Louise Ironside Explained

Louise Ironside
Nationality:Scottish
Birth Place:Edinburgh
Occupation:Screenwriter, actress

Louise Ironside is a Scottish screenwriter and actress.

Early life and education

Louise Ironside was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. She studied drama at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama (now The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).

Career

Her acting career began in the 1990s, working both in TV and theatre.[1] Notable roles include: Caroline Lewis[2] in Channel 4s Brookside, Ophelia[3] in Hamlet, for the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh and Adele[4] in the World Premiere of David Greig's Europe[5] at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh (1994).

During this time, Ironside began writing for several small production houses in and around Edinburgh. This early work includes Risk for the Grassmarket Project, and The Homemade Child and The Little Lady From The Lucky Star both for Lung Ha's Theatre Company,[6] and Trade for Oxygen House.[7]

In 2000 she served as Writer In Residence at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. Work writing for BBC Radio followed, including: Kitty Elizabeth Must Die for 'The Wire' on Radio 3 and John Glenn Stole My Spacesuit for Radio 4.

She would then embark upon a highly successful screenwriting career, beginning with writing multiple episodes for the long-running Scottish drama River City'.[8] Since then, she has written for many other popular television series, such as , Call The Midwife, Shetland, Waterloo Road, Lip Service, Deep Water, The Tunnel and The Split.[9]

TV Writing credits

ProductionNotesBroadcaster
River City22 episodes (2004-2014)BBC One
Waterloo Road4 episodes (2009–2010)BBC One
Lip Service1 episode (2012)BBC Three
1 episode (2014)ITV
The Tunnel2 episodes (2016-2017)Sky AtlanticCanal+
Call The Midwife4 episodes (2017-2019)BBC One
Shetland1 episode (2018)BBC One
The Split1 episode (2018)BBC One
Deep Water2 episodes (2018)ITV
Grantchester2 episodes (2021-2022)ITV
Marie Antoinette2 episodes (2022)BBC Two

Awards and nominations

TV

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
2012BAFTA ScotlandBest WriterLip Service (Series 2. Episode 5)
2016Best Long Running TV SeriesRiver City (Series 13. Episode 8)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Career Close-Up: Screenwriting with Louise Ironside. www.bafta.org. 22 May 2014 .
  2. Web site: TV.com. Brookside: A Hard Time. 2020-12-20. TV.com.
  3. Web site: The 1990s The Lyceum Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh. 2020-12-20. lyceum.org.uk. en.
  4. Web site: Europe - Scottish plays - National Library of Scotland. 2020-12-20. digital.nls.uk.
  5. Web site: Europe - Playwright Encyclopedia. 2020-12-20. sites.google.com.
  6. Web site: Overview - The Little Lady From A Lucky Star. 2020-12-20. Lung Ha Theatre Company. en-GB.
  7. Web site: 'Call the Midwife is about working women. There's no bloke telling them what to do'. 2020-12-20. HeraldScotland. 29 January 2019 . en.
  8. Web site: BBC - River City writer Louise Ironside scoops prestigious Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award - Media Centre. www.bbc.co.uk.
  9. Web site: Curtis Brown. www.curtisbrown.co.uk.