainwright found success with Unforgiven (2009), for which she won the Royal Television Society's Writer of the Year Award. Her work since includes Scott & Bailey (2011–2016), Last Tango in Halifax (2012–2020), Happy Valley (2014–2023), and Gentleman Jack (2019–2022). Last Tango in Halifax won the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2013, and Happy Valley won the same award in both 2015 and 2017.

Works

Renegade Nell

England, 1705: Framed for murder and on the run with her sisters, Nell Jackson turns her hand to highway robbery to survive. Aided by her superpowered sidekick, a plucky little sprite called Billy Blind, Nell realizes that fate has put her on the wrong side of the law for a reason. A reason much bigger than she could have ever imagined: to defeat a magical plot against the Queen of England.

Release Date: 2024-03-29

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 5

Vote Count: 85

imagine… Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me

imagine... follows celebrated British TV writer Russell T Davies as he prepares to return as the showrunner of Doctor Who – with two Doctors and bigger ambitions.

Release Date: 2023-12-18

Character: Self

Vote Count: 2

The Unforgivable

A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.

Release Date: 2021-11-24

Department: Writing

Job: Story

Vote Count: 1859

Gentleman Jack

Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, 1832. Anne Lister attempts to revitalize her inherited home, Shibden Hall. Most notably for the time period, a part of her plan is to help the fate of her own family - by taking a wife.

Release Date: 2019-04-22

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 8

Vote Count: 192

The Detail

Three fiercely talented female homicide investigators work tirelessly to solve crimes while navigating the complicated demands of their personal lives.

Release Date: 2018-03-25

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 10

Vote Count: 16

To Walk Invisible

To Walk Invisible takes a new look at the extraordinary Brontë family, telling the story of these remarkable women who, despite the obstacles they faced, came from obscurity to produce some of the greatest novels in the English language.

Release Date: 2016-12-26

Department: Directing

Job: Director

Vote Count: 55

Happy Valley

Happy Valley is a dark, funny, multi-layered thriller revolving around the personal and professional life of Catherine, a dedicated, experienced, hard-working copper. She is also a bereaved mother who looks after her orphaned grandchild.

Release Date: 2014-04-29

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Character: Self

Episode Count: 12

Vote Count: 332

The Last Witch

A young woman abruptly moves into an elderly lady's house. Strange things start to happen and soon it becomes clear witchcraft is involved.

Release Date: 2013-10-06

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 2

Last Tango in Halifax

Celia and Alan are both widowed and in their seventies. When their respective grandsons put their details on Facebook, they rediscover a passionate relationship that started over sixty years ago.

Release Date: 2012-11-20

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 6

Vote Count: 49

Scott & Bailey

D.C. Rachel Bailey and D.C. Janet Scott have a robust and engaging friendship which enables them to draw upon each other’s strengths and investigate murders for the Manchester Metropolitan Police.

Release Date: 2011-05-29

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 22

Vote Count: 73

Unforgiven

Upon release from jail, a woman who was found guilty of murdering two police officers when she was a teenager who is determined to see her sister who was adopted.

Release Date: 2009-01-12

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 3

Vote Count: 29

Bonkers

Bonkers is a British comedy series written by Sally Wainwright and starring Liza Tarbuck as a school teacher who discovers her husband is having an affair. It was transmitted on ITV during 2007. It was also released on DVD. This series is available on DVD, distributed by Acorn Media UK.

Release Date: 2007-02-01

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 6

Dead Clever: The Life and Crimes of Julie Bottomley

When Julie Bottomley discovers her husband of 10 years has been sleeping with her sister, her first instinct is to kill him. However, rather than risk life imprisonment herself, she devises a better plan to get revenge on Ian by faking her own death and framing him for murder. But can she resist the temptation to let her jailed husband know just how "Dead Clever" she's been?

Release Date: 2007-01-01

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 5

The Amazing Mrs Pritchard

Supermarket manager Ros Pritchard decides to stand for election and her steady gains of support gives rise to thoughts of becoming Prime Minister.

Release Date: 2006-10-03

Department: Production

Job: Producer

Episode Count: 6

Vote Count: 5

Jane Hall

Struggling to find a job in her northern home town, Jane is convinced that she is ugly, boring, and completely useless. But after one blazing row with her parents too many, Jane decides to move to London, where she finds sex, adventure, friendship and fun driving a red London bus.

Release Date: 2006-07-12

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 6

Vote Count: 4

The Taming of the Shrew

A young harridan MP marries a title in order to advance towards her goal of becoming party leader.

Release Date: 2005-11-21

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Vote Count: 2

ShakespeaRe-Told

Four of Shakespeare's plays are dramatically relocated to the modern day.

Release Date: 2005-11-07

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 1

Vote Count: 13

Sparkhouse

The relationship between childhood sweethearts, a farmer's daughter and boy from a rich family, turns tumultuous in this modern interpretation of Wuthering Heights.

Release Date: 2002-09-01

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 3

Vote Count: 6

At Home with the Braithwaites

At Home with the Braithwaites is a British comedy-drama television series, created and written by Sally Wainwright. The storyline follows a suburban family from Leeds, whose life is turned upside down when the mother of the family wins 38 million pounds on the lottery. It was broadcast on ITV, for 26 episodes, from 20 January 2000 to 9 April 2003. At the beginning of the first series, each member of the Braithwaite family has an issue. Alison has to decide what to do with the winnings, and when to tell her family. David is having an affair with Elaine, his secretary at work. Virginia is on the verge of flunking out of university. Sarah has a crush on her drama teacher. Charlotte suspects that her mother may be the mystery lottery winner.

Release Date: 2000-01-20

Department: Creator

Job: Creator

Vote Count: 11

Bad Girls

Bad Girls is a British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1 June 1999 to 20 December 2006 and starred Simone Lahbib, Mandana Jones, Debra Stephenson, Linda Henry, Jack Ellis and many more throughout the eight-year run. The series was broadcast in 17 countries and was produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road. It is set in the fictional women's prison of Larkhall, and features a mixture of serious and light storylines focusing on the prisoners and staff of G Wing. From 2010, the UK broadcast rights were bought by CBS Drama, and is repeated regularly – as of September 2012, the channel is re-running the series again in a late-night time slot.

Release Date: 1999-06-01

Department: Writing

Job: Writer

Episode Count: 1

Vote Count: 35

Riot Women

Five women along with two riotous backing singers come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band in order to enter a local talent contest, but in writing their first original song, soon discover that they have a lot to say - and this is their way to say it.

Department: Production

Job: Executive Producer

Episode Count: 1