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Coordinates: 55°19′55″N 3°26′31″W / 55.332°N 3.442°W / 55.332; -3.442

Moffat
Scottish Gaelic: Am Magh Fada (The Long Plain)
Moffat from the surrounding hills
Moffat  Moffat shown within Dumfries and Galloway
OS grid reference	NT085052
Council area	Dumfries and Galloway
Lieutenancy area	Dumfries
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MOFFAT
Postcode district	DG10
Dialling code	01683
Police	Dumfries and Galloway
Fire	Dumfries and Galloway
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Scottish Parliament	Dumfries
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Moffat (Scottish Gaelic: Am Magh Fada, "The Long Plain") is a former burgh and spa town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, lying on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. The Moffat House Hotel, located at the northern end of the High Street, was designed by John Adam. The nearby Star Hotel, a mere 20 ft (6 m) wide, boasted a record in the Guinness Book of Records as the narrowest hotel in the world. Moffat won the famous "Britain In Bloom" contest in 1996. Moffat is also the home to the well known Moffat toffee.

The Devil's Beef Tub near Moffat was used by the members of Clan Moffat and later the members of Clan Johnstone to hoard cattle stolen in predatory raids. The town is held to be the ancestral seat of Clan Moffat.

Early tourism as a spa town[link]

During the 17th century Moffat began to grow from a small village into a popular spa town. The sulphurous waters of Moffat Spa were believed to have healing properties and during the Victorian era the high demand led to the water being piped down from the well to a specially built bath house in the town centre (now the Town Hall). Luxurious hotels sprang up to accommodate the increasing numbers of tourists. One such hotel opened during Moffat's heyday in 1878, Moffat's Hydropathic hotel was destroyed in a fire in 1921.

The old well was refurbished in the mid 1990s, and is still accessible by vehicle and foot. The water smells very strongly of sulphur, with deposits on the walls and well itself. At the grand reopening of the well people visiting it were encouraged to drink a glass of it.

The well is reached by following Haywood Road and climbing up Tank Wood (on the right at the top) - the path at the end was the original route to the well. When the water was first piped into town for the baths it was pumped uphill to a tank in the appropriately named Tank Wood, before travelling back downhill to the bath house.

Wool trade[link]

Ram statue

Moffat was a notable market in the wool trade, and this is commemorated with a statue of a ram by William Brodie in the town's marketplace. The ram was presented to the town by William Colvin, a local businessman, in 1875. The ram is missing its ears, and has been since it was first presented.

Notable people[link]

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, was born in Moffat in 1882. D. E. Stevenson (1892–1973) author and cousin to Robert Louis Stevenson. William Carruthers, botanist, was born in Moffat.

Moffat has spawned two full Scotland international footballers, James B Niven and James Fraser, and Indian-Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy. Ivor Robson, the official starter for the Open golf tournament since 1975, lives in Moffat.

Famous and infamous visitors[link]

Robert Burns came for the waters and frequented the local bars.

The infamous murderer and alleged graverobber William Hare may have stayed in the Black Bull Hotel during his escape to Ireland after turning Kings evidence against William Burke. (Main article West Port murders)

In 1935, the remains of the victims of the Lancaster murderer, Dr Buck Ruxton, were found in a stream near The Devil's Beef Tub. A landmark case in legal history, it was the first in which the murderer was successfully convicted using the type of highly sophisticated forensic techniques which are taken for granted in the 21st century. The bridge at the top is still used to this day - near the very top it is a switchback that is not quite wide enough for two vehicles to pass on. The area is colloquially known as "Ruxton's Dump".

Tourism[link]

Post Office

The town attracts many tourists all year round, both as visitors and as walkers in the surrounding hills. Notable buildings include the Annandale Arms Hotel and Restaurant which recently was awarded 4 stars by Food Review Scotland^[1] as well as The Real Food Award by Scottish Hotel Awards 2009. Shops include the Moffat Toffee Shop and The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, while its restaurants and cafes include The Bombay Cuisine, Claudio's, Arietes, The Rumblin' Tum, The Balmoral and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel and Restaurant. The Buccleuch has also been awarded Gold in Visitscotland's Green Tourism Business Scheme.^[2]

It also has a recreation park with a boating pond and a memorial to Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding.

