Matthew Hall (born 1 May 1967) is a British screenwriter and novelist. He is sometimes credited as M. R. Hall.

Education

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Hall was educated at Hereford Cathedral School and Worcester College, Oxford (1985–88) where he graduated in law. He was called to the Bar in 1990 and practised as a barrister at 5, King's Bench Walk before becoming a full-time writer in 1995.

Screenwriting career

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He began his television career writing episodes of Kavanagh QC. In 1996/7 he created and wrote the legal series Wing and a Prayer which ran for two seasons and was the first drama production aired by the newly formed Channel 5. The series was nominated for a BAFTA in the best TV series category in 1997.

Hall's other screen credits include episodes of BBC1's Dalziel and Pascoe, The Scarlet Pimpernel, After Hours, Life Support and Holby City. ITV credits include episodes of A&E, Foyle's War, Blue Murder and the 2003 television film Loving You.[1] He was the co-creator and lead writer of the BBC1 series New Street Law which aired in 2006/7.

Keeping Faith

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Hall created and wrote the TV series Keeping Faith. The first season was produced in 2017 by Vox Pictures for BBC Wales and S4C. It was made in both the English and Welsh languages. The Welsh language version is entitled, Un Bore Mercher (One Wednesday Morning), and was first broadcast on S4C on 5 November 2017.[2][3] In May 2018, during an interview with BBC Breakfast, Eve Myles (who stars as the eponymous "Faith") said that Hall was writing the scripts for a second season.[4] Subsequently Keeping Faith was shown on BBC1, beginning on 10 July 2018.[citation needed] Matthew Hall received a Welsh BAFTA for the series, as best writer, in 2018.[5] The second season was commissioned later that year and first aired in Welsh (with English sub-titles) on S4C on 12 May 2019[6] and in English on BBC One in July–August 2019.[7] Hall has hinted that a third season is not beyond the bounds of possibility,[8] and according to an announcement in January 2020 a third season is due to air in October 2020.[9]

Coroner

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CBC, together with Morwyn Brebner, made a first, eight-part, series, Coroner, based on Hall's The Coroner series of books (the Jenny Cooper novels), and starring Serinda Swan as the titular character, which was aired in winter 2019, after production had begun in summer 2018.[10] The series premiered on CBC in January 2019,[11] and attracted 1 million viewers per episode throughout the first season.[12] The series was subsequently renewed for a second season,[13] and it was announced in May 2020 that a third season is to follow.[14]

CBC announced the renewal of the series for a fourth season in June 2021.[15][16] Production began on the 12-episode fourth season the next month,[17] and the fourth season premiered in January 2022.[18]

Novels

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Hall's first novel, The Coroner, was published by PanMacmillan in 2009. His second novel, The Disappeared, was published in January 2010 in the UK and in December 2009 in the US. The Coroner was shortlisted for the Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger awarded to the best crime novel of 2009.[19] His third novel, The Redeemed, is published by PanMacmillan in April 2011. His fourth novel, The Flight, was shortlisted for the Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger in 2012.[20]

Jenny Cooper novels

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  1. The Coroner (2009)[21]
  2. The Disappeared (2009)[21]
  3. The Redeemed (2011)[21]
  4. The Flight (2012)[21]
  5. The Chosen Dead (2013)[21]
  6. The Burning (2014)[21]
  7. A Life To Kill (2017)[21]
  8. The Innocent (2012) (Short story)[22]

Leo Black Novels

The Black Art of Killing[23] (April 2020)[24]

Masterclasses

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Matthew Hall has tutored on writing crime fiction as a 'Guardian Masterclasses' event together with William Ryan (whose Captain Korolev Novels have been shortlisted for numerous awards).[25]

Family

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Hall is the son of Ian Hall, formerly a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Rebecca Hughes-Hall.[26] He is married to Patricia Carswell, a freelance journalist.[27] They have two sons.[27] He lives in the village of Welsh Newton Common and is church warden of St Mary the Virgin, Welsh Newton.[28]

Awards

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BAFTA Cymru - Keeping Faith, Best Writer 2018 (winner)[5]

Crime Writers' Association - Gold Dagger 2012 (nomination for The Flight)[20]

