Ashley Pharoah

Ashley Pharoah (born 13 September 1959) is a British screenwriter and television producer. He is best known as the co-creator/writer of the successful drama series Life on Mars, which began on BBC One in 2006, and creator/writer of the family drama Wild at Heart, which aired on ITV1 from 2006 until 2012.

Early life Born in Southampton in 1959 but soon moved to Nailsea in North Somerset. Attended Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School in Bristol where his classmates included the actor Hugo Weaving and the football commentator Jonathan Pearce. Studied English at the University of Sussex and screenwriting at the National Film and Television School, where his graduation film was nominated for a BAFTA. Played rugby for Wimbledon RFC.

Career Whilst still at the National Film & Television School, Pharoah co-wrote the film "White Elephant", which was directed by Werner Grusch and starred Peter Firth. It was shot in Ghana.

began his television writing career on the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1991, on which he worked for four years and where he met co-writer Matthew Graham. He went on in 1994–1995 to contribute five episodes to the popular BBC One drama series Casualty and four episodes to Silent Witness (1996).

For ITV he created the long-running series Where the Heart Is, for which he wrote episodes from 1997 to 2000, and created the BBC One TV programme Down to Earth in 2001. Among other work in the early 2000s he scripted an adaptation of Tom Brown's Schooldays, starring Stephen Fry, for ITV in 2005. He has won two International Emmys for Life on Mars, a series which was remade for ABC in America, starring Harvey Keitel.

In 2010, adapted Case Histories, the novel by Kate Atkinson, for the BBC. It stars Jason Isaacs and was a co-production between Monastic Productions and Ruby Television. Other work around this time include "Eternal Law" for ITV and an adaptation of Moonfleet for Sky, starring Ray Winstone. His series The Living and the Dead, starring Colin Morgan, was screened on BBC1 in the summer of 2016.

Pharaoh was co-creator, writer and executive producer on an adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, which starred David Tennant and was screened around the world in 2021.

In 2025, Pharaoh wrote his first work for the stage, Exe Men, the story of the rise of Exeter Chiefs and their European success, based on Rob Kitson's book of the same name. The play premiered at Exeter's Northcott Theatre and received four stars out of five from The Guardian'''s Mark Lawson.

Accolades In February 2011, was made an Honorary Fellow of the National Film and Television School; this is awarded "in recognition of outstanding contribution to the British film and television industry".

In a ceremony at Bath Abbey in 2016, was made a Doctor of Letters by Bath Spa University for his contribution to screenwriting and television production.

He was awarded the Hamilton Deane Award by the Dracula Society for The Living and the Dead'' in 2016.

Writing credits "Only the Lonely" (1994) "Not Waving But Drowning" (1995) "Outside Bulawayo" (1995) "Lost Boys" (1995)BBC1Silent Witness"Long Days, Short Nights" (1996) "The Price of Love" (1999) "Playing God" (1999) "Soul and Conscience" (1999)

Awards and nominations