Mike Cullen left school at the age of sixteen to work in the coal mines as an apprentice electrician, with the goal of funding a future career as a rock star. He went back into education and, in 1992, graduated from Edinburgh University with an Honours degree in Linguistics. In his final year at university, he wrote his highly successful first play, The Cut, which toured Scotland in 1993, before transferring to the Bush Theatre, London, in 1994. His second play, The Collection, was produced by the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 1995. Both plays were runners-up for the George Devine Award, and The Cut was also runner-up for the Meyer-Whitworth Award. Anna Weiss premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in 1997, and transferred to the Whitehall Theatre, London, in 1999. It was the winner of a Fringe First and an Independent on Sunday Award, and Mike Cullen was nominated for the Lloyds Bank Playwright of the Year 1997. For 20 years he has written for television, ranging from crime and suspense thrillers such as McCallum, Taggart, The Vice, Afterlife and Touching Evil to adventure dramas such as Hornblower and Primeval. He devised and executive produced the hit series Donovan, which was nominated for a Bafta, and Hornblower won him an Emmy for best miniseries in the USA.
