Frank Cottrell-Boyce

In July 2024, he was appointed as Children's Laureate, for a two-year period, succeeding Joseph Coelho.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce studied at Keble College and University of Oxford. The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are Liverpool. Employment is recorded with Liverpool Hope University. Positions recorded include Children's Laureate. Distinctions recorded are Carnegie Medal, Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Sitges Film Festival Best Screenplay award.

• Name — Frank Cottrell-Boyce • Birth Name — Francis G. Boyce • Born — 23 September 1959 • Birthplace — Bootle, England • Occupation — Scriptwriter, author • Alma Mater — Keble College, Oxford • Period — c. 1984–present • Genre — Screenplays, children's novels • Spouse — Denise Cottrell (m. 1983) • Children — 7

Boyce was born in 1959 in Bootle, near Liverpool, to a Catholic family. He moved to Rainhill, while still at primary school. He attended St Bartholomew's Primary School in Rainhill and West Park Grammar School. He was greatly influenced by reading Moomins growing up. He read English at Keble College, Oxford, where he went on to earn a doctorate. He wrote criticism for the magazine Living Marxism.

He met Denise Cottrell, a fellow Keble undergraduate, and they married in 1983 in Keble College chapel; they combined their surnames. Together they have seven children. He is also a patron of the Insight Film Festival, a biennial, interfaith festival held in Manchester, UK, to make positive contributions to understanding, respect and community cohesion. Aidan Cottrell-Boyce, one of the couple's sons, is also a writer. In March 2026, Cottrell-Boyce was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the Borough for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton.

After he met Michael Winterbottom, the two collaborated on Forget About Me. Winterbottom made five further films based on screenplays written by Cottrell-Boyce, Butterfly Kiss, Welcome to Sarajevo, The Claim, 24 Hour Party People and Code 46. Their 2005 collaboration, A Cock and Bull Story, is their last according to Cottrell-Boyce, who asked that his contribution be credited to "Martin Hardy", a pseudonym. He told Variety, "I just had to move on... what better way to walk away than by giving Winterbottom a good script for free?" Other film directors with whom Cottrell-Boyce has worked include Danny Boyle (Millions), Alex Cox (Revengers Tragedy), Richard Laxton (Grow Your Own) and Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie). Cottrell-Boyce has been praised by Roger Ebert as one of the few truly inventive modern-day screenwriters. He has spoken against the "three-act structure" and the "hero's journey" formulas, which are often regarded as axiomatic truths in the business. Perhaps his most famous example of this is in 24 Hour Party People where the character of Anthony Wilson states that "Scott Fitzgerald said there are no second acts in American lives. This is Manchester. We do things differently. This is the second act", which Cottrell-Boyce has stated was due to criticism of the script not following the three-act structure. Cottrell-Boyce has adapted novels for the screen and written children's fiction. His first novel Millions was based on his own screenplay for the film of the same name; it was published by Macmillan in 2004. Cottrell-Boyce won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognising it as the year's best children's book published in the U.K. His next novel, Framed, he made the shortlist for both the Carnegie and the Whitbread Children's Book Award. He adapted it as a screenplay for a 2009 BBC television film. He made the Carnegie shortlist again for Cosmic (2008). In 2011, he was commissioned to write a sequel to the Ian Fleming children's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was published in October 2011 as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again. In addition to Coronation Street, he wrote many episodes of the soap opera Brookside, as well as its spin-offs Damon and Debbie and South. He wrote and staged his first original theatre production Proper Clever at the Liverpool Playhouse during the city's European Capital of Culture year, 2008. On 18 September 2010, he co-presented the Papal Visit at Hyde Park with TV personality Carol Vorderman. In June 2012, he assumed the position of Professor of Reading (the first such professorship) at Liverpool Hope University. Cottrell-Boyce was the writer of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, whose storyline he based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. He collaborated with director Danny Boyle and other members of the creative team, including designer Mark Tildesley, in the development of the story and themes, and wrote "short documents that told the story of each segment" to provide context for choreographers, builders and other participants. He also wrote the brochure, the stadium announcements and the media guide for presenter Huw Edwards. Three months later, Cottrell-Boyce won the 2012 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for The Unforgotten Coat. That story of a cross-cultural friendship was inspired by a Mongolian girl he met as a writer visiting her school, whose family was subsequently deported by the British immigration office. It was commissioned by Reader Organisation of Liverpool and 50,000 copies were given away. The Guardian Prize is judged by a panel of British children's writers and recognises the year's best book by an author who has not yet won it. Interviewed by the sponsoring newspaper, Cottrell-Boyce told The Guardian that "I'm definitely a children's writer[;] that's what I want to be. I'm always trying to get rid of everything else.... The movies I'm doing are ones that have been on the blocks for a long time." Cottrell-Boyce was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Literature at Edge Hill University on 16 July 2013. In 2014, Cottrell-Boyce wrote an episode of Doctor Who, titled "In the Forest of the Night". He also wrote the second episode of the tenth series, "Smile". In September 2015, Cottrell-Boyce held the keynote speech at the Children's and Young Adult Program of the 15th Berlin International Literature Festival. In January 2018, he was on the victorious Keble College, Oxford University Challenge "famous alumni" team; he won almost all of the points scored by Keble (total score 240) and was lionized on social media as a consequence; Reading University scored 0 in that game, thus making television history. Cottrell-Boyce is an advocate for reading aloud and patron of The Reader Organisation. a charity that works through volunteers to bring literature to everyone, through reading aloud in prisons, care homes and other community spaces. In July 2024, he was appointed as Children's Laureate for the term 2024 to 2026, succeeding Joseph Coelho.

