Tim Sullivan

Timothy "Tim" Sullivan (born 21 February 1958) is a German-born British film and television director, screenwriter and novelist known for his work with Granada Television and his feature film Jack and Sarah. More recently, he is better known as a crime fiction writer, with a series of novels featuring an autistic detective, DS George Cross.

Early life and education Tim Sullivan was born in Germany, where his father was stationed with the Royal Air Force. He attended Clifton College in Bristol, England, before gaining an exhibition scholarship to read English and Law at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Sullivan was a member of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, and partnered with writer Richard Maher on the play Klev, which ran at the Crown Theatre, Hill Place in 1978. He also supplied extras to Chariots of Fire (1981).

Career After leaving Cambridge Sullivan got a summer job as a chauffeur to Anthony Andrews on the production of Brideshead Revisited. The producer Derek Granger learned that Sullivan was writing a screenplay with Derek Jarman (Bob Upadown), and encouraged him to get a job as a researcher with Granada Television.

Sullivan stayed at Granada for several more years, directing episodes of series such as Busman's Holiday, Stop That Laughing at the Back, Coronation Street and The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, as well as adapting A Handful of Dust as a feature film for London Weekend Television (1988) and directing Thatcher: The Final Days (1991). In 1995, Sullivan wrote and directed his first feature film, Jack and Sarah, starring Richard E. Grant and Samantha Mathis. The film was inspired by the attention a male colleague at Granada received when his childcare arrangements broke down and he had to bring his child into work. though his script was abandoned by the time production on the film began.

Sullivan wrote the film Letters to Juliet, starring Amanda Seyfried, which was released in the United States in 2010, taking over $80 million worldwide. He has been developing a film based on the London Marathon and another The Wedding Dress. He has worked with many notable directors and producers in the US including Ron Howard, Scott Rudin and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

In 2020, Sullivan self-published two crime novels centring on the neurodivergent detective DS George Cross, 'The Dentist' and 'The Cyclist', within four months the two titles achieved over 200,000 downloads and he was signed by British publisher Head of Zeus. Further novels in the DS Cross series, 'The Patient', 'The Politician', 'The Monk', 'The Teacher' and 'The Bookseller' have now been published. The eighth in the series 'The Tailor' was published in July 2026.

In June 2023 he was awarded an MLitt with distinction in Crime Fiction and Forensic investigation at the University of Dundee. He also won the Val McDermid dissertation prize.

In 2026 he won the Dagger in the Library by the Crime Writers' Association. This is given to an author whose work is popular with borrowers and is a supporter of libraries.

Filmography

Television