Sally Wainwright

Sally Anne Wainwright (born 1963) is an English television writer, producer, and director. She is known for her dramas, which are often set in her native West Yorkshire, and feature "strong female characters". Wainwright has been praised for the quality of her dialogue. Wainwright began her career as a scriptwriter on the long-running radio serial drama The Archers, and worked on the television soap operas Emmerdale and Coronation Street in the 1990s. Her first original drama, At Home with the Braithwaites, aired between 2000 and 2003. After two self-described "flops" in the mid-2000s, Wainwright found success with Unforgiven (2009), for which she won the Royal Television Society's Writer of the Year Award. Her work since includes Scott & Bailey (2011–2016), Last Tango in Halifax (2012–2020), Happy Valley (2014–2023), Gentleman Jack (2019–2022), and Riot Women (2025). Last Tango in Halifax won the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2013, and Happy Valley won the same award in both 2015 and 2017. The first book covering Wainwright's career and key works, Sally Wainwright, authored by Prof Kristyn Gorton and Prof. Beth Johnson (University of Leeds), was published by Manchester University Press in September 2025.