Neil Cross

Neil Cross is a British novelist and screenwriter best known as the creator of the multi-award winning international hit BBC crime series Luther, starring Idris Elba, and the international hit horror movie Mama.

Neil was born in Bristol in 1969. He lived in Edinburgh, Brighton, Leeds and London before settling down. He is the author of several novels including Always the Sun, Burial and Captured, and his bestselling memoir Heartland was shortlisted for the PEN/Ackerley Prize in 2006. He was lead scriptwriter for the acclaimed series 6 and series 7 of the BBC spy drama series Spooks. He is the creator and sole writer of Luther, for which he has twice been nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing and which screens in more than 160 territories worldwide.

He continues to write for the screen in Britain and the United States. Recent projects include a third series of Luther, two episodes of Doctor Who,  Crossbones, an action adventure-series for NBC starring John Malkovich, and a number of yet-to-be announced feature projects. Neil was included in Variety magazine’s prestigious list of “10 Screenwriters to Watch” for 2011.

While working in England and Los Angeles, he continues to live Wellington, New Zealand with his wife and two sons.