Introduction
Robert Thorogood is an English screenwriter. He is best known as the creator of the BBC 1 Murder Mystery Series, Death in Paradise.
Early life
Robert was educated at Uppingham School in Rutland and read History at Downing College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, he toured with the university's student comedy troupe Footlights in 1993 and was elected President in 1994. Soon after leaving Cambridge, Robert set up a theatre company that toured small theatres and schools, the highlight of which was a production of Molière's The Miser that he directed and acted in alongside Robert Webb, David Mitchell and Olivia Colman.
Writing career
Robert wrote for many years - selling scripts to the BBC, ITV and independent film companies - but before 2011 the only script of his that was actually broadcast was a Radio 4 afternoon play called From Abstraction about the life of Paul Wolfskehl.
In 2008, Robert entered the inaugural Red Planet Prize and was a chosen finalist, where he was able to pitch his 'Copper in the Caribbean' idea to Tony Jordan. By 2011, when the show was finally broadcast - making it Robert's first TV broadcast credit at the age of 39 - Robert had become something of a poster boy for 'never giving up on the dream'.
Death in Paradise
The TV Series
Robert screenwrote five episodes of the first series of Death in Paradise. The first episode aired in November 2011 to an overnight audience of nearly 6 million. The first episode of the second series aired in 2013 to an overnight audience of nearly 7 million. Robert also screenwrote two episodes on the second series, three of the third series, and one of the fourth series. The first episode of the third series aired in 2014 had its highest ever overnight ratings ever of over 7 million.
The Novels
In January 2014, it was announced that Robert had signed a deal with MIRA / Harlequin to write three Richard Poole Murder Mystery novels. The first - A Meditation on Murder - was published in hardback in January 2015 and in paperback in May 2015.
The second - The Killing of Polly Carter - was published in hardback in December 2015.
Speaking and Awards
Robert was a Guest Speaker at the 2012 London Screenwriters Festival. He also won France Film's "En Route to France" award in 2012. Since then, he has also spoken about creating international co-productions for European TV Drama Series Lab in Berlin and also at the Totally Serialised TV Festival in London in 2014.