Matthew Wingett

Matthew Wingett
Born	24 April 1968 (1968-04-24) (age 43) Portsmouth, England, UK
Occupation	Screenwriter, Journalist, Novelist
Genres	Drama, Magic Realism, Travel
Notable work(s)	The Bill,Sunday Mirror

Matthew Wingett (born 24 April 1968 in Portsmouth, Hampshire), is an English screenwriter, journalist, novelist, songwriter and hypnotist, and is the brother of English actor Mark Wingett. His most well known works for television are episodes of the ITV1 police procedural The Bill.

Career

Matthew wanted to be a writer from his youth and joined a publishing company in 1986, where he learned about the trade of writing and book production. His writing developed over the next 6 years until in 1991 he was hired to write episodes of The Bill for ITV1. Matthew's brother, Mark Wingett, played Jim Carver in the show. Matthew was scrupulous about maintaining separation from his brother. His first script was submitted to the Script Unit under the name of Matthew Brothers to deflect charges of nepotism. This first script, Thicker Than Water also did not use Jim Carver.^[1] It contained a theme recurring in Wingett's works: the conflict between local loyalties and a greater good. Wingett was 23 years old when his first episode was aired and was the youngest writer at The Bill.^[2]

Matthew wrote eight episodes of The Bill between 1991 and 1997. In 1997 he became interested in working on his own projects and studied Buddhism, Nietzsche and Christianity before eschewing all mystical systems. He has written travel journalism for the Sunday Mirror^[3][4] and children's articles for The Daily Telegraph amongst other works.

In 1997, he received a blow to the head in a kickboxing accident and underwent emergency brain surgery at Southampton Neurological Unit to relieve pressure on the brain caused by a subdural haematoma. After this period, he lost interest in his writing for eleven years.

In April 2008, Matthew approached hypnotist Paul McKenna to see if he could help him rediscover his creativity. After one 40 minute session, Matthew found that he was able to write creatively again. Matthew is working on a novel and personal development guides with various hypnotists.

Selected filmography

• The Bill (1997) - A Rock And A Hard Place
• The Bill (1996) - Drinking Partners
• The Bill (1995) - In Control
• The Bill (1995) - Saved
• The Bill (1995) - Taking The Blame
• The Bill (1994) - Faith In The System
• The Bill (1993) - Cried Too Late
• The Bill (1991) - Thicker Than Water

External links

• Matthew Wingett at the Internet Movie Database
• Matthew Wingett at www.tv.com

Notes

1. ^ 'Write on, brother', TV Weekly, Jan 29 - Feb 4, 1994 by Jane Ferguson
2. ^ 'Write on, brother', TV Weekly, Jan 29 - Feb 4, 1994 by Jane Ferguson
3. ^ eg:'Amsterdam More Than Sex And Drugs', Sunday Mirror, Oct 4, 1998 by Matthew Wingett
4. ^ eg: It's Wild Out West, Sunday Mirror, 24th May 1998

Persondata
Name	Wingett, Matthew
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 April 1968
Place of birth	Portsmouth, England, UK
Date of death
Place of death