Mike Bullen

Michael J. Bullen (born 13 January 1960) is an English screenwriter best known for creating the Granada Television series Cold Feet, which won him the Writer of the Year award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards.

He wrote two more series for Granada; Life Begins, which ran for three years, and All About George, which ran for only one.

His works have been described as being "about the intricacies of interpersonal relationships and what happens when they break down".

In 1994, aged 34, Bullen began thinking about writing a television script, based on the idea that he could "write crap" on television.

He was inspired in particular by the American television series Hill Street Blues (a show he "cancelled [his] social life for" ) and Thirtysomething.

He began work on scripts for Pie in the Sky and Soldier Soldier but did not complete either.

To improve his writing skills, he took a writing course at the National Film and Television School, a comedy course by Anji Loman Field, and attended Robert McKee's STORY seminar.

He began writing another script, this time drawing on his American television influences.

Believing that there was nothing on British television for people in his age group that was not a soap opera or a costume drama, Bullen wrote a script entitled The Perfect Match, about a man who proposes to his girlfriend using the screen at Wembley Stadium during the FA Cup Final.

He secured an agent, who managed to sell the script on spec to Andy Harries, controller of comedy at Granada Television.

Harries described the writing as "impressive—cleverly constructed dialogue, very funny, well observed" and commissioned it as part of his drive to move away from making traditional-style sitcoms.

Bullen described the moment he walked onto the set of The Perfect Match as "gobsmacking […] wandering around a room which had previously only existed in my head".

It was broadcast on ITV in September 1995 to poor reviews.

Harries was pleased enough with Bullen's work to ask him to pitch some more ideas to The Perfect Match assistant producer Christine Langan, who shared Bullen's desire to see more television directed at their age bracket.

Bullen pitched the idea of a traditional "boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-wins-girl-back" story told from both sides of the relationship but using elements of fantasy and flashback to distort events to fit a character's point of view.

Harries accepted the pitch and Bullen began work on Cold Feet.

Initially commissioned as a pilot for ITV's Comedy Premieres programming strand, the prospect of a full television series was given to Bullen.

Cold Feet's main character, Adam Williams, a lothario character and a serial monogamist, was based on Bullen himself during his twenties.

The other main character, Rachel Bradley, was based on a combination of his ex-girlfriends and the "ideal girlfriend".

Harries suggested that if a series were to be commissioned, more characters would be needed.

Bullen developed a supporting cast for Cold Feet, basing each character on friends of his.

The script for Cold Feet went through "six or seven" drafts before being filmed in 1996 and was broadcast in 1997.

After a hiatus, it was commissioned for a full series.

During the hiatus, he wrote a romantic comedy feature film script for Granada and developed a pilot for London Weekend Television, neither of which were picked up.

Bullen moved with his wife and two children to Australia in 2002.

Two years later he directed his first short film, Amorality Tale.

He co-created the Australian/UK television series Tripping Over in 2006 and the writer and director of the Australian television pilot Make or Break in 2007.

He returned to producing work for British television in 2010 with the BBC pilot Reunited, and moved back to the UK in 2011.

Bullen was born in Bramhall, Cheshire.

Bullen's father, Alex, was a chemical engineer, and his mother, Joan, was a housewife.

Mike and his sister Jane were raised in Solihull, where he attended Solihull School.

At the age of 18 he was accepted to Magdalene College, Cambridge, to read economics.

He did not enjoy the subject, so switched to history of art.

His first experiences of writing came when he was a child and wrote a newspaper for his neighbours.

At Cambridge, he dramatised a Johann Wolfgang von Goethe novel.

Following his graduation, Bullen began a career as a media planner buyer for an advertising company.

The job did not excite him and he has described it as "pretty pointless".

He quit the job to go backpacking in south-east Asia.

On his return he applied for a position as a radio producer at Radio Netherlands Worldwide, having previously worked for a hospital radio.

He eventually began freelance work for the BBC World Service, where he was a presenter and producer for the magazine programmes On Screen and Outlook.