Simon Nye
{{Short description|British screenwriter (born 1958)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Simon Nye
| image =
| caption =
| birthname =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1958|07|29}}
| birth_place = Burgess Hill, Sussex, England
| othername =
| occupation = Writer, comedy
| yearsactive = 1989–present
| spouse =
| domesticpartner = Claudia Stumpfl
| website =
}}
Simon Nye (born 29 July 1958) is an English screenwriter, best known for television comedy.https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/08_august/20/cb_nye.shtml BBC Press Office biography He wrote the hit sitcom Men Behaving Badly, and all of the four ITV Pantos. He co-wrote the 2006 film Flushed Away, created an adaptation of Richmal Crompton's Just William books in 2010, and wrote the drama series The Durrells.{{cite news|title=Early life of Gerald Durrell comes to TV screens soon|url=http://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2016/03/24/early-life-of-gerald-durrell-comes-to-tv-screens-soon/|access-date=1 April 2016|work=Jersey Evening Post|date=24 March 2016}}
Early life
Nye was born in Burgess Hill, Sussex. Nye was educated at Collyer's School and Bedford College, University of London, where he studied French and German.
He started his writing career as a translator, publishing translations of books on Richard Wagner, Henri Matisse and Georges Braque, before turning his hand to novel writing in 1989, with Men Behaving Badly. This was followed in 1991 by Wideboy, which he later adapted into the TV show Frank Stubbs Promotes.
Career
=''Men Behaving Badly''=
Nye's TV writing career began in 1990 when he was persuaded by producer Beryl Vertue to adapt his first novel for the small screen. The first two series of Men Behaving Badly were broadcast on ITV in 1992.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/menbehavingbadly/|title=BBC — Comedy — Men Behaving Badly|publisher=BBC|date=28 October 2014|access-date=11 July 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29598727 |title=Men Behaving Badly return for charity sketch|author= |date=13 October 2014 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 October 2014}} The show soon went on to achieve critical and commercial success, winning the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Situation Comedy in 1995, and the Royal Television Society Award for Best Situation Comedy/Comedy Drama in 1996. The show became the most-repeated comedy show in the 1990s.
Nye also appeared in the show, briefly playing a prospective tenant in the episode "Gary and Tony". He also played one of Gary's friends, Clive, in the episode where Gary and Dorothy plan to get married.
=Other work=
Though best known for sitcoms – such as Is It Legal? (starring Imelda Staunton), How Do You Want Me? (starring Charlotte Coleman and Dylan Moran), Hardware (starring Martin Freeman) and Carrie and Barry (a semi-sequel to Men Behaving Badly starring Neil Morrissey as a matured Tony in all but name) – he has also written comedy dramas such as Frank Stubbs Promotes (1993–1994), as well as literary adaptations such as The Railway Children (2000). In addition, he has written a number of comic adaptations of pantomimes including Jack and the Beanstalk (25 December 1998), Cinderella (2 January 2000), Aladdin (25 December 2000), and Dick Whittington (1 January 2002). He also wrote the short-lived 2001 sitcom The Savages, and contributed an episode to the 2010 series of Doctor Who, titled "Amy's Choice."{{cite web|first=Dan|last=French|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/news/a205407/doctor-who-to-feature-pregnancy-plot.html|title=Doctor Who to feature pregnancy plot?|publisher=Digital Spy|date=26 February 2010|access-date=27 July 2011}}{{cite web|first=Mayer|last=Nissim|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/s7/doctor-who/tubetalk/a218936/qa-simon-nye-talks-amys-choice.html|title=Q&A: Simon Nye talks 'Amy's Choice'|publisher=Digital Spy|date=10 May 2010|access-date=27 July 2011}}
Nye also continues to write translations, focusing in recent years on dramatic works. His translation of Molière's Don Juan was first performed at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 2001, and his translation of Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London in 2003. He also wrote a pilot episode Felix and Murdo, which starred Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller.
He wrote the screenplay for the 2005 BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) of My Family And Other Animals based on Gerald Durrell's Corfu Trilogy. In 2016, Nye wrote ITV's The Durrells,{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/global/itv-simon-nye-the-durrells-1201755483/|title=U.K.'s ITV Recommissions Simon Nye's Hit Drama 'The Durrells'|date=18 April 2016}} another adaptation of the trilogy, starring Keeley Hawes as Louisa Durrell.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/04/03/keeley-hawes-is-a-ray-of-sunshine-in-the-durrells---review/|title = Keeley Hawes is a ray of sunshine in the Durrells - review|newspaper = The Telegraph|date = 3 April 2016|last1 = O'Donovan|first1 = Gerard}}
Nye wrote a play, The Crown Jewels, about the theft of the Crown Jewels by Thomas Blood, which was performed at the Garrick Theatre in London in 2023. The part of Blood was played by Aidan McArdle, and the cast included Al Murray as King Charles II, Neil Morrissey and Mel Giedroyc.
Filmography
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Distributor |
|---|
| 1992–1998 |
| 1993–1994
| ITV |
| 1995–1998
| ITV/Channel 4 |
| 1996–1999
| ITV |
| 1998–1999
| BBC Two |
| 1998-1999
|BBC One |
| 2000
| ITV |
| 2000–2001
| Beast | BBC One |
| 2001
| BBC One |
| 2002–2004
| BBC One |
| 2003–2004
| Hardware | ITV |
| 2004–2005
| BBC One |
| 2005
| BBC One |
| 2009–2010
| Reggie Perrin (with David Nobbs) | BBC One |
| 2010
| Doctor Who – "Amy's Choice" | BBC One |
| 2010
| CBBC |
| 2014
| Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This | ITV |
| 2016–2019
| ITV |
| 2018
| The Sex Pistols Vs. Bill Grundy | Sky Arts |
| 2021
| ITV |
| 2021–2022
| ITV |
Bibliography
=Novels=
- Wideboy (1991) {{ISBN|0-670-83254-5}}
- Men Behaving Badly (1989) {{ISBN|0-06-016069-1}}
=Translations=
- Accidental Death of an Anarchist (2003) {{ISBN|0-413-77342-6}}
- Matisse: The Graphic Work (1988) {{ISBN|0-8478-0932-3}}
- Georges Braque: Life and Work (1988) {{ISBN|0-8478-0986-2}}
- Vienna Opera (1987) {{ISBN|0-8478-0811-4}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0638586|name=Simon Nye}}
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/talent/n/nye_simon.shtml Simon Nye entry on the BBC Comedy Guide]
- [http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~master02/htm/interview_1_simon_nye.htm Interview with Simon Nye]
- [https://www.theguardian.com/print/0,3858,4267408-103675,00.html Nobleman Behaving Badly] (Guardian profile)
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nye, Simon}}
Category:20th-century English male writers
Category:20th-century English novelists
Category:20th-century English screenwriters
Category:20th-century English translators
Category:21st-century English male writers
Category:21st-century English novelists
Category:21st-century English screenwriters
Category:21st-century English translators
Category:Alumni of Bedford College, London
Category:English comedy writers
Category:English male dramatists and playwrights
Category:English male novelists
Category:English male television writers
Category:English science fiction writers
Category:People educated at The College of Richard Collyer