Stephen Gallagher (born 13 October 1954) is an English screenwriter and novelist. Gallagher was born in Salford, Lancashire, and attended Eccles Grammar School, then graduated from the University of Hull with Joint Honours in Drama and English. First worked as a documentaries researcher for Yorkshire Television and then in the Presentation Department of Granada TV, (now ITV Granada).
Career Gallagher has written novels and television scripts, including for the BBC television series Doctor Who — for which he wrote two serials, Warriors' Gate (1981) and Terminus (1983)—as well as for the series Rosemary & Thyme and Bugs, for two seasons of which he was script consultant along with Brian Clemens. He adapted his own novel Chimera as a 90-minute dramatized audio drama for BBC Radio 4 in 1985,Radio - Chimera, StephenGallagher.com. Retrieved 24 May 2021. and as a miniseries of the same name that was shown on ITV in 1991. He also directed the miniseries adaptation of Oktober, as well as writing the feature-length episode The Kingdom of Bones for the BBC series Murder Rooms.
He created and wrote a science-based series for ITV, Eleventh Hour, starring Patrick Stewart as a government science investigator and advisor. The programme was rumoured to be ITV's answer to the new series of Doctor Who, but was more in the tradition of the hard-science thriller. Gallagher's series format was acquired for a US television remake by the CSI trio of CBS, Jerry Bruckheimer and director Danny Cannon. The series aired on CBS and starred Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton.
Life Line, broadcast in 2007, was a two-part supernatural mystery starring Ray Stevenson, Joanne Whalley and Jemima Rooper. Gallagher was later lead writer and story supervisor on NBC's 13-part series Crusoe, screened in 2008/2009, and contributed two episodes to the US version of Eleventh Hour including Medea, the season finale. In 2009 he served as Co-Executive Producer on Bruckheimer's crime show The Forgotten, starring Christian Slater. Legacy, a two-part story for season 16 of the BBC's Silent Witness, was Best Drama winner in the 2013 European Science TV and New Media Awards. He later wrote episodes of Stan Lee's Lucky Man.
In June 2025 the radio drama An Alternative to Suicide was rebroadcast as part of a Hidden Treasures strand on BBC Radio 4 Extra. BBC Sounds, Hidden Treasures: An Alternative to Suicide Starring Michael Jayston and directed by Martin Jenkins, the Saturday Night Theatre production was considered a lost work after the play's master tapes were erased for re-use. A copy was restored to the archive through the work of non-profit organisation The Radio Circle. The Radio Circle: Research, Recovery, Restoration
Bibliography
Novels Original The Last Rose of Summer – 1978 (later revised as Dying of Paradise, 1982 as by Stephen Couper) Chimera (adapted in 1991 into a TV mini-series) – 1982 The Ice Belt – 1983 (as Stephen Couper) Follower – 1984 Valley of Lights – 1987 Oktober (TV series) – 1988 Down River – 1989 Rain – 1990 The Boat House – 1991 Nightmare, With Angel – 1992 Red, Red Robin – 1995 White Bizango – 2002 The Spirit Box – 2005 The Painted Bride – 2006 The Kingdom of Bones – 2007 The Bedlam Detective – 2012 The Authentic William James – 2016 The Babylon Run - 2022 The Next Thing You See When You Die - 2024 (novella)
Omnibus Dying of Paradise: The Trilogy – 2022
Novelizations Saturn Three – 1980 (film novelisation) Silver Dream Racer – 1980 (film novelisation, as John Lydecker) Doctor Who - Warriors' Gate – 1982 (as John Lydecker) Doctor Who - Terminus – 1983 (as John Lydecker) The Kids from Fame – 1983 (as Lisa Todd, based on TV series Fame) The Kids from Fame II – 1983 (as Lisa Todd, based on TV series Fame) Doctor Who: Warriors' Gate and Beyond – 2023 (printing longer draft of novelization, along with two new related stories) "The Kairos Ring" and a new story, "The Little Book of Fate"
Non-fiction Journeyman: The Art of Chris Moore – 2000
