1. Paul Abbott became one of the most successful television writers in Britain following his work on popular series such as Cracker and Coronation Street, and would become more widely known for creating some of the most acclaimed television dramas of the 1990s and 2000s, including Reckless, Touching Evil, Clocking Off, State of Play, Shameless, and No Offence.
Paul Abbott's mother had supported the family with three jobs.
Paul Abbott's father did not claim benefits for the family for fear of alerting social services to their abandonment.
Paul Abbott enrolled at the University of Manchester in 1980 to study psychology, but decided to leave to concentrate on writing when a radio play he wrote was accepted by the BBC.
Paul Abbott entered the Radio Times drama competition at the age of 22 which had the requirement to find a professional sponsor.
Paul Abbott worked on Coronation Street for the next eight years as a story editor and from 1989 as a writer.
Paul Abbott made his first breakthrough with a programme of his own creation, the police drama serial Touching Evil in 1997.
Paul Abbott contributed an episode to their anthology series Love in the 21st Century, screened on Channel 4, and in 2000 created and wrote the series Clocking Off for them, which was screened on BBC One.
The first season won the BAFTA award for Best Drama Series, and the equivalent at the Royal Television Society awards; Paul Abbott personally was recognised with the RTS Best Writer award.
Paul Abbott was the highest-placed writer on the list, those above him being actors and executives.
In 2009, Paul Abbott acted as executive producer on the film version of State of Play for Universal Pictures.
In 2015, Paul Abbott was awarded an honorary doctorate from Keele University.