Geoffrey Atherden

Geoffrey John Atherden , credited also as Geoff Atherden, is an Australian television screenwriter and playwright, especially of comedy. He is best known for creating the sitcom Mother and Son.

Early life and education Atherden attended the School of Architecture at University of Sydney in the 1960s. He trained as an architect.

Architectural career Atherden practised as an architect until he was in his mid-thirties. He worked for the architectural firm of McConnel Smith and Johnson, and was responsible for designing the Law Courts Building in Queens Square, Sydney.

Writing career In 1969, the founders of Producers Authors Composers and Talent (now PACT Centre for Emerging Artists) attended a Sydney University Architecture Revue, with sets by Atherden and Grahame Bond, and invited Bond, Atherden, Peter Weir and his friend, composer Peter Best, a chance to do a show at the National Art School's Cellblock Theatre. Sir Robert Helpmann saw the show and took it to the Adelaide Festival, and soon afterwards Weir and Bond were commissioned to write a Christmas special TV show for ABC Television, called Man on a Green Bike. Atherden was later a contributor to The Aunty Jack Show, which starred Bond. He was script editor on a four-part sketch series, Jokes, which ran on ABC-TV in early 1979. In the middle of the same year he scripted a seven-part comedy, One Day Miller. In 1981 he was writer on the series Ratbags (1981) and the soap opera Sons and Daughters the following year.

In 1976, Atherden designed sets for the rock opera Hero, produced by Bond.

Atherden has written a number of plays. Prior to working in television he wrote Balloon Dubloon – the revue in 1965 and theatre show in 1970. He then concentrated on screenwriting, but continuing in writing for theatre again from 1994 onwards, including Hotspur (1994) and Black Cockatoo (2020).

He is perhaps best known for creating and writing the sitcom Mother and Son, which ran for over 10 years (January 1984 to March 1994). Other work includes the comedy-drama Grass Roots and the mockumentary BabaKiueria.

Other roles Atherden served as the president of Australian Writers' Guild and Australian Writers' Foundation. In 2016, Atherden joined the Screenrights Board, which licenses secondary users of broadcast content, along with other secondary functions.

He has also served two terms on the board of Screen NSW.

Mother and Son won several awards.

Television scripts

Selected theatre ProductionYear Revue: Balloon Dubloon 1965 Balloon Dubloon 1970 Short Circuits 1994 Hotspur 1994 Mother and Son 1990s–2014/2015 Various Productions The Anzac Project: Dear Mum and Dad/Light Begins to Fade Liberty Equality Fraternity Black Cockatoo 2020