[6] He dropped out of his English degree at the University of London after three weeks, going on to work as a binman for nearly three years, writing in his spare time.
[1] After he broke his arm, he wanted a less arduous job and so applied to be a stagehand at the Nottingham Playhouse,[1] eventually acting there.
[2] He wrote the screenplay for Made in Dagenham (2010),[2] and for the 2023 film starring Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson, The Great Escaper.
He won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best TV Feature or Miniseries for The Sins in 2002.
[9] He is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University, a post he has held since 2022.