Stephen Gallagher


Stephen Gallagher is an English screenwriter and novelist. Gallagher was born in Salford, Greater Manchester and attended Eccles Grammar School, then graduated from the University of Hull with Joint Honours in Drama and English. First worked as a documentaries researcher for Yorkshire Television and then in the Presentation Department of Granada TV,.

Career

Gallagher has written novels and television scripts, including for the BBC television series Doctor Who — for which he wrote two serials, Warriors' Gate and Terminus —as well as for the series Rosemary & Thyme and Bugs, for two seasons of which he was script consultant along with Brian Clemens. He adapted his own novel Chimera as a 90-minute dramatized audio drama for BBC Radio 4 in 1985, and as a miniseries of the same name that was shown on ITV in 1991. He also directed the miniseries adaptation of Oktober, as well as writing the feature-length episode The Kingdom of Bones for the BBC series Murder Rooms.
He created and wrote a science-based series for ITV, Eleventh Hour, starring Patrick Stewart as a government science investigator and advisor. The programme was rumoured to be ITV's answer to the new series of Doctor Who, but was more in the tradition of the hard-science thriller. Gallagher's series format was acquired for a US television remake by the CSI trio of CBS, Jerry Bruckheimer and director Danny Cannon. The series aired on CBS and starred Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton.
Life Line, broadcast in 2007, was a two-part supernatural mystery starring Ray Stevenson, Joanne Whalley and Jemima Rooper. Gallagher was later lead writer and story supervisor on NBC's 13-part series Crusoe, screened in 2008/2009, and contributed two episodes to the US version of Eleventh Hour including Medea, the season finale. In 2009 he served as Co-Executive Producer on Bruckheimer's crime show The Forgotten, starring Christian Slater. Legacy, a two-part story for season 16 of the BBC's Silent Witness, was Best Drama winner in the 2013 European Science TV and New Media Awards. He later wrote episodes of Stan Lee's Lucky Man.
In June 2025 the radio drama An Alternative to Suicide was rebroadcast as part of a Hidden Treasures strand on BBC Radio 4 Extra. Starring Michael Jayston and directed by Martin Jenkins, the Saturday Night Theatre production was considered a lost work after the play's master tapes were erased for re-use. A copy was restored to the archive through the work of non-profit organisation The Radio Circle.

Novels

Original

Omnibus

Novelizations

Non-fiction

Screenplays

Radio and Audio

  • The Last Rose of Summer – 1977
  • Hunters’ Moon – 1978
  • The Humane Solution – 1979
  • The Babylon Run – 1979
  • An Alternative to Suicide – 1979
  • A Resistance to Pressure – 1980
  • Chimera – 1985
  • The Kingston File – 1987
  • The Wonderful Visit – 1988
  • By the River, Fontainebleau – 1988
  • The Horn – 1989
  • The Visitors’ Book – 1992
  • Life Line – 1993
  • The Bedlam Detective – 2012
  • The Kingdom of Bones – 2013
  • The Box – 2013
  • The Bedlam Detective – 2014
  • Nightmare Country – 2019
  • Warriors’ Gate – 2019
  • Casting the Runes – 2019
  • Terminus – 2019
  • The Kairos Ring – 2021