There is an official Camping and Caravanning Club campsite (for tents, caravans and motorhomes) that is open all year as of 13 March 2008. This is situated next to the Hammerlands Centre - a combination garden centre, gift shop, restaurant, fish farm and children's play area with farmyard animals.

For walkers there is also the Gallow Hill, which has been used for hanging.^{[citation needed]} Moffat is also situated only a few miles from the Southern Upland Way where it passes through Beattock, and the Sir Walter Scott Way starts here.

North-East of Moffat is the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall. This hanging-valley waterfall is 60m tall and lies within a nature reserve.

Education[link]

Moffat Academy teaches pupils of Nursery, Primary and Secondary School age, there are currently 301 pupils taught at the school. It has been in its current location in the north of the town since 1834. In February 2010 the school moved to a new site in the south-east of the town on Jeff Brown Drive.

Moffat Academy website

http://www.moffat.dumgal.sch.uk/

Sport and recreation[link]

Town hall

Moffat RFC caters for all ages from 6–8 years. The 1stXV which plays in The Scottish Rugby Union league structure and are currently in West Region Division 2. They are also known as "The Rams" after the statue in the High Street. The ground wholly owned by the club is situated at The Holm, Selkirk Road.^[3]

Moffat Golf Club was founded in 1884. In 1904, Ben Sayers of North Berwick was invited to design the present 18-hole course. Located high on Coats Hill overlooking the town it is some 670 feet above sea level.^[4]

A 53 mile long-distance walking route called Annandale Way ^[5] running through Annandale (from the source of the River Annan to the sea) was opened in September 2009.^[6]. The route passes very close to the town of Moffat and a diversion from it into the town adds very little in distance.

The nearby Moffat Hills^[7] offer many excellent walking routes and the town itself is the closest base for access to these hills.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Tourist Information Website
• Official Moffat Mountain Rescue Team Information Website
• Clan Johnston/e Website
• Clan Moffat Society Website
• Buccleuch Arms Hotel - Award Winning Hotel in Moffat
• Annandale Arms Hotel - AA Rosette awarded restaurant

Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat at Comic Con San Diego 2008
Born	(1961-11-18) 18 November 1961 (age 50)[1] Paisley, Scotland
Occupation	Screenwriter and television producer.
Period	1988–present
Genres	Comedy, drama, adventure, science fiction
Spouse(s)	Sue Vertue[2]
Children	Joshua and Louis[2]

Steven Moffat (/ˌstiːvən ˈmɒfət/, born 18 November 1961^[1]) is a Scottish television writer and producer.

Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his relationship with television producer Sue Vertue. In between the two relationship-centred shows, he wrote Chalk, a sitcom set in a comprehensive school inspired by his own experience as an English teacher.

A lifelong fan of Doctor Who, Moffat has written several episodes of the revived version and succeeded Russell T Davies as lead writer and executive producer when production of its fifth series began in 2009.^[3] He co-wrote The Adventures of Tintin for director Steven Spielberg, a project he left for his new senior role on Doctor Who. He co-created Sherlock, an adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories.

Many of the programmes upon which he has worked have won awards, including BAFTAs and Hugo Awards for some of his episodes of Doctor Who.

[edit] Early life and Press Gang

Moffat was born in Paisley, Scotland, where he attended Camphill High School.^[4] He studied at the University of Glasgow, where he was involved with the student television station, GUST (Glasgow University Student Television).^[5] After gaining an MA degree in English from Glasgow, he worked as a teacher for three and a half years at Cowdenknowes High School, Greenock.^[4] In the 1980s he wrote a play entitled War Zones (performed at the 1985 Glasgow Mayfest and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe^[6]) and a musical called Knifer.^[7] His father, Bill Moffat, was a head teacher at Thorn Primary School in Johnstone, Renfrewshire;^[2] when the school was used for Harry Secombe's Highway in the late 1980s, he mentioned to the producers that he had an idea for a television series about a school newspaper. The producers asked for a sample script, to which Bill Moffat agreed on condition his son write it.^[8][9] Producer Sandra Hastie said that it was "the best ever first script" that she had read.^[10]

