[1] Pharoah began his television writing career on the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1991, on which he worked for four years and where he met co-writer Matthew Graham.
Among other work in the early 2000s he scripted an adaptation of Tom Brown's Schooldays, starring Stephen Fry, for the ITV1 network in 2005.
Other work around this time included creating the series Wild at Heart (2006 – 2012) for Company Pictures and adapting Under the Greenwood Tree for Ecosse Films.
[3] He has won two International Emmys for "Life on Mars", a series which was remade for ABC in America, starring Harvey Keitel.
Other work around this time include "Eternal Law" for ITV and an adaptation of Moonfleet for Sky, starring Ray Winstone.