• Millions (2004) • Framed (2005) • Cosmic (2008) • Desirable (2008) • The Unforgotten Coat (2011) • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again (2011) • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time (2012) • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Over the Moon (2013) • The Astounding Broccoli Boy (2015) • Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth (2016) • Runaway Robot (2019) • Noah's Gold (2021)

• March 2010 – Desert Island Discs • December 2017 and 2025 - University Challenge

• Production — Notes — Broadcaster • Brookside — *"Double Talk" (1987) *"Reconnection" (1987) *"Fish" (1989) *"Glasses" (1989) — Channel 4 • Damon and Debbie — *Television miniseries (1987) — Channel 4 • South — *Television miniseries (1988) — ITV • The Real Eddy English — *Television miniseries (1989) — Channel 4 • Forget About Me — *Television film (1990) — Thames Television • In Suspicious Circumstances — *"An Uncommon Murder" (1992) *"Unjust Deserts" (1992) — ITV • Crime Story — *"All Good Friends" (1992) — ITV • A Woman's Guide to Adultery — *"Episode #1.1" (1993) *"Episode #1.2" (1993) *"Episode #1.3" (1993) — ITV • Coronation Street — *"Episode #1.3207" (1991) *"Episode #1.3243" (1991) *"Episode #1.3399" (1992) *"Episode #1.3801" (1995) — ITV • New York Crossing — *Television film (1996) — RAI • Saint-Ex — *Television film (1996) — BBC • Springhill — *Co-creator (1996–1997) — Sky • Captain Star — *"The Atomic Alarm Clock" (1997) *"Day of the Zooties" (1997) *"The Worm Turns" (1997) *"The Edge of the Universe" (1997) — ITV • God on Trial — *Television film (2008) — BBC Two PBS • Framed — *Television film (2009) — BBC One • London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder — *Television film (2012) — BBC One • Doctor Who — *"In the Forest of the Night" (2014) *"Smile" (2017) — BBC One • Stephen — *"Episode 1" (2021) *"Episode 3" (2021) — ITV

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is recorded as having received Carnegie Medal, Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

• Year — Award — Work — Category — Result — Reference • 1993 — Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award — Coronation Street — TV - Original Drama Serial (with Paul Abbott, Martin Allen, Ken Blakeson, Tom Elliott, Barry Hill, Stephen Mallatratt, Julian Roach, Adele Rose, Patrea Smallacombe, John Stevenson, Peter Whalley, Mark Wadlow and Phil Woods) • 1999 — British Academy Film Awards — Hilary and Jackie — Best Screenplay - Adapted • Golden Satellite Award — Best Motion Picture Screenplay - Adaption • 2001 — British Independent Film Award — The Claim — Best Screenplay • 2004 — Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival — Code 46 — Best Screenplay • 2005 — British Independent Film Award — Millions — Best Screenplay • Humanitas Prize — Feature Film Category • 2007 — Chlotrudis Awards — A Cock and Bull Story — Best Adapted Screenplay • 2014 — Australian Film Critics Association Awards — The Railway Man — Best Screenplay (with Andy Paterson) • Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards — Best Script (with Andy Paterson) • 2015 — Australian Film Institute Award — Best Adapted Screenplay (with Andy Paterson)

• 2004: Buch des Monats des Instituts für Jugendliteratur/Book of the Month by the Institute for Youth Literature (Germany), Millions • 2004: Carnegie Medal Winner - Millions • 2004: Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, shortlist, Millions • 2004: Whitbread Award for Childrens Book, shortlist, Millions • 2004: Luchs des Jahres (Germany), Millions • 2004: Eule des Monats (Germany), Millions • 2005: Branford Boase Award, shortlist, Millions • 2005: Carnegie Medal, shortlist, Framed • 2005: Blue Peter Book Award, shortlist, Framed • 2006: Die besten 7 (Germany), Framed • 2008: Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, shortlist, Cosmic • 2009: Carnegie Medal, shortlist, Cosmic • 2011: Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award, Honors, Cosmic • 2011: Costa Book Award for Children's Book, shortlist, The Unforgotten Coat • 2012: Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature • 2012: Guardian Children's Fiction Prize Winner - The Unforgotten Coat • 2013: Honorary Doctorate of Literature at Edge Hill University • 2024: Children's Laureate 2024-26 • 2026: Honorary Freedom of the Borough for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton.