This article is about the British writer and director. For other people named John Morton, see John Morton (disambiguation).
John Morton is a British writer and director for television and radio, perhaps best known as the creator of People Like Us, which starred Chris Langham as the hapless documentary maker Roy Mallard. He is also the creator and writer of several other comedies for the BBC including The Sunday Format, Broken News, W1A and Twenty Twelve.
Morton gave up a career as an English teacher to become a writer in 1990. His first success came when BBC Radio accepted his pilot comedy script for People Like Us. It ran for three series on BBC Radio 4 from 1995 and won Sony Radio Award and a Writer's Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy before being adapted for BBC Two (with Langham in the same role) in 1999.
Morton went on to create and write the Sony Radio Award-winning satirical newspaper supplement show The Sunday Format[1] for BBC Radio 4 and co-created the BBC One sitcom Kiss Me Kate with Chris Langham. For the launch night of BBC Four in 2001 John wrote the one-off special The Gist, a spoof arts review show presented by Robert Webb.
In 2005 Morton teamed up with writer Tony Roche on Broken News, a six-part comedy series about a 24-hour rolling news station which broadcast on BBC Two.
In August 2010, the BBC announced a new six-part series Twenty Twelve, written and directed by Morton. This series is centered on the organisers of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, similar to ABC Australia's The Games. John Clarke and Ross Stevenson, creators of The Games, claimed to have had many phone conferences, meetings and over four years of email exchanges with Morton, and yet the series was made without their participation or permission.[2] Following a 'thorough legal assessment', the BBC rejected their claims stating that; 'while the premise of the two shows was similar – focusing on the buildup to the staging of the Olympic games – the content and the style of the two shows was very different'.[3] The series commenced on 14 March 2011 on BBC Four.[4] A second series was broadcast on BBC2 in the run up to the 2012 London Olympic Games.[5]
In 2022, Morton helmed a remake of the French comedy series Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent), titled Ten Percent. It streamed on Amazon Prime.[6] Morton felt there were two directions the adaptation could have gone: by portraying the agent-client relationships either cynically or affectionately. Morton decided he wanted to take the latter route, which also aligned best with the tone of the original series.[7]
Personal lifeedit
Morton is married to the actress Helen Atkinson-Wood who, on first hearing People Like Us on the radio, rang the BBC in praise of the programme and was given Morton's phone number. She called him to tell him how much she liked it and Morton is said to have replied "Thanks a lot. Fancy getting married?"[8]
Referencesedit
^"Radio 4 – Comedy – The Sunday Format". BBC. 27 January 2006. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
^John Clarke and Ross Stevenson. "How television works: a heart-warming story for all the family – The Drum Opinion (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
^John Plunkett (16 March 2011). "BBC denies Olympics comedy stole from Australian TV show | Media | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
^Vicky Frost (11 March 2011). "Sebastian Coe proves he's game for a laugh in BBC Olympics spoof | Television & radio". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
^Neilan, Catherine (15 April 2011). "Twenty Twelve to return for second series | News | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
^Thompson, Jessie (25 April 2022). "Ten Percent review: British Call My Agent! is comme-ci, comme-ça". Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
^Gilbert, Sophie (30 April 2022). "Sympathy for the Movie Star". The Atlantic. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^Culture (30 June 2001). "The man who wouldn't give up". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
john, morton, writer, this, article, about, british, writer, director, other, people, named, john, morton, john, morton, disambiguation, john, morton, british, writer, director, television, radio, perhaps, best, known, creator, people, like, which, starred, ch. This article is about the British writer and director For other people named John Morton see John Morton disambiguation John Morton is a British writer and director for television and radio perhaps best known as the creator of People Like Us which starred Chris Langham as the hapless documentary maker Roy Mallard He is also the creator and writer of several other comedies for the BBC including The Sunday Format Broken News W1A and Twenty Twelve Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life 3 References 4 External linksCareer editMorton gave up a career as an English teacher to become a writer in 1990 His first success came when BBC Radio accepted his pilot comedy script for People Like Us It ran for three series on BBC Radio 4 from 1995 and won Sony Radio Award and a Writer s Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy before being adapted for BBC Two with Langham in the same role in 1999 Morton went on to create and write the Sony Radio Award winning satirical newspaper supplement show The Sunday Format 1 for BBC Radio 4 and co created the BBC One sitcom Kiss Me Kate with Chris Langham For the launch night of BBC Four in 2001 John wrote the one off special The Gist a spoof arts review show presented by Robert Webb In 2005 Morton teamed up with writer Tony Roche on Broken News a six part comedy series about a 24 hour rolling news station which broadcast on BBC Two In August 2010 the BBC announced a new six part series Twenty Twelve written and directed by Morton This series is centered on the organisers of the 2012 Olympic Games in London similar to ABC Australia s The Games John Clarke and Ross Stevenson creators of The Games claimed to have had many phone conferences meetings and over four years of email exchanges with Morton and yet the series was made without their participation or permission 2 Following a thorough legal assessment the BBC rejected their claims stating that while the premise of the two shows was similar focusing on the buildup to the staging of the Olympic games the content and the style of the two shows was very different 3 The series commenced on 14 March 2011 on BBC Four 4 A second series was broadcast on BBC2 in the run up to the 2012 London Olympic Games 5 In 2022 Morton helmed a remake of the French comedy series Call My Agent Dix pour cent titled Ten Percent It streamed on Amazon Prime 6 Morton felt there were two directions the adaptation could have gone by portraying the agent client relationships either cynically or affectionately Morton decided he wanted to take the latter route which also aligned best with the tone of the original series 7 Personal life editMorton is married to the actress Helen Atkinson Wood who on first hearing People Like Us on the radio rang the BBC in praise of the programme and was given Morton s phone number She called him to tell him how much she liked it and Morton is said to have replied Thanks a lot Fancy getting married 8 References edit Radio 4 Comedy The Sunday Format BBC 27 January 2006 Retrieved 28 February 2013 John Clarke and Ross Stevenson How television works a heart warming story for all the family The Drum Opinion Australian Broadcasting Corporation Abc net au Retrieved 28 February 2013 John Plunkett 16 March 2011 BBC denies Olympics comedy stole from Australian TV show Media guardian co uk London Guardian Retrieved 28 February 2013 Vicky Frost 11 March 2011 Sebastian Coe proves he s game for a laugh in BBC Olympics spoof Television amp radio The Guardian London Retrieved 28 February 2013 Neilan Catherine 15 April 2011 Twenty Twelve to return for second series News Broadcast Broadcastnow co uk Retrieved 28 February 2013 Thompson Jessie 25 April 2022 Ten Percent review British Call My Agent is comme ci comme ca Evening Standard Retrieved 4 May 2022 Gilbert Sophie 30 April 2022 Sympathy for the Movie Star The Atlantic Retrieved 3 May 2022 Culture 30 June 2001 The man who wouldn t give up London Telegraph Retrieved 28 February 2013 External links editJohn Morton at IMDb John Morton s credit list at Curtis Brown literary agents Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Morton writer amp oldid 1159555638, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
