Steven William Moffat is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series Doctor Who and the contemporary crime drama television series Sherlock, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. In the 2015 Birthday Honours, Moffat was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama.
Born in Paisley, Scotland, Moffat, the son of a teacher, was formerly a teacher himself. His first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage. Later in the 1990s, he wrote Chalk, inspired by his own experience as an English teacher. Moffat, a lifelong fan of Doctor Who, wrote the comedic sketch episode The Curse of Fatal Death for the Comic Relief charity telethon, which aired in early 1999. His early-2000s sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his relationship with television producer Sue Vertue.
In March 2004, Moffat was announced as one of the writers for the revived Doctor Who TV series. He wrote six episodes under executive producer Russell T Davies, which aired from 2005 to 2008. Moffat's scripts during this era won him three Hugo Awards, a BAFTA Craft Award, and a BAFTA Cymru Award. Between episodes, he wrote and produced the modern-day drama series Jekyll, based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In May 2008, it was announced that Moffat would succeed Davies as showrunner, lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who. Around the same time, he dropped his contract with film director Steven Spielberg for a film trilogy based on artist Hergé's character Tintin. Part of the lone script he wrote was used in Spielberg's film The Adventures of Tintin, eventually released in 2011.
Production on Sherlock's unaired pilot episode began in January 2009, while series 5 of Doctor Who—Moffat's first series as executive producer—began production the following July. Moffat won another Hugo for his writing as a Doctor Who showrunner, while his work as a Sherlock showrunner won him a BAFTA Craft Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In January 2016, Moffat announced he would be stepping down from running Doctor Who after six series. Sherlock's fourth and most recent series aired in January 2017. Moffat's last Doctor Who episode, "Twice Upon a Time", aired at Christmas in 2017. In March 2019, Moffat began production on Dracula, based on Bram Stoker's novel, which was commissioned by BBC One and Netflix and was first broadcast on BBC One in January 2020.
