---
name: "Sally Wainwright"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sally-wainwright"
fi1m_id: "sally-wainwright"
imdb_id: "nm0906550"
tmdb_id: 1211823
wikidata_id: "Q7405323"
roles: ["Writer","Producer","Director"]
born: "1 January 1963"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 8
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 6
updated: "2026-10-07T16:02:34.525999+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Sally Wainwright

## Identity

Sally Wainwright

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sally-wainwright
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** sally-wainwright
- **IMDb ID:** nm0906550
- **TMDB ID:** 1211823
- **Wikidata ID:** Q7405323
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Wainwright, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7405323, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906550/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1211823

Writer and producer. Born 1 January 1963 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer, Director
- **Born:** 1 January 1963, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, UK
- **Active:** 1960–present
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 8: 2 directing, 6 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Karen Lewis](https://film.one/person/karen-lewis.md), [Suranne Jones](https://film.one/person/suranne-jones.md), [Amanda Brotchie](https://film.one/person/amanda-brotchie.md), [Amelia Bullmore](https://film.one/person/amelia-bullmore.md), [Euros Lyn](https://film.one/person/euros-lyn.md), [Jonathan Harvey](https://film.one/person/jonathan-harvey.md), [Lesley Sharp](https://film.one/person/lesley-sharp.md), [Lorraine Ashbourne](https://film.one/person/lorraine-ashbourne.md)
- **BAFTA Television Awards:** 1 BAFTA (1 won · 2 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as writer, over 6 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 74 (1), 2000s 68 (2), 2010s 81 (4), 2020s 80 (1)
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 5 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Comedy 2, Crime 2, Mystery 1, Soap 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Wainwright, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7405323, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906550/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1211823

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Happy Valley*](https://film.one/tv/happy-valley-2014.md) (88), [*Riot Women*](https://film.one/tv/riot-women.md) (80), [*Last Tango in Halifax*](https://film.one/tv/last-tango-in-halifax.md) (79), [*Scott & Bailey*](https://film.one/tv/scott-and-bailey.md) (75), [*Coronation Street*](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md) (74)
- **HBO Max:** [*Gentleman Jack*](https://film.one/tv/gentleman-jack.md) (82)
- **BritBox:** [*At Home with the Braithwaites*](https://film.one/tv/at-home-with-the-braithwaites.md) (71)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Sally Wainwright

> Sally Wainwright gives women’s work, anger and family troubles the time they deserve. We rate her highly for dialogue that finds humour in difficult lives, though she sometimes explains what her actors have already made clear.

In *Happy Valley* (2014), Sarah Lancashire’s Catherine Cawood has police work to do while her family lives with grief. Sally Wainwright keeps both demands in view, and the crime drama is better for it. We were moved by Catherine’s determination to carry on with the job, because the writing never suggests that getting through a shift settles anything at home. The kidnapping depends on a conspicuous coincidence involving Tommy Lee Royce, but the consequences for the people caught up in it are frighteningly convincing.

Writing for *Coronation Street* came before her first original series, *At Home with the Braithwaites* (2000). There were setbacks before *Unforgiven* (2009) brought a breakthrough. The late-life romance of *Last Tango in Halifax* (2012) followed, before the crime drama of *Happy Valley*. Across her work, people speak plainly and use humour even when there is little to laugh about.

In *Gentleman Jack* (2019), that ear for speech makes the period courtship feel immediate. Suranne Jones gives Anne Lister briskness and wit, while Sophie Rundle’s Ann Walker makes answering her seem both tempting and difficult. Wainwright allows awkwardness into their exchanges, and makes the hesitant replies count as much as the confident ones. The storytelling wanders, though, and she is too ready to enjoy Lister’s certainty without examining what it means for a landowner to expect her own way.

In *Riot Women* (2025), five middle-aged women form a punk band, with menopause and caring responsibilities still demanding attention. Joanna Scanlan and Rosalie Craig make those frustrations matter, and Wainwright and fellow director Amanda Brotchie keep the humour and distress moving together. The jokes let the women be irritated without turning them into objects of ridicule. But some conversations become lectures, and the thinly written men leave the women with too little worth arguing against.