Screenplays Trick Shot – 1980 (short film) Doctor Who: Warriors’ Gate - 1981 (BBC) Doctor Who: Terminus – 1983 (BBC) Rockliffe's Folly: Moving Targets – 1988 (BBC) Chimera – 1991 (Zenith/Anglia) Chiller: Prophecy – 1995 (YTV) Chiller: Here Comes the Mirror Man – 1995 (YTV) Bugs: Assassins, Inc – 1995 (Carnival Films/BBC) Bugs: Down Among the Dead Men – 1995 (Carnival Films/BBC) Bugs: Stealth – 1995 (Carnival Films/BBC) Bugs: Pulse – 1995 (Carnival Films/BBC) Bugs: Schrodinger’s Bomb – 1996 (Carnival Films/BBC) Bugs: The Bureau of Weapons – 1996 (Carnival Films/BBC) Bugs: A Cage for Satan – 1996 (Carnival Films/BBC) Bugs: Blaze of Glory – 1997 (Carnival Films/BBC) Bugs: The Revenge Effect – 1997 (Carnival Films/BBC) Bugs: Renegades – 1997 (Carnival Films/BBC) Oktober – 1998 (Carnival Films/ITV) Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes: The Kingdom of Bones – 2001 (BBC Films) Rosemary & Thyme: The Memory of Water – 2004 (Carnival Films) Rosemary & Thyme: The Cup of Silence – 2005 (Carnival Films) Eleventh Hour: Resurrection – 1983 (Granada TV) Eleventh Hour: Containment – 1987 (Granada TV) Life Line – 2007 (Carnival Films) Crusoe: Rum – 2008 (NBC/Power TV) Crusoe: Gunpowder – 2008 (NBC/Power TV) Crusoe: Sacrifice – 2008 (NBC/Power TV) (uncredited) Crusoe: The Traveler – 2009 (NBC/Power TV) Crusoe: The Return – 2009 (NBC/Power TV) Eleventh Hour: Resurrection – 2008 (CBS/Bruckheimer TV) (story by) Eleventh Hour: Containment – 2008 (CBS/Bruckheimer TV) (story by) Eleventh Hour: Subway – 2009 (CBS/Bruckheimer TV) Eleventh Hour: Medea – 2009 (CBS/Bruckheimer TV) The Forgotten: Canine John – 2010 (CBS/Bruckheimer TV) The Forgotten: Patient John – 2010 (CBS/Bruckheimer TV) Silent Witness: Legacy, Part 1 – 2013 (BBC) Silent Witness: Legacy, Part 2 – 2013 (BBC) Stan Lee's Lucky Man: Charm Offensive – 2016 (Carnival Films/POW! Entertainment/Sky)
Radio and Audio The Last Rose of Summer – 1977 (6x30’, Piccadilly Radio) Hunters’ Moon – 1978 (8x30, Piccadilly Radio) The Humane Solution – 1979 (90’, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Night Theatre) The Babylon Run – 1979 (4x30, Piccadilly Radio) An Alternative to Suicide – 1979 (90’, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Night Theatre) A Resistance to Pressure – 1980 (90’, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Night Theatre) Chimera – 1985 (90’, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Night Theatre) The Kingston File – 1987 (90’, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Night Theatre) The Wonderful Visit – 1988 (45’, H. G. Wells adaptation, BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Theatre) By the River, Fontainebleau – 1988 (30’, BBC Radio 4 Fear on Four) The Horn – 1989 (30’, BBC Radio 4 Fear on Four) The Visitors’ Book – 1992 (15', short story, BBC Radio 4, reader Terence Edmond) Life Line – 1993 (30’, BBC Radio 4, Fear on Four) The Bedlam Detective – 2012 (Audiobook, Dreamscape Media, reader Michael Page) The Kingdom of Bones – 2013 (Audiobook, Oakhill Publishing, reader Jonathan Keeble) The Box – 2013 (30’, Hammer Chillers, Bafflegab Productions) The Bedlam Detective – 2014 (Audiobook, Oakhill Publishing, reader Jonathan Keeble) Nightmare Country – 2019 (Doctor Who: The Lost Stories, Big Finish Productions) Warriors’ Gate – 2019 (Audiobook, BBC Audio, reader Jon Culshaw) Casting the Runes – 2019 (M. R. James adaptation, Bafflegab Productions) Terminus – 2019 (Audiobook, BBC Audio, reader Steven Pacey) The Kairos Ring – 2021 (Audio original, BBC Audio, reader Steven Pacey)
Theatre Cheeky Boy – March 2018 (portmanteau drama The Ghost Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More, Tristan Bates Theatre, London)
Short fiction - Collections Out of His Mind – 2004 (collection of short stories, winner of the British Fantasy Award with an introduction by Brian Clemens) Plots and Misadventures – 2007 (second collection of short stories) Comparative Anatomy: the Best of Stephen Gallagher – 2022 (Subterranean Press, with an introduction by Stephen Volk)
Comics Faustine: Princess of Tharil - 2023 (Gods and Monsters, Cutaway Comics) Losko of the Antonine - 2026 (Gods and Monsters Phase 2, Cutaway Comics)
Stories Short stories unless otherwise noted.
Key to collections: CA=Comparative Anatomy, OOHM= Out of his Mind, PM=Plots & Misadventures