Mark Gatiss

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Birthday:

17 October 1966, Sedgefield, England, UK

Height:

186 cm

Mark Gatiss is an accomplished author, actor and playwright. Originally from Sedgefield, he graduated from Bretton Hall Drama College with a BA (honors) in Theatre Arts.He was one-quarter of the award-winning comedy team The League of Gentlemen (1999), and became heavily involved in the post-television Doctor Who (1963) scene, having written a variety of novels and audio plays, together with a string of short supernatural/science-fiction films (most of which he appeared in). He also co-wrote three sketches for BBC2's "Doctor Who (1963) Night" in November 1999.When Doctor Who (2005) was re-imagined by Russell T. Davies and returned to television, Gatisss became part of the writing team. He had another major success as the co-creator of Sherlock (2010) for the BBC with Steven Moffat. He has co-written plays for the Edinburgh Festival and appeared in a number of theatre and radio shows. Show less «

[on Nigel Kneale] He is amongst the greats - he is absolutely as important as Dennis Potter, as David Mercer, as Alan Bleasdale, as Alan Ben...Show more »

[on Nigel Kneale] He is amongst the greats - he is absolutely as important as Dennis Potter, as David Mercer, as Alan Bleasdale, as Alan Bennett, but I think because of a strange snobbery about fantasy or sci-fi it's never quite been that way. Now he's gone, perhaps people will reassess - his major works are absolutely of lasting importance. He was a TV giant. Show less «

[on his 1992 novel "Nightshade"] What appealed to me enormously, apart from the sheer thrill of being published, was to have a shot at writi...Show more »

[on his 1992 novel "Nightshade"] What appealed to me enormously, apart from the sheer thrill of being published, was to have a shot at writing Doctor Who (1963). Not only that, but to write Doctor Who (1963) as I thought it should be done, effectively redressing what I felt to have been wrong with the programme in its later years. Show less «

[on "Nightshade"] I was reacting against the sort of garish Who of the late Eighties that I'd found an increasing turn-off. Things were undo...Show more »

[on "Nightshade"] I was reacting against the sort of garish Who of the late Eighties that I'd found an increasing turn-off. Things were undoubtedly getting better, just when the programme was cancelled, but there was still a sort of muddled quality, an almost perverse refusal to tell a straightforward story that I found very frustrating. So I wanted "Nightshade" to be an ultra-grim and horrific adventure in the mould of favourites such as Genesis of the Daleks [Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks: Part One (1975)), The Caves of Androzani (Doctor Who: The Caves of Androzani: Part One (1984)] and Frontios [Doctor Who: Frontios: Part One (1984)]. Show less «

[on Doctor Who (1963)] TV has created very few original and memorable heroes, but the Doctor stands out as one of the honourable exceptions,...Show more »

[on Doctor Who (1963)] TV has created very few original and memorable heroes, but the Doctor stands out as one of the honourable exceptions, and it is no accident that he continues to be a source of fascination for many TV nostalgists. At its height, Doctor Who (1963) was part of the nation's life; 25 minutes of wonder, sandwiched roughly between the end of Grandstand (1958) and the start of Bruce Forsyth and the Generation Game (1971). It was scary, funny, unique and, yes, dash it, as British as the flag. Show less «

I tried to persuade The South Bank Show (1978) to devote an edition to Kneale [Nigel Kneale], only to be told he wasn't a "big enough figure...Show more »

I tried to persuade The South Bank Show (1978) to devote an edition to Kneale [Nigel Kneale], only to be told he wasn't a "big enough figure". This was doubly dispiriting, not only because, to anyone interested in TV drama, Kneale is a colossus, but because it seemed to confirm all the writer's gloomy predictions regarding the future of broadcasting. Couldn't the medium celebrate one of its giants? Show less «

It's a tradition that comic monsters are actually deeply sympathetic. People like Basil Fawlty or Rigsby, they are wonderful monsters.

[on An Adventure in Space and Time (2013)] I've wanted to tell this story for more years than I can remember! How an unlikely set of brillia...Show more »

[on An Adventure in Space and Time (2013)] I've wanted to tell this story for more years than I can remember! How an unlikely set of brilliant people created a television original. Show less «

[on Reece Shearsmith] I just remember thinking, if anyone plays Patrick Troughton, it should be Reece. Like the second Doctor, he's small, s...Show more »

[on Reece Shearsmith] I just remember thinking, if anyone plays Patrick Troughton, it should be Reece. Like the second Doctor, he's small, saturnine and a comic genius. The complete package. Show less «