We rate her most when she gives people room to be difficult without explaining who deserves our sympathy. Her performers can usually tell us that unaided. Start with *Happy Valley*; the coincidence is worth forgiving for Catherine Cawood.

## Biography

Sally Wainwright is an English television writer, producer and director. Born in 1963 in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, she began her career writing for the radio serial *The Archers* and the soap operas *Emmerdale* and *Coronation Street* in the 1990s.

Her first original drama series was *At Home with the Braithwaites* (2000–2003). She is known for creating and writing *Scott & Bailey* (2011–2016), *Last Tango in Halifax* (2012–2020), *Happy Valley* (2014–2023) and *Gentleman Jack* (2019–2022), many of which are set in Yorkshire and feature female leads. Wainwright has also directed episodes of several of her series. She wrote and directed the 2025 series *Riot Women*.

Wainwright was appointed OBE in 2020 for services to writing and television. *Last Tango in Halifax* and *Happy Valley* each won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (8)

### Directed (2)

- *Riot Women* (2025), Fi1m 80, Writer, Director, Creator, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/riot-women.md)
- *Gentleman Jack* (2019), Fi1m 82, Director, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/gentleman-jack.md)

### Wrote (6) — the average rests on these

- *Happy Valley* (2014), Fi1m 88, Writer, Creator, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/happy-valley-2014.md)
- *Last Tango in Halifax* (2012), Fi1m 79, Executive Producer, Creator, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/last-tango-in-halifax.md)
- *Scott & Bailey* (2011), Fi1m 75, Writer, Creator, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/scott-and-bailey.md)
- *ShakespeaRe-Told* (2005), Fi1m 66, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/shakespeare-told.md)
- *At Home with the Braithwaites* (2000), Fi1m 71, Writer, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/at-home-with-the-braithwaites.md)
- *Coronation Street* (1960), Fi1m 74, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md)

## Complete filmography (29)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Riot Women* (2025), series, Executive Producer, Director, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/riot-women.md)
- *Renegade Nell* (2024), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Son Nefesime Kadar* (2022), series, Original Story
- *The Unforgivable* (2021), Story, Executive Producer, Series Writer
- *Gentleman Jack* (2019), series, Executive Producer, Director, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/gentleman-jack.md)
- *The Detail* (2018), series, Executive Producer, Original Series Creator
- *To Walk Invisible* (2016), Writer, Director, Executive Producer
- *Happy Valley* (2014), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/happy-valley-2014.md)
- *The Last Witch* (2013), Writer
- *Last Tango in Halifax* (2012), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/tv/last-tango-in-halifax.md)
- *Scott & Bailey* (2011), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/tv/scott-and-bailey.md)
- *Unforgiven* (2009), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Bonkers* (2007), series, Writer, Creator
- *Dead Clever: The Life and Crimes of Julie Bottomley* (2007), Writer
- *The Amazing Mrs Pritchard* (2006), series, Producer, Writer, Creator
- *Jane Hall* (2006), series, Writer, Creator
- *The Taming of the Shrew* (2005), Writer
- *ShakespeaRe-Told* (2005), series, Writer — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/tv/shakespeare-told.md)
- *Canterbury Tales* (2003), series, Writer
- *Sparkhouse* (2002), series, Writer, Creator
- *At Home with the Braithwaites* (2000), series, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/tv/at-home-with-the-braithwaites.md)
- *Bad Girls* (1999), series, Writer
- *Playing the Field* (1998), series, Writer
- *Castles* (1995), series, Writer
- *Revelations* (1994), series, Writer
- *The House of Windsor* (1994), series, Writer
- *Children's Ward* (1989), series, Writer
- *Emmerdale* (1972), series, Writer
- *Coronation Street* (1960), series, Writer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md)

## Awards

### BAFTA Television Awards — 1 won, 2 nominated

- 2013: Best Drama Series (won), for *Last Tango in Halifax*
- 2012: Best Drama Series (nominated), for *Scott & Bailey*
- 2002: Best Drama Series (nominated), for *At Home with the Braithwaites*

### Other awards — 2 won

- Officer of the Order of the British Empire 2020: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (won)
- Edgar Awards 2015: Edgar Awards (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sally-wainwright