Stephen Poliakoff

Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff, May 2008
Born	(1952-12-01) 1 December 1952 (age 64) Holland Park, London, England, UK
Spouse(s)	Sandy Welch (2 children)
Website	http://www.stephenpoliakoff.com/

Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL (born 1 December 1952) is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, best known for his work as a television dramatist.

Poliakoff was born in the Holland Park district in west London to Anglo-Jewish and Russian-Jewish parents, Ina (née Montagu), and Russian born Alexander Poliakoff. The second of four children, he was sent at a young age to boarding school, which he hated. He then proceeded to Westminster School where he attracted sufficient attention for Granny, a play written and directed by him, to be reviewed in The Times newspaper. After Westminster, he went to King's College, Cambridge but never took a degree.

Poliakoff continued to write stage plays, becoming writer-in-residence for the National Theatre at the age of 24, but he became increasingly interested in the medium of television, with Stronger Than the Sun (1977 – BBC1 Play for Today), Bloody Kids (1980 – ATV) directed by Stephen Frears, Caught on a Train (1980 – BBC2 Playhouse) starring Peggy Ashcroft, and Soft Targets (1982 – Play for Today). There were also TV adaptations of his stage plays Hitting Town (1976 – Thames Television/ITV Plays for Britain) and City Sugar (1978 – Scottish Television / ITV The Sunday Drama). These two plays were some of his first big successes.