Tom Bidwell

Bidwell was born and raised in Leyland, Lancashire and attended Balshaw's Church of England High School. He was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1999, at the age of 14, and wrote poetry while awaiting a bone marrow transplant.https://balshaws.org.uk/about-the-school/the-pride-of-balshaws/tom-dalton-bidwellLeyland, Lancashire He developed cancer in his shoulder at the age of 15, which was successfully treated. He completed his GCSEs and later obtained a degree in English and Drama at university.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/feb/24/oscar-nomination-tom-bidwell-short-film|title=Tom Bidwell survived cancer at 15. Can he now win an Oscar?|newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 February 2011 |last1=Hattenstone |first1=Simon }}

After writing plays, Bidwell got his break through a BBC Radio 4 play, later adapted into a 2009 short film, Wish 143. The story focuses on a terminally ill teenager who wishes to lose his virginity. It would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award in 2011 for Best Live Action Short Film. He was awarded a place on the BBC Writer's Academy, a programme designed to train new writers for their long running television series. He went on to write for all four of the BBC's popular continuing dramas: Doctors, EastEnders, Casualty and its spinoff, Holby City.

Bidwell went on to work on the E4 teen comedy-drama My Mad Fat Diary. The series was nominated for multiple BAFTA awards.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24271856 | work=BBC News | title=Bafta unveils list of 'Breakthrough Brits' | date=25 September 2013}} Bidwell was approached by MTV to work on an American remake of the series, which was not made.{{cite news|url=http://www.chorley-guardian.co.uk/news/local/tom-s-mad-fat-success-story-heads-to-the-states-1-6577551|work=Chorley Guardian|title=Tom's Mad Fat success story heads to the States|date=24 April 2014}} In July 2014, it was announced that BBC would be airing a new animated serial of Watership Down, helmed by Bidwell.{{Cite news |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/news/a583284/watership-down-to-return-as-new-bbc-animated-series.html |title=Watership Down to be adapted on TV |date=10 July 2014 |work=Digital Spy |access-date=29 November 2018 |language=en}} The series was a co-production between BBC and Netflix, with a budget of £20 million.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/apr/28/bbc-and-netflix-team-up-for-new-watership-down-production |title=BBC and Netflix team up for new Watership Down production |last=Plunkett |first=John |newspaper=The Guardian |date=27 April 2016 |via=www.theguardian.com}} The drama won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program.{{cite web|url=https://www.goldderby.com/article/2019/daytime-emmy-winners-creative-arts-full-list-news/|title=Daytime Emmy winners 2019: Full list of Creative Arts winners on Friday night|website=GoldDerby|access-date=May 5, 2019|date=May 3, 2019}}

On 20 December 2018, it was announced that Netflix was planning a new adventure series with Bidwell, The Irregulars, based on the Baker Street Irregulars from the Sherlock Holmes novels. Bidwell described the program as "my dream project and my oldest idea"{{cite web|last=Carr|first=Flora|title=Netflix is planning a new Sherlock Holmes series called The Irregulars|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2018-12-20/netflix-the-irregulars-sherlock-holmes/|publisher=Radio Times|date=December 20, 2018|access-date=December 20, 2019}} and it takes a different view of Holmes and his relationship to the Irregulars, which has the band of street kids solve cases. The eight-episode The Irregulars premiered on 26 March 2021.{{cite magazine|last=Bucksbaum|first=Sydney|title=Sherlock Holmes gets a supernatural twist in first look at Netflix's The Irregulars|url=https://ew.com/tv/the-irregulars-exclusive-first-look/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=February 22, 2021|access-date=February 22, 2021}}

He has worked on two adaptations of Jaqueline Wilson novels- Katy and The Primrose Railway Children. https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/joinin/primrose-railway-children-everything-you-need-to-know For the former he won the BAFTA for best writer at the Children's BAFTAs in 2018.

Bidwell scripted an animated adaptation of The Velveteen Rabbit,{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/the-velveteen-rabbit-adaptation-gruffalo-producers-watership-down-series-writer-1203088813/|title = New TV Adaptation of Kids' Classic 'The Velveteen Rabbit' in the Works (EXCLUSIVE)|date = 13 December 2018}} which would stream on 22 November 2023 on Apple TV+. It features Phoenix Laroche and the voices of Alex Lawther, Helena Bonham Carter, Nicola Coughlan.{{Cite web |last=Amatangelo |first=Amy |date=2023-11-16 |title=Apple TV+'s The Velveteen Rabbit aims to retain the 'emotional heart' of a beloved tale |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2023-11-16/velveteen-rabbit-apple-tv |access-date=2023-11-17 |website=Los Angeles Times}} The show went on to win two Emmys at the Children and Family Emmy Awards held in Los Angeles in 2025.

Bidwell still lives in Towngate area of Leyland with his American wife Lorraine Metz. In 2018 he volunteered to help pupils at Frenchwood Community Primary School in Preston with their story-making skills, in a visit organised through teacher Jane Bidwell, his sister-in-law.https://www.lep.co.uk/arts-and-culture/toms-a-class-act-for-pupils-294409

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Category:Living people

Category:1984 births

Category:People from Leyland, Lancashire

Category:21st-century British screenwriters

Category:21st-century British male writers

Category:British dramatists and playwrights

Category:British male television writers

Category:British male screenwriters

Category:British soap opera writers

Category:Writers of Sherlock Holmes pastiches