Neil Claude Cross (né Gadd; born 9 February 1969) is a British novelist and scriptwriter, best known as the creator of the drama series Luther and Hard Sun.

[1] His mother ran away when he was five, returned two years later and took him to Edinburgh with Derek Cross, a White South African who was to become his stepfather and whose surname he would adopt.

[3] His initial career was solely as a novelist, beginning with Mr In-Between, which was published in 1998 (and adapted into a film in 2001).

[citation needed] He later worked into television, writing an episode of the spy drama Spooks in 2006 before becoming lead writer on the sixth and seventh series of the show.

[citation needed] He has created three television series: BBC crime thrillers Luther and Hard Sun (for which he wrote all the episodes); and Crossbones, an action adventure pirate series for NBC (co-created with James V. Hart and Amanda Welles).