The resulting series was titled Press Gang, starring Julia Sawalha and Dexter Fletcher, and ran for five series on ITV between 1989 and 1993, with Moffat writing all forty-three episodes. The programme won a BAFTA award in its second series.^[11]

During production of the second series of Press Gang, Moffat was experiencing an unhappy personal life as a result of the break-up of his first marriage. The producer was secretly phoning his friends at home to check on his state.^[12] His wife's new lover was represented in the episode "The Big Finish?" by the character Brian Magboy (Simon Schatzberger), a name inspired by Brian: Maggie's boy. Moffat brought in the character so that all sorts of unfortunate things would happen to him, such as having a typewriter dropped on his foot.^[13]

[edit] Joking Apart

Moffat records DVD commentary for Joking Apart (2006)

By 1990, Moffat had written two series of Press Gang, but the programme's high cost along with organisational changes at backers Central Independent Television cast its future in doubt.^[13] As Moffat wondered what to do next and worried about his future employment, Bob Spiers, Press Gang's primary director, suggested that he meet with producer Andre Ptaszynski to discuss writing a sitcom.^[14] Inspired by his experience working in education, Moffat's initial proposal was a programme similar to what would become Chalk, a sitcom set in a school that eventually aired in 1997.^[15] During the pitch meeting at the Groucho Club, Ptaszynski realised that Moffat was talking passionately about his impending divorce and suggested that he write about that instead of a school sitcom.^[15] Taking Ptaszynski's advice, Moffat's new idea was about "a sitcom writer whose wife leaves him".^[16] Moffat wrote two series of Joking Apart, which was directed by Bob Spiers, and starred Robert Bathurst and Fiona Gillies. The show won the Bronze Rose of Montreux^[14] and was entered for the Emmys.^[17] In an interview with Richard Herring, Moffat says that "The sit-com actually lasted slightly longer than my marriage."^[8] Fiona Gillies, who played the adulteress Becky, says that she was aware that some of her dialogue was based on what had been said to Moffat during his own separation.^[16] Moffat recycled his own dialogue: when he had learned that his wife's lover was a fan of Press Gang, he replied, "Well, did he have to fuck my wife? Most people just write in!".^[2][18] The line, with the expletive replaced by "shagged", was used in the first episode of Joking Apart.^[19]

Speaking about the autobiographical elements of the show, the writer jokes that he has to remember that his wife didn't leave him for an estate agent; his wife was an estate agent.^[20][21] Conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based on his relationship with his second wife, TV producer Sue Vertue.^[22] Moffat reused the surname "Taylor", which is Mark's surname in Joking Apart, for Jack Davenport's character Steve in Coupling.

He wrote three episodes of Murder Most Horrid, an anthology series of comedic tales starring Dawn French. The first ("Overkill", directed by Bob Spiers) was identified by the BBC as a "highlight" of the series.^[23] His other two episodes were "Dying Live" (dir. Dewi Humphreys) and "Elvis, Jesus and Zack" (dir. Tony Dow).

[edit] Chalk and Coupling

Between marriages, Moffat claims that he "shagged [his] way round television studios like a mechanical digger."^[2] According to an interview with The New York Times, Moffat met television producer Sue Vertue at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1996.^[24] Vertue had been working for Tiger Aspect, a production company run by Peter Bennett-Jones. Bennett-Jones and his friend and former colleague Andre Ptaszynski, who had worked with Moffat on Joking Apart, told Moffat and Vertue that each fancied the other. A relationship blossomed and they left their respective production companies to join Hartswood Films, run by Beryl Vertue, Sue's mother.^[9] The couple have two children together: Joshua and Louis.^[2]

