Born in London in 1961, Chris Lang is a British screenwriter, producer and actor who has written a number of British drama series, notably the award-winning
Unforgotten (2015), the four-part thriller
Innocent (2018) and the Netflix series
The Hookup Plan (2018).
Lang began his writing career in 1993, writing on British TV series including The Bill (1984-2010) (which earned him a Writer's Guild nomination), Soldier Soldier (1991-1997) and
The Knock (1994). In 2000, he wrote his first original drama _"The Glass" (2001)_, and has since written a number of successful, critically acclaimed TV movies and dramas (including
Sirens (2002),
Unconditional Love (2003),
Lawless (2004),
The Reckoning (2011), and
Undeniable (2014) as well as contributing many episodes to existing shows like Hustle (2004- ) and Sky Atlantic's
The Tunnel (2013).
Lang is best known as the writer, creator and executive producer of the critically acclaimed
Unforgotten (2015). The series starred
Nicola Walker (who was nominated for a Press Guild Award for best actress) and
Sanjeev Bhaskar, Trevor Eve, Sir Tom Courtenay (who was nominated for an RTS award for best actor, and who won the BAFTA for best supporting actor) Sanjeev Bhaskar and Bernard Hill. Season One was first broadcast in Autumn 2015. ITV recommissioned the series: Season 2 was broadcast in February 2017, Season 3 in July 2018 and Season 4 in 2020. Season 4 of Unforgotten earned a Bafta nomination in the category Best Drama Series.
"
Dark Heart (2016)", which Lang adapted from the Adam Creed novel, was first broadcast in November 2016. He also co-wrote the four-part thriller "
Innocent (2018)", starring Lee Ingleby, first broadcast in May 2018. The series was adapted for German television as
Unschuldig (2018), and broadcast in December 2019
A second series of "Innocent", co-written with
Matthew Arlidge and starring
Katherine Kelly was broadcast in May 2021.
He created the series
The Hookup Plan (2018) (Plan Coeur) with
Noémie Saglio for Netflix, which was renewed for t second season in 2019
Lang wrote the four-part drama
The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe (2022), starring
Eddie Marsan and
Monica Dolan based on the true story of prison officer John Darwin, who faked his own death to claim life insurance and avoid bankruptcy - unbeknownst to his two sons.
Unforgotten has been re-commissioned for a fifth season and is currently in production
As an actor he worked on such British television series as Drop the Dead Donkey, Outside Edge, A Dance to the Music of Time and All Along the Watchtower. As a voice actor, he has contributed to films such as A Monkey's Tale, and the Children's television series Kipper the Dog.
He co-founded the production company TXTV with
Matthew Arlidge and
Jeremy Gwilt, which produces much of his work, and generates other original projects for British broadcasters. He lives in London with his wife and their children.