Pete McTighe (born November 1972) is a British screenwriter and producer. He was the originating writer of prison drama seriesWentworth, writing most of the first season and key episodes of subsequent seasons. The show ran for nine years, sold to hundreds of countries internationally and won dozens of awards including Most Outstanding and Most Popular Drama at theLogie Awards.^[3] He is the creator and writer of theBBC1 mystery thriller seriesThe Pact and has written various television productions in the UK and internationally, includingDoctor Who,Glitch andNowhere Boys. He also wrote and Executive ProducedThe Rising andA Discovery of Witches. McTighe has received fiveAustralian Writers Guild Award and one Welsh BAFTA nomination for his work.^[4]

McTighe was born in the United Kingdom in November 1972.^[5] He eventually moved to Australia to study inMelbourne^[6] and was invited to join the writing team atNeighbours in 2006.^[1] His contributions to the series included the show's 6000th episode, which aired as part of the 25th anniversary on 27 August 2010. In 2012, he was nominated for his firstAustralian Writers Guild Award (AWGIE) in the category of Best Television Serial for Episode 6231.^[7]

McTighe later wrote scripts for the ABC drama seriesCrownies,Tricky Business and theSeven Network dramaWinners & Losers.^[8][9] In 2011, McTighe started writing for theBBC One dramaEastEnders.^[10]

In 2012, it was announced McTighe would be writing a reimagining ofPrisoner Cell Block H calledWentworth.^[11] McTighe was the head writer for the first series, writing six of the ten episodes.^[5] His pilot script forWentworth was unveiled to the media in February 2013 to a positive reception.^[12][13] Ben Pobjie fromThe Age called the production "a no-holds-barred triumph".^[14] McTighe's pilot episode became the most watched non-sport program in subscription television history,^[15] and the series itself went on to sell extensively internationally and to be remade (using McTighe's scripts) in the Netherlands and Germany.^[16] The series has won dozens of awards including Most Outstanding Drama several years in a row.^[17] McTighe wrote the opening episode and the series finale of the second season,^[18] for which he received an AWGIE Award nomination.^[19] In August 2016 he was nominated for an Australian Writers Guild Award for theWentworth Series 3 finale "Blood And Fire"^[20] and a year later he was nominated for a fifth time for theWentworth Series 4 finale.^[21] McTighe wrote 27 key episodes of the Series across the first 8 seasons. He appeared in a cameo role in the final scene of Season 7 which saw the return of popular villainJoan Ferguson.^[22]

In August 2018, McTighe was announced as one of the writers for theeleventh series ofDoctor Who; his episode is the seventh in the series, titled "Kerblam!".^[23] The BBC press release quoted him as saying, "My entire television career has quite literally been an elaborate plan to get to writeDoctor Who – and no one is more shocked than me that it paid off. I've been having the time of my life working with Chris, and writing for Jodie and the new team, and can't wait for everyone to see what we've been up to."^[24] In November 2019, McTighe was announced as one of the writers for thetwelfth series,^[25] co-writing "Praxeus" withChris Chibnall.^[26] He was additionally among several writers who were part of initial script development for thethirteenth series, which had to be abandoned following theCOVID-19 pandemic and it being reduced to become the serialised six-episodeFlux in the process.^[27]

McTighe wrote the sleeve notes for many of the classicDoctor Who DVD releases during the final years of the range.^[28] In 2018 he became Content Consultant for theDoctor Who classic Blu-ray range and also wrote the booklets that accompany each box set.^[29] He writes and directs regular short films featuring classic Doctors and companions to promote the release of The Collection sets.^[30]

In 2023 McTighe wrote theKerblam! novelisation for the revivedTarget Books series,^[31] as well as the additional material created for theTales of the TARDIS re-releases ofThe Mind Robber andThe Curse of Fenric.

In 2024, it was announced that McTighe co-wrote theDoctor Who spin-off seriesThe War Between the Land and the Sea alongsideRussell T Davies, also serving as its showrunner.^[32]

In January 2025, it was announced that McTighe was returning toDoctor Who as a writer on thefifteenth series.^[33] His episode, "Lucky Day" was aired 3 May, 2025.

McTighe created and wrote theBBC1 mystery thriller seriesThe Pact which aired in May 2021, starringLaura Fraser,Julie Hesmondhalgh,Rakie Ayola, Eiry Thomas,Aneurin Barnard andJason Hughes. The series was filmed inWales.^[34][35] A second series was commissioned byBBC1 and was screened in October 2022 starringRakie Ayola.

McTighe wrote episodes for the second series ofThe Doctor Blake Mysteries^[36] In 2014 he wrote for the BBC America supernatural/mystery seriesTatau,^[37] and the comedy-dramaCara Fi.^[38] In 2015, McTighe received an AWGIE Award nomination for his work on the teen supernatural seriesNowhere Boys.^[19] He also wrote scripts for the 2017 Netflix/ABC drama seriesGlitch.^[39]

In June 2019, McTighe joined the second season of Sky/BBC America supernatural seriesA Discovery of Witches as a writer and executive producer.^[40] He also wrote an episode of theNetflix seriesClickbait.

In 2021, Sky Max broadcast his supernatural thriller seriesThe Rising.^[41]

In March 2021, McTighe founded his own television production company, Kerblam TV.^[2]

In 2023, it was announced Bronte Pictures will produce McTighe's1978, a period musical film about Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.^[42]

• Pete McTighe atIMDb
• Interview at The Perfect Blend

• 1972 births
• Living people
• 21st-century British male writers
• British soap opera writers
• British television writers
• British male screenwriters
• British science fiction writers
• British male television writers
• 21st-century British screenwriters

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