Before Moffat left Pola Jones for Hartswood, Ptaszynski produced Chalk, the series that the writer had pitched to him at the beginning of the decade.^[9] Set in a comprehensive school and starring David Bamber as manic deputy head Eric Slatt and Nicola Walker as Suzy Travis, the show was based on Moffat's three years as an English teacher.^[8] The studio audience responded so positively to the first series when it was taped that the BBC commissioned a second series before the first had aired. However, it was met less enthusiastically by critics upon transmission in February 1997, who had taken exception to the BBC's publicity department comparing the show to the highly-respected Fawlty Towers.^[9] In an interview in the early 2000s, Moffat refuses to even name the series, joking that he might get attacked in the street.^[25]

After production wrapped on Chalk in 1997, Moffat announced to the cast that he was marrying Vertue.^[26] When she eventually asked him for a sitcom, he decided to base it around the evolution of their own relationship. Coupling was first broadcast on BBC2 in 2000, with his wife producing for Hartswood Films. The series proved to be highly successful, running until 2004 and producing four series and twenty-eight episodes, all written by Moffat. He also wrote the original, unbroadcast, pilot episode for the American version of the same series, in 2003, although this was less successful and was cancelled after four episodes on the NBC network. Moffat has blamed its failure on an unprecedented level of network interference.^[21]

[edit] Jekyll, Tintin, and Sherlock

He wrote the Hartswood Films drama series Jekyll, a modern version of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which aired on BBC One in June and July 2007.^[27] In an interview with The Age, James Nesbitt, who played the eponymous character, called Moffat "an eccentric, shy fellow", while commending his writing as "inventive and dark and funny".^[28]

In June 2007 Moffat told The Stage that he is working on a new sitcom. Provisionally titled Adam and Eve, it concerns a boss and his personal assistant, who are long-term friends but never get together.^[29] In October 2007 it was reported that Moffat would be scripting a trilogy of The Adventures of Tintin films for directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.^[30] According to The Times newspaper, Moffat had to be "love bombed" by Spielberg into accepting the offer to write the films, with the director promising to shield him from studio interference with his writing.^[31] He had intended to complete work on the whole trilogy before resuming work on Doctor Who, but the intervening WGA strike meant he could submit a finished script for the first film only.^[32] In July 2008, Moffat was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: "I could not work on the second Tintin film and work on Doctor Who. So I chose Doctor Who."^[33] Moffat says that Spielberg was "lovely" about his decision. The script was completed by Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, with a part of Moffat's script used in the film.^[34]

Moffat remains a writer for Hartswood Films even after his appointment as show-runner for Doctor Who. During their journeys from London to Cardiff for Doctor Who, Moffat and Mark Gatiss conceived a contemporary update of Sherlock Holmes, called Sherlock.^[35] Benedict Cumberbatch was cast as Holmes, with Martin Freeman as Dr Watson.^[36] A 60-minute pilot, written by Moffat, was filmed in January 2009.^[35][37][38] The pilot was not broadcast, but three 90-minute episodes were commissioned. Moffat wrote the first of these, "A Study in Pink", which was broadcast on 25 July 2010 on BBC One and BBC HD.^[39] A second series was broadcast in January 2012, for which Moffat wrote the episode "A Scandal in Belgravia", with a third series planned for production in late 2012.^[34][40]

[edit] Doctor Who

Moffat, a fan of Doctor Who since childhood,^[41] first professionally contributed to Doctor Who with a prose story, "Continuity Errors", which was published in the 1996 Virgin Books anthology Decalog 3: Consequences. In 1999 he scripted the parody Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, which aired as part of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day charity telethon. The co-producer for that year's Comic Relief telethon was Moffat's then-new wife, Sue Vertue.^[42]

In 2004 Moffat was signed to write for the revival of Doctor Who. He became known, according to The Guardian, for writing "the clever, darker episodes" of the first four series of the show.^[4] His contribution for the 2005 series was the Hugo Award-winning^[43][44] two-part story "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". In the DVD audio commentary he says that he waited forty years to see his name appear on top of that theme music.^[41] He wrote an episode for each of the two following series of Doctor Who: "The Girl in the Fireplace" in the 2006 series (which won the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form^[45] and was nominated for a 2006 Nebula Award^[46]) and "Blink" in the 2007 series. In the Doctor Who Magazine reader poll for the 2007 series, Moffat was voted as best writer and "Blink" as the best story. The episode was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Script.^[46] In 2008 it secured him his third Hugo win, again for Best Dramatic Presentation,^[47] the BAFTA Craft Award for Best Writer,^[48] and a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Screenwriter.^[49] He also wrote the 2007 Children in Need "special scene" "Time Crash".^[50]

