Russell
Gascoigne

 Russell is an experienced television scriptwriter whose credits include the top-rating A Touch of Frost. He has written for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C. He has also written for film, stage and radio.

After leaving university Russell worked as a script-reader and development consultant for numerous TV and film companies. These include the Movie Acquisition Corporation, where he reported on major US/UK feature films, the European Script Fund and London Weekend Television where he was also responsible for assessing novels for possible TV adaptation. He then became a BBC Drama Script Editor, working in both production and development. He worked on co-productions, single dramas for Screen One and Screen Two and on projects ranging from comedy to animation. His credits include the Royal Television Society’s award-winning Selected Exits starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, episodes of BBC Wales Playhouse and Shot In A Shoebox, a 4 x 30’ series of short films/animation for BBC2 Wales on which he was producer.

​Aside from A Touch Of Frost his scriptwriting credits include McCallum (ITV), BMA award-winning Body Story (a 6-part science-medical-drama series for Channel 4/Discovery Channel) and a Welsh-language drama Rhag Pob Brad, starring Rhys Ifans. He has been commissioned by BBC Wales, BBC Scotland and BBC Northern Ireland, YTV, STV and Carlton Television as well as numerous independents. He is currently developing a number of new TV drama projects.

​Russell’s first Young Adult novel, REBELS, was published by Walker Books and optioned for feature film development by the BBC. He is now working on new YA titles.

Russell teaches scriptwriting at Cardiff University and runs the Scriptwriting Workshop Online, providing 1-2-1 support across the UK – and beyond - for writers working on their own scripts. He is External Examiner on the Screenwriting and Producing BA at Regent’s University, London and has been a guest speaker at a number of other script development courses and events.