This Cultural Life11 Jun 2022

Jed Mercurio

Writer Jed Mercurio, the creator of hit television series including Line Of Duty and Bodyguard, talks to John Wilson about the cultural influences and experiences that have inspired his own work.

Born into a working class Stafforshire family, Mercurio went to medical school, then trained as an RAF pilot. After responding to an advert for consultants to work on new hospital drama Cardiac Arrest, Mercurio became the script writer for that ground-breaking series, which intended to be a more realistic depiction of the NHS than had been on screen before. He further drew on his medical background for the series Bodies, adapted from his novel of the same name.

Jed chooses the 1980s US police TV series Hill Street Blues as a big influence on his own screenwriting, which is characterised by long-running rather than just episodic narratives, and surprising plot twists. He also reveals how the 2005 killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot by police after being mistakenly identified as a suspect following the London terror attacks, prompted him to develop the idea for a drama about undercover police investigations and corruption.

Producer: Edwina Pitman

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