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Company. Most of the early years of their marriage were spent touring from theatre town to theatre town. In 1976 they had their second child Sally Jane and the family moved into
Tooting, South London, intending to establish themselves in the capital. However this lasted just over a year before they moved to Hazlemere and then to
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which was filmed on the Isle of Wight. There was never any serious thought at this time of becoming a writer, but McHale did both write and direct various productions for the Q20 company. He then went onto become a member of the
Chesterfield Civic Theatre (now The Pomegranate Theatre) where he played
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On leaving Rose
Bruford's in 1972, McHale's first professional acting job was on a TV commercial for Guinness. He then joined the Q20 Theatre Company that was based in his home town of Bradford. Primarily a children's theatre company that toured and performed in schools (he actually performed at his
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In his second year at The Rose
Bruford College McHale reunited with his once girlfriend Janet Logan, also from Bradford. They married quickly and eighteen months later had their first child Mathew Anthony, who was born on the same day that McHale was giving his first performance for the Q20 Theatre
363:
Tony McHale was born
Anthony John Wright in Wibsey a suburb of Bradford in West Yorkshire. His father, Gordon Wright, was a police officer and road safety specialist who was awarded an MBE for his work. His mother, Madeline Wright, was a school teacher. He attended St Paul's Church Primary School,
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McHale has most recently been involved in the development and production of dramas in India, Dubia, New
Zealand and South Africa, whilst still developing ideas for British TV. He has also lectured at many institutions on TV writing, directing and producing. Recently he was script executive on the
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McHale wrote the very first episode and continued to work as lead writer on the show for the first two series. He returned in 2006 as the show's story consultant, then took over as
Executive Producer and Show Runner in 2007. The show went on to win a BAFTA for best continuing drama in 2008. McHale
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In the late 1970s and early 1980s, McHale acted in television commercials for such brands as Argos, Tesco, British
Airways, Fray Bentos, Midland Bank, McVities, Worthington 'E', Tetley's beer, Valspar paints, and Ford cars. In 1982, he was asked to appear in a hidden camera sketch for the very
542:
He also directed a number of productions, wrote some one act plays as well as the company's pantomime one
Christmas – this was the first time he was actually paid for his writing. He returned once more to the Isle of Wight to play in the summer repertory season, playing lead roles in
854:, eventually writing the last episode of the series. In 1994, he was commissioned to write an eight part thriller originally entitled Brighton Boy. During the course of the production, McHale took over as director and the serial was transmitted the following year under the title
791:
he went on to storyline, story consult and also direct the programme as well as being the first writer to write 100 episodes. Other commissions soon followed. He did a number of episodes of
551:
There then followed acting roles at a number of different theatres throughout the UK, including
Harrogate, Birmingham, Coventry, Chester, Windsor, Malvern. In 1976, he was cast in
936:
594:. The 'resting' periods he had as an actor were filled by a variety of jobs from calling bingo to fitting carpets, from loading lorries to selling hamburgers.
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who were in the process of developing a long term drama (i.e. a soap) for the BBC. When McHale was first introduced to the project, mid 1984, it was called
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This was immediately commissioned by the BBC for Radio 4's Afternoon Play and was the start of a number of other radio plays throughout the earlier 1980s –
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was adapted for the theatre in 1988 and enjoyed a short run at Hampstead. For his next theatre venture wasn't until 2007 when he directed his own musical
611:
in 1986. He continued to work on that show until its end in 1996. In the late 1980s, McHale made weekly appearances on the satellite magazine programme
529:
old primary school Buttershaw St Paul's where his mother was still a teacher), the company also did adult plays that they toured round Yorkshire.
926:, he formed his own production company Sanctuary Films. The company was commissioned by Channel 5 to produce McHale's late night hour/thriller
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At the age of fifteen he joined the West Riding Youth Theatre. During his time with the Youth Theatre he played such roles as Danforth in
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In the 70s McHale started writing TV dramas on spec. In 1978 he was commissioned by the BBC to write an original three part thriller –
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winning an award at the Cologne Film Festival. He then went on to write on a number of films for both ITV and the BBC –
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He became a regular writer on the show that was eventually transmitted in February 1985 with the title –
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numerous roles in straight dramas, musicals, Shakespeare, pantomimes and Old Time Musical Halls.
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resigned in 2010, saying, "I only intended to do it for a year." Shortly after the launch of
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Throughout this period McHale was also performing in guest roles in various TV shows –
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from 2007 to 2010. McHale also served as a core writer on numerous other TV dramas.
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It may require cleanup to comply with Knowledge's content policies, particularly
1129:. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced
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839:(for which he periodically both wrote and directed for over twenty years), and
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He worked on a number of hidden camera stunts before the show morphed into
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Owing to something he heard on Capital Radio's late night phone-in show,
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In 1998, McHale, along with the then head of drama series for the BBC,
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from its conception to the mid 1990s. He co-created BBC medical drama
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From 1992 he became one of the original writers on the ill-fated
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Whilst working for Q20 he landed a minor role in the cult film
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A major contributor to this article appears to have a
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930:. McHale wrote and directed all ten episodes.
50:introducing citations to additional sources
197:and producer, who is known for starring in
1084:McHale's first novel, a thriller entitled
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40:Relevant discussion may be found on the
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1293:British soap opera writers
744:. It was never produced.
183:West Riding of Yorkshire
1088:was published in 2019.
549:Bed, Board and Romance.
1125:Please help by adding
1077:. The show ran at the
985:Please help by adding
753:Get It Off Your Chest.
660:Please help by adding
448:Please help by adding
283:Please help by adding
1298:Writers from Bradford
1208:Penn, Buckinghamshire
1120:references or sources
1071:Bloodbath The Musical
980:references or sources
887:Trial And Retribution
785:During his time with
655:references or sources
627:Writing and TV career
443:references or sources
370:Hanson Grammar School
278:references or sources
136:neutral point of view
238:, and served as its
221:Rose Bruford College
219:. He trained at the
46:improve this article
569:The Les Dawson Show
175:Anthony John Wright
1109:This section of a
969:This section of a
952:Theatre and novels
875:Dalziel And Pascoe
804:Perfect Scoundrels
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535:That'll Be The Day
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35:single source
31:This article
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1238:. Retrieved
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842:Dangerfield
765:Julia Smith
392:Oedipus Rex
171:Tony McHale
1272:Categories
1214:References
1153:newspapers
1067:Still Life
1013:newspapers
923:Holby City
908:Holby City
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822:All Change
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613:Sky By Day
476:newspapers
366:Buttershaw
311:newspapers
250:Early life
244:showrunner
235:Holby City
229:EastEnders
225:soap opera
213:and later
72:newspapers
1183:June 2023
1114:does not
1043:June 2023
974:does not
946:Channel 4
903:Mal Young
894:, called
718:June 2023
649:does not
506:June 2023
437:does not
387:Sophocles
341:June 2023
272:does not
140:talk page
42:talk page
1240:27 April
1075:Headless
928:Headless
915:Casualty
892:The Bill
851:Eldorado
836:Casualty
831:Lifeboat
816:Saracens
810:The Bill
801:, ITV's
195:director
179:Bradford
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173:(born
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1174:JSTOR
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709:JSTOR
695:books
497:JSTOR
483:books
332:JSTOR
318:books
187:actor
93:JSTOR
79:books
1263:IMDb
1242:2010
1146:news
1118:any
1006:news
978:any
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798:Boon
767:and
759:and
681:news
653:any
619:and
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