Theatre

  • Cheeky Boy – March 2018

Short fiction - Collections

Comics

Stories

  • Short stories unless otherwise noted.
Key to collections: CA=Comparative Anatomy, OOHM= Out of his Mind, PM=Plots & Misadventures
TitleYearFirst publishedReprinted/collectedNotes
A Mystery for Julie Chu2021Beyond the Veil, ed Mark Morris, Flame Tree PressCAHunting magical memorabilia
Blame the French2013Twisted Histories, ed Scott Harrison, SnowbooksCAOdysseus in a pub
By the River, Fontainebleau2001OOHMFrench Impressionist horror
Casey, Where He Lies1991Imagination 8, ed Ian Murphy, Kingfisher PressOOHMMaster tape of the dead
Comparative Anatomy1990Night Visions 8, Dark HarvestCAMystery sea cruise
Dead Man’s Handle1990Night Visions 8, Dark HarvestNorthern Chills, ed Graeme Hurry, 1994Low-rent park ride haunting
DeVice1991Hotter Blood, ed Jeff GelbBDSM goes wrong
Doctor Hood2003The Dark, ed Ellen Datlow, TOR BooksPMScientific ghost hunt
Dracula2018Dark Mirages, ed Paul Kane, PS PublishingCommissioned BBC screenplay, 2 parts
Driving Force1989Fear Magazine, ed John Gilbert, May/June 1989, July 1989 OOHMMeat eating car
EELS2007CAEel breeding neighbour
Eternal Flame2013Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, ed Jacob Edwards, issue 55Magic gas tank
Fancy That!1995Shivers for Christmas, ed Richard Dalby, Michael O’Mara BooksOOHMRat breeder and customer
Feeding Frenzy2001Walking in Eternity, ed Julian Eales, Factor FictionDoctor Who charity short
God’s Bright Little Engine1994Tombs, ed Peter Crowther and Edward E Kramer, White Wolf PublishingOOHMRepairman revenant
Heroes and Villains 2015The Doll Collection, ed Ellen Datlow, TOR BooksCACreepy ventriloquism
Homebodies1992Dark at Heart, ed Karen and Joe R Lansdale, Dark HarvestPrecursor to Red, Red Robin
Hounded2022Bonus e-story, Subterranean PressScheming dogs
Hunter, Killer1990Night Visions 8, Dark HarvestPMA bit like Predator
In Gethsemane1995Heaven Sent, ed Peter Crowther, DAW BooksCA, OOHMConjuror vs Spiritualist
Jailbird for Jesus2003The Best British Mysteries, ed Maxim JakubowskiPMConvenience store, undercover cop
Life Line1989Dark Fantasies, ed Christopher Morgan, LegendCA, OOHMHaunted chat line
Like Clockwork1987PMBody part replacement tech
Like Shadows in the Dark1987Shadows 10, ed Charles L Grant, DoubledayOOHMPrecursor to The Boat House
Little Angels2004Out of his Mind, collection, PS PublishingCA, OOHMGrandma’s revenge
Little Dead Girl Singing2002CA, PMWeird Child in a contest
Magpie1991Final Shadows, ed Charles L Grant, DoubledayCA, OOHMSchoolboy revenge
Melody James2018The Brooligan PressThe carny and the spy
Misadventure2007Inferno, ed Ellen Datlow, TOR BooksCASpooky leisure centre
Modus Operandi1989New Crimes, ed Maxim Jakubowski, RobinsonOOHMChild and a burglary
Mousetrap1992The Little Book of Horrors, ed Sebastian Wolfe, XanaduShort short
My Repeater2001CA, PMTime travelling failures
Night Flight2023Great British Horror 8, ed Steve J Shaw, Black Shuck BooksAuthor stalks fan
Nightmare, with Angel1983Arizona motel killer. Unrelated to the novel of the same title
No Life For Me Without You, Vodyanoi1985OOHMPrecursor to The Boat House
Not Here, Not Now1995Cold Cuts 3, ed Paul Lewis, Steve Lockley, Alun BooksCA, OOHMReckless driver comeuppance
O, Virginia1997Shades of Blonde, ed Carole Nelson Douglas, ForgeCA, OOHMParts of the stars
Old, Red Shoes1998Jack the Ripper, ed Susan Casper and Gardner Dozois, FuturaOOHMRipper office pranksters
One Dove2014Subterranean Magazine, ed William Schafer, Subterranean PressCAEdwardian crime
Out of Bedlam2012Crimetime OnlineEdwardian crime
Poisoned1997Kimota 6, ed Graeme HurryOOHMChildhood accident with a twist
Restraint2004Postscripts Magazine 1, ed Peter Crowther, PS PublishingCA, PMPursued by ex, night, road, kids
Ribbon of Darkness, Over Me1989Precursor to Down River
Shepherds’ Business2017New Fears, ed Mark Morris, Titan BooksCAScottish island horror
The Adventure of the Seven Unnatural Women2022Gaslight Ghouls, ed Charles Prepolec and J R CampbellSherlock Holmes
The Back of His Hand1990Night Visions 8, Dark HarvestCA, PMTattoo removal shocker
The Backtrack2022Comparative Anatomy, Subterranean PressCABuried secrets in a scrapped car
The Beautiful Feast of the Valley2018The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories, ed Stephen Jones, Skyhorse PublishingCAPlutarch in the machine
The Blackwood Oak2007Plots and Misadventures Hunting fairies with pickup truck and cattle prod
The Boy Who Talked to the Animals1985CATheme park behind the scenes
The Box2006Retro Pulp Tales, ed Joe R Lansdale, Subterranean PressCAHaunted helicopter escape
The Bucket Woman2006British Fantasy Society calendarShort short horror
The Butterfly Garden2006Joe R Lansdale’s Lords of the Razor, ed William Schafer and Bill Sheehan, Subterranean PressCATeen of the Flies
The Drain1990Fantasy Tales, ed Stephen Jones, David A SuttonOOHMKids on a quest
The Governess2021The Brooligan PressCAWinner of the Arthur Conan Doyle Society’s inaugural award for fiction
The Horn1989Arrows of Eros, ed Alex Stewart, New English LibraryOOHMDead Mistress in a snowstorm
The Kairos Ring2021BBC Audio originalDr Who spinoff novella
The Jigsaw Girl1986Shadows 9, ed Charles L Grant, DoubledayOOHMFortune telling toy
The Plot2006Subterranean Magazine 5, ed William Schafer, Subterranean PressCA, PMRevenge on Victorian cleric
The Price1985CATwist of fate
The Sluice1992Narrow Houses, ed Peter Crowther, Little, BrownOOHMUncanny care home tale
The Visitors’ Book1991Darklands, ed Nicholas Royle, Egerton PressCA, OOHMDread in a holiday home
The Wishing Ball1987Winter Chills 2, ed Peter Coleborn, British Fantasy SocietyPMSnuffing mom’s ex
To Dance by the Light of the Moon1986CAStalking the late night DJ
Twisted Hazel2020Tales of Dark Fantasy, ed William Schafer, Subterranean PressCAYoung ghost made homeless
With Her in Spirit2013Thirteen, Fantom PublishingInspired by true story