Crime Writers' Association - Gold Dagger 2009 (nomination for The Coroner)[19]

RTS Midlands - Dalziel and Pascoe (Walls of Silence), Best Drama 2001 (winner, as writer)[29]

BAFTA - Wing and a Prayer, Best Drama Series 1997 (nomination, as writer/creator)[30]

References

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  1. ^ "Loving You (2003) TV Movie 24 February 2003". imdb.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Keeping Faith (BBC Wales-S4C 2017, Eve Myles, Matthew Gravelle)". Memorable TV. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  3. ^ "S4C Press release: Three drama series to fire the imagination... Bang; Un Bore Mercher; Craith". s4c.wales. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Eve Myles - BBC Breakfast - Talking Keeping Faith 2nd May 2018". youtube.com. Retrieved 2 May 2018. '8.5 million downloads'... 'Matthew Hall writing the scripts for 2nd series' BBC Breakfast extract
  5. ^ a b "Keeping Faith wins big at Bafta Cymru awards in Cardiff". BBC News. 14 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Keeping Faith: BBC Wales drama back for second series". BBC News. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Radio Times: When is Keeping Faith series 2 on TV?". www.radiotimes.com. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Keeping Faith: What is the status of season 3? Creator Matthew Hall is hopeful! (See 'Is season 3 on its way?')". www.hitc.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Keeping Faith to return for a third and final series". www.radiotimes.com. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  10. ^ "About the Show: CORONER". cbc.ca/mediacentre. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Serinda Swan becomes Jenny Cooper". northernstars.ca. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) February 25, 2019 - March 3, 2019" (PDF). Numeris. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  13. ^ "CBC announces first round of renewals for the 2019-20 season". www.tv-eh.com. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  14. ^ "CBC Greenlights Season 3 of Coroner". thetvjunkies.com. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  15. ^ CoronerCBC [@CoronerCBC] (2 June 2021). "Are you sitting down? No? Well, we've got some news. We are back next winter for Season 4 - and here's the cherry on top, we've got 12 episodes coming your way! A huge thanks to our fans for making this possible!" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Ahearn, Victoria (2 June 2021). "CBC's upcoming lineup includes Indigenous investigative drama 'The Red'". Toronto Star. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  17. ^ David, Greg (27 July 2021). "CBC's hit original drama Coroner begins production on Season 4". TV, eh?. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Coroner (2019– ) Episode List, season 4". www.imdb.com. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  19. ^ a b "The CWA Gold Dagger 2009 'other shortlisted books...MR Hall: The Coroner (Pan Macmillan)' (Archived copy)". Archived from the original on 15 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  20. ^ a b "...the CWA Gold Dagger 2012... other books on the shortlist... The Flight, M.R. Hall, Mantle {Archived copy)". Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g "M R Hall (Matthew Hall)". fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  22. ^ "The Innocent : A Coroner Jenny Cooper Crime Short EPUB by Matthew Hall". telegraph.co.uk (bookshop). Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  23. ^ "Interview with Matthew Hall by DJ Forrest". projecttorchwood.blogspot.co.uk. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  24. ^ The Black Art of Killing by Matthew Hall. Penguin UK - Michael Joseph. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via www.netgalley.co.uk.
  25. ^ "Guardian Masterclasses: The essentials of writing crime fiction". theguardian.com. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2018. M.R. Hall is a Bafta-nominated screenwriter, producer and former criminal barrister... The Chosen Dead features... the trademark combination of intricate detail, perfect plotting, televisual narrative and flawed but believable characters.
  26. ^ "Ian Rex Hall Married Rebecca Hughes-Hall". famechain.com. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  27. ^ a b "Matthew Hall". panmacmillan.com. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  28. ^ "Members of Welsh Newton Llanrothal Group Parish Council, including 'Cllr. Mr. Matthew Hall'". wnlgpc.org.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  29. ^ "Midland Centre: Best Drama October 2002 Dalziel and Pascoe episodes Series 6 (2001) Walls of Silence" (PDF). rts.org.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  30. ^ "Wing and a Prayer (TV Series)- Nominated for 'Best TV Series - Drama' 1998". filmaffinity.com. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
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