Jimmy McGovern

Writing

Jimmy McGovern

Born 1949-01-01 · Liverpool, England

Born in Liverpool in September, 1949, James Stanley "Jimmy" McGovern is an English screenwriter and producer. He created the television series Cracker, a popular and critical success in the UK, for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America.

Acting credits

Dockers: Writing the Wrongs poster
NR

The compelling tale of how a group of sacked dockers got together with scriptwriter Jimmy McGovern and novelist Irvine Welsh to turn their unique story into a film. In September 1995, five men were sacked for walking off the job when their overtime agreement was ditched. Dockers: Writing The Wrongs tells how the dockers spent a year producing the script based on their own experiences of the dramatic two and a half year dispute.

Dockers: Writing the Wrongs

1999

Hillsborough poster
7.2

Drama based on the real life events of April 1989, when ninety-six Liverpool supporters were crushed to death during an F.A. Cup Semi-Final match against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium. This movie follows three Liverpudlian families before the match, during the tragedy and at the ensuing court battles which tried to decide who was to blame and what went wrong.

Hillsborough

1996

Sleaford Mods: Invisible Britain poster
7.0

Sleaford Mods - Invisible Britain shows the most exciting and uncompromising British band in years sticking two fingers up to the zeitgeist and articulating the rage and desperation of those without a voice in austerity Britain. The film follows Sleaford Mods on a tour of the UK in the run up to the 2015 General Election, visiting the neglected, broken down and boarded up parts of the country that many would prefer to ignore. Part band doc, part look at the state of the nation, the documentary features individuals and communities attempting to find hope among the ruins, against a blistering soundtrack by Sleaford Mods.

Sleaford Mods: Invisible Britain

2015

The Royle Family: Behind the Sofa poster
8.4

Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash discuss the creation of The Royle Family, with a look behind the scenes at the production of the show and interviews with the cast.

The Royle Family: Behind the Sofa

2010

Behind the camera

Priest poster
6.3

The deeply held religious convictions of an idealistic young priest are challenged when he must face extraordinary events within his own congregation.

Priest

1995

Anthony poster
6.0

In July 2005, black teenager Anthony Walker was murdered by two white men in an unprovoked racist attack in a Liverpool park. He was just 18 years old. This film tells the story of how this talented young man's life might have turned out.

Anthony

2020

Liam poster
6.3

A morality tale of xenophobia, religious prejudice, mob violence, poverty, and their effect on two children in Liverpool during the Depression. When a shipyard closes, Liam and Teresa's dad loses his job. Liam, who's about 8, making his first Holy Communion, gets a regular dose of fire and brimstone at church. Teresa, about 13, has a job as a maid to the Jewish family that owns the closed shipyard. The lady of that house is having an affair, and Teresa becomes an accomplice. Liam stutters terribly, especially when troubled. Dad comes under the sway of the Fascists, who blame cheap Irish labor and Jewish owners. A Molotov cocktail brings things to a head.

Liam

2001

Care poster
6.4

Jenny, a single mother raising two daughters after her husband leaves, is aided by her widowed mother, Mary. But Jenny struggles to stay afloat after Mary suffers a devastating stroke and develops dementia.

Care

2018

Heart poster
5.4

A woman, plastered in blood, is arrested by a grave, and a tale of loss, lust and jealousy slowly unfolds.

Heart

1999

Unforgivable poster
7.8

The Mitchell family deal with the devastating aftermath of an act of sexual abuse committed by a member of their own family who, after two years, is about to leave prison.

Unforgivable

2025

Common poster
6.5

When 17-year-old Johnjo gives his cousin and his friends a lift, he finds himself implicated in a stabbing.

Common

2014

Needle poster
10.0

Needle paints a harrowing picture of a Liverpool overrun by drugs, charting a young man's nightmarish descent into intravenous heroin use and AIDS and a police and political leadership incapable of the imagination or courage necessary to respond to the drug problem.

Needle

1990

Hillsborough poster
7.2

Drama based on the real life events of April 1989, when ninety-six Liverpool supporters were crushed to death during an F.A. Cup Semi-Final match against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium. This movie follows three Liverpudlian families before the match, during the tragedy and at the ensuing court battles which tried to decide who was to blame and what went wrong.

Hillsborough

1996

Sunday poster
7.7

Sunday tells the story of an infamous day in Derry, North of Ireland and how the events of that day were subsequently covered up by the British Government of the time. On Sunday 30th January 1972 a peaceful civil rights march against internment (imprisonment without trial), organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) ended with 13 marchers shot dead and 15 wounded. It became known throughout the world as Bloody Sunday. Told primarily from the perspective of the Derry community, juxtaposed with the British Army/state's preparations and reaction to the day, Sunday communicates the forensic and emotional truth of what happened

Sunday

2002

Sunday poster
7.7

Sunday tells the story of an infamous day in Derry, North of Ireland and how the events of that day were subsequently covered up by the British Government of the time. On Sunday 30th January 1972 a peaceful civil rights march against internment (imprisonment without trial), organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) ended with 13 marchers shot dead and 15 wounded. It became known throughout the world as Bloody Sunday. Told primarily from the perspective of the Derry community, juxtaposed with the British Army/state's preparations and reaction to the day, Sunday communicates the forensic and emotional truth of what happened

Sunday

2002

Go Now poster
6.6

Nick, is a young Scottish soccer player living in the big city. He meets Karen, and the two fall in love and move in together. Soon after, Nick exhibits signs of serious illness. As his body slowly succumbs to multiple sclerosis, he experiences a wide sweep of jagged emotions, and in the process gives himself and those who love him the strength to carry on.

Go Now

1995

Dockers poster
6.8

Jimmy McGovern's depiction of the mid 90s Liverpool dockers strike. Featuring script contributions from Irvine Welsh and the real dockers themselves

Dockers

1999

Reg poster
5.0

In June 2003, Reg Keys and his wife Sally return to their home in the Welsh countryside. As they switch on the TV to hear six military policemen have been murdered in Iraq, two men arrive bearing the terrible news that their son, Tom, was among them.

Reg

2016

Gas and Candles poster
NR

Black comedy play about two pensioners struggling to manage on an old-age pension and living in a high-rise block of flats.

Gas and Candles

1991

Traitors poster
7.0

A play about the gunpowder plot written from a new angle by Jimmy McGovern.

Traitors

1990