He began his television career writing episodes of Kavanagh QC. In 1996/7 he created and wrote the legal series Wing and a Prayer which ran for two seasons and was the first drama production aired by the newly formed Channel 5. The series was nominated for a BAFTA in the best TV series category in 1997.
Hall created and wrote the TV series Keeping Faith. The first season was produced in 2017 by Vox Pictures for BBC Wales and S4C. It was made in both the English and Welsh languages. The Welsh language version is entitled, Un Bore Mercher (One Wednesday Morning), and was first broadcast on S4C on 5 November 2017.[2][3] In May 2018, during an interview with BBC Breakfast, Eve Myles (who stars as the eponymous "Faith") said that Hall was writing the scripts for a second season.[4] Subsequently Keeping Faith was shown on BBC1, beginning on 10 July 2018.[citation needed] Matthew Hall received a Welsh BAFTA for the series, as best writer, in 2018.[5] The second season was commissioned later that year and first aired in Welsh (with English sub-titles) on S4C on 12 May 2019[6] and in English on BBC One in July–August 2019.[7] Hall has hinted that a third season is not beyond the bounds of possibility,[8] and according to an announcement in January 2020 a third season is due to air in October 2020.[9]
CBC, together with Morwyn Brebner, made a first, eight-part, series, Coroner, based on Hall's The Coroner series of books (the Jenny Cooper novels), and starring Serinda Swan as the titular character, which was aired in winter 2019, after production had begun in summer 2018.[10] The series premiered on CBC in January 2019,[11] and attracted 1 million viewers per episode throughout the first season.[12] The series was subsequently renewed for a second season,[13] and it was announced in May 2020 that a third season is to follow.[14]
CBC announced the renewal of the series for a fourth season in June 2021.[15][16] Production began on the 12-episode fourth season the next month,[17] and the fourth season premiered in January 2022.[18]
Novels
Hall's first novel, The Coroner, was published by PanMacmillan in 2009. His second novel, The Disappeared, was published in January 2010 in the UK and in December 2009 in the US. The Coroner was shortlisted for the Crime Writer's AssociationGold Dagger awarded to the best crime novel of 2009.[19] His third novel, The Redeemed, is published by PanMacmillan in April 2011. His fourth novel, The Flight, was shortlisted for the Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger in 2012.[20]
Matthew Hall has tutored on writing crime fiction as a 'Guardian Masterclasses' event together with William Ryan (whose Captain Korolev Novels have been shortlisted for numerous awards).[25]
Family
Hall is the son of Ian Hall, formerly a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Rebecca Hughes-Hall.[26] He is married to Patricia Carswell, a freelance journalist.[27] They have two sons.[27] He lives in the village of Welsh Newton Common and is church warden of St Mary the Virgin, Welsh Newton.[28]
Awards
BAFTA Cymru - Keeping Faith, Best Writer 2018 (winner)[5]
Crime Writers' Association - Gold Dagger 2012 (nomination for The Flight)[20]
Crime Writers' Association - Gold Dagger 2009 (nomination for The Coroner)[19]
RTS Midlands - Dalziel and Pascoe (Walls of Silence), Best Drama 2001 (winner, as writer)[29]
BAFTA - Wing and a Prayer, Best Drama Series 1997 (nomination, as writer/creator)[30]
^"Guardian Masterclasses: The essentials of writing crime fiction". theguardian.com. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2018. M.R. Hall is a Bafta-nominated screenwriter, producer and former criminal barrister... The Chosen Dead features... the trademark combination of intricate detail, perfect plotting, televisual narrative and flawed but believable characters.
