Nigel McCrery

Nigel McCrery
Nigel McCrery
Born	1953; London, UK
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter/Producer, Writer
Spouse	Gill McCrery (divorced)
Children	3

Nigel Colin McCrery (born 1953)^[1] is an English screenwriter, producer, and writer. He is the creator of the long-running crime dramas Silent Witness (1996–present) and New Tricks (2003–15).

Early life

McCrery was born in London. His father, Colin McCrery, served in the RAF, so the family travelled during his early childhood before settling in Nottingham.^[1] He attended George Spencer Secondary School in Stapleford.^[2]

Police career

After working in a series of jobs, McCrery joined the Nottinghamshire Constabulary in 1978. He worked on a number of murder cases and became interested in forensic science. In August 1987 he left the police to read modern history at Trinity College, Cambridge.^[1]^[2]

Broadcasting

McCrery was selected for the BBC's Graduate Entry Scheme in 1990. After working on a variety of BBC documentaries, he joined the BBC drama department in 1992, becoming the researcher on Our Friends in the North.^[2] He then went on to create the series Backup (1995–1997),^[3] Silent Witness,^[2]^[4] All The King's Men (1999), Born and Bred (2002–2006),^[3] Impact (2003) and New Tricks (2003–2015).^[5]

In 1992 while working as an assistant producer on the BBC1 show Tomorrow's World, McCrery arranged for the remains of the Tsar Nicholas II and the rest of the Russian Royal Family, executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918, to be flown to the UK for DNA examination to verify their identities. McCrery's car was then used to convey the bones of nine Romanovs to their destination.^[6] He wrote in his book Silent Witnesses: "There can't be many people who've had an entire royal family in the boot of their car".^[7]

McCrery is involved with the charity Care after Combat, which visits and helps former military personnel in prison.^{[citation needed]}

Publications

McCrery has written several crime novels, in the series Silent Witness and The Detective Inspector Lapslie Books.^[8] (five books with two more to come). A "Silent Witness" short story was serialised over three parts in the Mail On Sunday.

In non-fiction, he has published Silent Witnesses: A History of Forensic Science (2013),^[7] Shoot!: How to Make a Video Film to Professional Standards (1993) and a number of books of military history: For Conspicuous Gallantry: A Brief History of the Recipients of the Victoria Cross from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire (1990), The Vanished Battalion: One of the Great Mysteries of the First World War Finally Solved (1992; also published as All the King's Men), Under the Buns of the Red Baron: The Complete Record of Von Richthofen's Victories and Victims Fully Illustrated (with Norman L. R. Franks and Hal Giblin, 1995), The Complete History of the SAS: The Full Story of the World's Most Feared Special Forces (with Barry Davies, 2003), Go!, Go!, Go!: The Dramatic Inside Story of the Iranian Embassy Siege (2008), Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Great War (2013), The Fallen Few of the Battle of Britain (2015), The Final Season: The Footballers who Fought and Died in the Great War (2015), Final Wicket: Test and First-Class Cricketers killed in the Great War (2015),^[9] The Extinguished Flame: Olympians Killed in the Great War (2016),^[9] Hear the Boat Sing: Oxford and Cambridge Rowers Killed in World War I (2017),^[9] The Coming Storm: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two (2017), Final Scrum: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Second World War (2018), Season in Hell: British Footballers Killed in the Second World War (2019), The Undying Flame: Olympians Who Perished in the Second World War (2021), Dambusters: The Crews and Their Bombers (2021) and Virtus Vera Nobilitas: Students From Trinity College Cambridge Who Died During the Great War (2024).