Biography and screen writing

M R Hall lives and works in the Wye valley in South Wales. Born in London in 1967,
he was educated at Hereford Cathedral School and Worcester College, Oxford,
where he graduated in law.

During a career at the Bar, working mostly in the field of criminal law, he tried to learn the craft of screen writing, eventually getting his first commission in television writing an episode of the ITV hit series, Kavanagh QC starring John Thaw. He went on to write further episodes and shortly afterwards was commissioned to create a series for the new Channel Five, Wing And A Prayer. The first season earned him a BAFTA nomination in the best series category.

For over ten years Matthew has been a screen writer and producer, and has written over forty hours of prime time drama for BBC1 and ITV.

His debut novel, The Coroner, was published by Pan Macmillan in the UK in 2009 and was nominated for the Crime Writer’s Association Gold Dagger in the best novel category.

The second novel in the Jenny Cooper series, The Disappeared, was published in the USA by Simon and Schuster on December 1st 2009 and in the UK by Pan Macmillan in January 2010. The third novel in the same series, The Redeemed, was published in April 2011 in the UK and May 2011 in the USA. The fourth in the series, The Flight was published in the UK on 2 February 2012.

Translation rights to both The Coroner and The Disappeared have been sold across the world.

Matthew spends much of his spare time looking after his sixteen acres of woodland and working for the conservation of the countryside.

M R Hall's screen writing credits

Television

Kavanagh QC (ITV)
Men of Substance; A Sense of Loss; Blood Money; The End of Law

Wing and a Prayer (C5)
A BAFTA nominated original series in 14 episodes

Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC1)
Above the Law; Walls of Silence

Scarlet Pimpernel (BBC1)
Ennui

Loving You (ITV)
A single film for ITV

New Street Law (BBC1)
Co-creator, co-producer and lead writer

Other series for which Matthew has written include Foyle's War (ITV), A&E (ITV), Holby City (BBC1), Life Support (BBC1) and Blue Murder (ITV).

Cinema

Flowers For Mrs Harris
An adaptation of Paul Gallico's novel, currently in pre-production.