Tony Garnett was born in Birmingham and read psychology at University College, London where he spent most of his time acting in the Drama Society and on TV. He has had a prestigious and varied career as an actor, script editor, screenwriter, director and producer. He began his television career appearing in The Boys and a wide selection of TV dramas including Z Cars. He worked on The Wednesday Play and produced many films for television. In addition he introduced Mike Leigh with Hard Labour, GF Newman with Law and Order and Roland Joffe’s first film, The Spongers. He produced, wrote and directed films like The Shadowmakers, starring Paul Newman and directed by Roland Joffe. He returned to the UK, bringing to the screen many single films and drama series. He has also had a prestigious academic career and did five years as Professor of Media Arts at Royal Holloway College, University of London, with honorary doctorates from Reading and Birmingham universities. He wrote a novels.