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William Ivory

William Ivory

Senior Lecturer

School of Arts & Humanities

Staff Group(s)
English English, Linguistics and Philosophy Arts and Humanities

Role

William Ivory is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, specialising in screenwriting, and joined NTU in 2022. He teaches dissertation students on both the BA Creative Writing and MA Creative Writing, and on the MA Creative Writing modules ‘Writing for Stage, Radio and Screen’ and ‘Writing: Research Methods, Theory and Practice’.

Career overview

William has an internationally-recognised, and ongoing, career as a major writer for the film, television and theatre industries. His first TV piece won the European Television Festival Award for Best Screenplay in 1991 and the New York Television Festival award for Best Screenplay.

He has since been BAFTA-nominated several times for his work in both film and TV (specifically for Common as Muck, The Sins, Made in Dagenham), and has won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama Series (The Sins) which also won the Edgar Allan Poe Award.  He was also presented with the Best Screenplay Award at The Dinard Film Festival (Made in Dagenham). This feature also won the Variety Clubs of Great Britain Best British Movie in 2010. His film Burton and Taylor, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West, was Golden Globe nominated in 2013.

In 2018 he wrote ITV’s Christmas Day movie, Torvill and Dean. In May 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, he contributed to ITV’s Isolation Stories, an attempt to reflect the crisis. Since 2010, William has been an executive producer on all of his television commissions and has sat on numerous jury panels for both BAFTA and the RTS.

He continues to work at the forefront of the industry: he is currently under commission to BBC2 and ITV1, and has two feature films in development with Pathé. One of these, The Great Escaper (starring Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson), is due for release in 2023.

William is also a playwright, and has written several stage plays that have been performed nationally. He is currently writing a play for Nottingham Playhouse. He has also worked as an actor, for example playing Eddie Ramsden on Coronation Street, and has written for many television shows, including Minder and East-Enders.

Research areas

William is a leading internationally-known writer for film and television. He would be happy to speak with potential Creative Writing MPhil/PhD students who wish to pursue postgraduate study involving screenwriting or writing for theatre.

External activity

William has sat on numerous jury panels for BAFTA and the Royal Theatre Society. He has also worked with numerous television and film production companies, including Pathe, the BBC, and ITV, and many theatres. He frequently gives guest talks, workshops and lectures, at universities and other institutions, and appears in local and national media.

Course(s) I teach on