Colin MacDonald was born in 1956 in Inverness, Scotland. He is a prolific writer for television and radio. Television credits include The Dunroamin' Rising (BBC1),[1] The Gift (BBC1),[2] The Wreck on the Highway (BBC1),[3] Sharpe's Honour (ITV) and episodes in the series Blue Murder (ITV), Heartbeat (ITV), Casualty (BBC1), and Para Handy (BBC1). Radio credits include Killing the Butterfly (BBC Radio 4),[4] Hill of Rains (BBC Radio 4), The Colour of Summer (BBC Radio 4), King of Hearts (BBC Radio Scotland),[5] The Stanley Baxter Playhouse: The Hat (BBC Radio 4) and Calum's Road (BBC Radio 4). In 2021, BBC Radio 4 aired a full-cast adaptation of C. J. Sansom's mystery novel Lamentation, dramatised by MacDonald, with Justin Salinger starring as Shardlake.[6]