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Niall Leonard

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/Noghar

born

Newry, Northern Ireland

gender

male

website

http://www.niallleonard.com/home

member since

March 2011

About this author

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Niall Leonard grew up in Newry, Northern Ireland. In 1977 he attended the University of York to study English, and from there went on to The UK National Film and Television School where he trained as a screenwriter and director. His first film was Absolution, an old-fashioned revenge thriller with a supernatural twist, filmed on location in Newry in 1983 and starring Derek Halligan. Niall returned to Newry In 1985 to shoot locations for his graduation movie, the black comedy No Man’s Land, starring Patrick Bergin and Des McAleer.

After graduating from the NFTS in 1986 Niall’s first broadcast work as director was the comedy series Phil and Arthur Go Off for Channel Four, followed by stints on ITV’s long-running cop show The Bill. Meanwhile Ni...more Niall Leonard grew up in Newry, Northern Ireland. In 1977 he attended the University of York to study English, and from there went on to The UK National Film and Television School where he trained as a screenwriter and director. His first film was Absolution, an old-fashioned revenge thriller with a supernatural twist, filmed on location in Newry in 1983 and starring Derek Halligan. Niall returned to Newry In 1985 to shoot locations for his graduation movie, the black comedy No Man’s Land, starring Patrick Bergin and Des McAleer.

After graduating from the NFTS in 1986 Niall’s first broadcast work as director was the comedy series Phil and Arthur Go Off for Channel Four, followed by stints on ITV’s long-running cop show The Bill. Meanwhile Niall pursued his own projects, writing and directing the one-off black comedy Rotten Apples starring BJ Hogg and Ian McElhinney, and developing Over The Wild Frontier, a six-part comedy drama set on the Irish border, for Channel Four.

Niall’s first TV script to be broadcast on the network was an episode of Jimmy Nail’s cop show Spender, closely followed by Pie In The Sky with Richard Griffiths.

In 1994 Niall took up a year-long contract as a Script Editor at BBC Northern Ireland, where he got to work with his long-time hero Graham Reid on Life After Life and made the acquaintance of Belfast’s Hole In The Wall Gang. His work as script associate on their pilot for Give My Head Peace led to a partnership that continued for ten years, with Niall contributing to every episode of the immensely successful satirical sitcom and its spinoff stage productions.

In 1995 he returned to full-time writing with a script for the groundbreaking Irish comedy drama Ballykissangel and went on to create episodes of Silent Witness, Hornblower, Sea of Souls, Second Sight, and Holby City. Niall adapted the Minette Walters thriller The Dark Room for BBC1, and wrote numerous episodes over several series of Monarch of The Glen, Wire In The Blood and Wild At Heart.

Recently Niall completed screenplays for two big-budget two-part thrillers for US cable TV, loosely adapted from novels by Alastair Maclean. Air Force One is Down started shooting on location in Luxembourg in May 2012, with Puppet On A Chain slated to go into production later the same year.

As part of the 2011 Nanowrimo novel-writing event Niall wrote Crusher, a gritty crime thriller set in London featuring Finn Maguire, a dyslexic young offender investigating the murder of his father. The novel was picked up by Random House for publication in October 2012, and Niall is currently working on its sequel.

Niall has led seminars and workshops on screenwriting and script editing for the BBC, the Northern Ireland Film Council and the Irish Screenwriters’ Guild, and lectured on the creative process at the University of Reading.

He is married with two kids and a rather smelly dog and lives in West London.
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Niall Leonard's Books

Average rating: 3.44 · 193 ratings · 81 reviews · 2 distinct works · Similar authors

	Crusher 3.44 of 5 stars 3.44 avg rating — 193 ratings — published 2012 — 15 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Incinerator 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — expected publication 2013 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Niall's Recent Updates

Niall Leonard is now friends with Jane Timberlake

Apr 08, 2013 05:07am · like

Niall Leonard voted for Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3) in Best Romance in the Opening Round of the 2012 Goodreads Choice Awards.

cast your vote

Oct 31, 2012 06:00pm · like

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Niall Leonard joined the groups Goodreads Feedback and Goodreads Librarians Group

Sep 13, 2012 01:15pm

Niall Leonard made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Technical issue with 'book excerpt' topic

"This seems to be a technical problem and there does not appear to be a good category for it, but: when a visitor clicks on 'view excerpt' of the book...more "

Sep 13, 2012 01:13pm

Niall Leonard made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Misspelt author name topic

"Yes, that's spot on - thanks."

Jul 04, 2012 02:48am

Niall Leonard made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Missing Book Cover topic

"Hello. The cover for 'Crusher' by Niall Leonard is missing. The artwork is obtainable on his website:
http://www.niallleonard.com/books/cru...
I'd be g...more "

Jul 04, 2012 02:08am

Niall Leonard rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3)
by E.L. James (Goodreads Author)