Michael Chaplin (writer)

Michael Chaplin
Writer Michael Chaplin outside Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne for his play Tyne
Born	1951 County Durham
Occupation	Writer
Education	Heaton Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne
Alma mater	Magdalene College, University of Cambridge
Relatives	Sid Chaplin (father)

Michael Chaplin (born in 1951 in County Durham) is an English theatre, radio, television and non-fiction writer and former television producer and executive.

After graduating from Cambridge University in 1973 with a degree in history he trained as a reporter on The Journal newspaper in Newcastle upon Tyne and then became the paper's Health Correspondent.

He later moved to London, becoming successively a researcher, producer and executive producer in London Weekend Television's current affairs and documentaries department. Among his many credits there was editor of the cult arts/lifestyle show South of Watford which helped to establish the TV careers of its successive presenters, Ben Elton and Hugh Laurie. He then produced the ITV drama series as Wish Me Luck about female secret agents in France during World War II which aired on ITV between 1988-1990.

In 1989 he became Head of Drama and Arts at Tyne Tees Television and was Executive Producer of the early Catherine Cookson adaptations, which ran on ITV with great success for a further decade or more.

In 1991 Chaplin moved to BBC Wales as Head of Programmes where he was responsible for transforming the BBC's output in English on both television and radio. By this time Chaplin had begun to write for Live Theatre the acclaimed new writing company in Newcastle upon Tyne, collaborating first with Alan Plater on 'In Blackberry Time' (1988-9), a play about the life and work of his late father, Sid Chaplin.

His first credit on television was the ITV mini-series 'Act of Betrayal' about an IRA super-grass on the run in Australia, co-written with his friend and former LWT colleague Nicholas Evans (author of The Horse Whisperer and other novels).

His first radio writing credit was Hair In The Gate (1990) for BBC Radio 4, based on a play of the same name staged at Live Theatre the year before.