Sally Wainwright

Sally Wainwright was a British television writer who was best known for creating "At Home with the Braithwaites" (ITV, 2000-03), "The Amazing Mrs Pritchard" (BBC One, 2006), and "Gentleman Jack" (BBC One/HBO, 2019-). Born and raised in Yorkshire, England, Wainwright always knew she wanted to write. She began writing as a very young girl and by the age of 16 became inspired to write spare, naturalistic dialogue in all of her work after watching a play at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Wainwright studied English at the University of York, and continued writing plays throughout college. After graduation she submitted a play she wrote called "Hanging On" to the Edinburgh Festival. Shortly after she signed with an agent. The agent got her a job writing for the radio series "The Archers." This allowed Wainwright to quit her job as a bus driver and write full time. Wainwright wrote for "The Archers" for a few years but soon grew bored with the position. Encouraged by her mentor, fellow writer Kay Mellor, Wainwright decided to write an original television pilot. That show was "At Home with the Braithwaites," which premiered on ITV in January 2000. The series ran for four seasons on the network, airing its final episode in April 2003. After "At Home with the Braithwaites" ended, Wainwright continued creating shows throughout the 2000s, most notably "Scott & Baily" (ITV, 2011-16), "Last Tango in Halifax" (BBC, 2012-16), and "Happy Valley" (BBC, 2014-). Then in 2019 Wainwright created the period series "Gentleman Jack." The series, which was set in her hometown of Yorkshire in 1832, premiered on both HBO and the BBC in the late spring of 2019. The series was renewed by the BBC for a second season in May of 2019.