He wrote a two-part story for series four in 2008, titled "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead". This made Moffat and series executive producer Russell T Davies the only writers to have contributed scripts to all four series of the revived show. In March 2008, Davies said that he often rewrote scripts from other writers, but didn't "touch a word" of Moffat's episodes.^[21] Moffat's script for series four secured him his fourth consecutive Hugo Awards nomination, though it did not win.

The BBC announced in May 2008 that Moffat would be taking over from Russell T Davies as head writer and executive producer for the revived show's fifth series, to be broadcast in 2010,^[3] although Davies had initiated discussions with Moffat regarding this as far back as July 2007.^[51] Commenting on his appointment, Moffat said it was "the proper duty of every British subject to come to the aid of the TARDIS".^[32] Production on Moffat's time in charge of the programme began in July 2009.^[52] As executive producer and head writer, he was significantly involved in casting Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. Smith first appeared as the Doctor at the end of Davies and David Tennant's final episode "The End of Time, Part 2", in a short post-regeneration scene that Davies left for Moffat to write himself. Moffat wrote the scene in "about ten minutes" as "a bit of fun banter" for the new Doctor.^[53]

In addition to his television episodes, Moffat has also contributed stories to Panini Publishing's Doctor Who Storybook series, penning the short stories "What I Did On My Christmas Holidays By Sally Sparrow" for the 2006 book (which later formed the basis of his TV episode "Blink"),^[54] "Corner of the Eye" for the 2007 volume and "A Letter From the Doctor" which opens the 2009 Storybook.

Writing credits[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

See also[link]

• Screenplays by Steven Moffat

References[link]

External links[link]

• Steven Moffat at the Internet Movie Database
• Steven Moffat biography at the Hartswood Films website.
• Audio interview with Steven Moffat at the Doctor Who series two press launch. Source:BBC Wiltshire
• StevenMoffat.net The Moff. Thrilling adventures in Time & Space. And Norbridge.
• Steven Moffat on Twitter

Benedict Cumberbatch
Cumberbatch during filming of Sherlock in 2011
Born	Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (1976-07-19) 19 July 1976 (age 35) London, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2001–present
Parents	Timothy Carlton Wanda Ventham

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English film, television, radio and theatre actor. His most acclaimed roles include Stephen Hawking in the BBC drama Hawking (2004); William Pitt in the historical film Amazing Grace (2006); the protagonist Stephen Ezard in the miniseries thriller The Last Enemy (2008); Paul Marshall in Atonement (2007); Bernard in Small Island (2009); Sherlock Holmes in the modern BBC adaptation series Sherlock (2010); and Peter Guillam in the spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011).

In February 2011, he began playing both Victor Frankenstein and his creature opposite Jonny Lee Miller in Danny Boyle's stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The play had a three-month run at the National Theatre. In late 2011, he played Major Stewart in Steven Spielberg's War Horse (2011). The film received five BAFTA nominations and six Academy Award nominations, including the Best Picture nomination in 2012. He also played Peter Guillam, one of the pivotal roles in Tomas Alfredson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011), which was nominated for three Academy Awards and 11 BAFTA Awards. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was also nominated for Best Picture in 2012.

He reprised the role of Sherlock Holmes in the second series of the BBC's Sherlock, which aired in the United Kingdom in January 2012 and was broadcast on PBS in the United States in May 2012. In addition to the BBC's Sherlock, he stars as Christopher Tietjens in the BBC/HBO co-production television miniseries Parade's End, which is expected to be released in 2012. He will portray Smaug the Dragon through motion capture and voice the Necromancer in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: There and Back Again. He will also portray the antagonist in director J.J. Abrams’s Untitled Star Trek sequel, which will be released in May 2013.

Early life and education[link]

Cumberbatch was born on 19 July 1976 in London, the son of actors Timothy Carlton (birth name Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch) and Wanda Ventham. He was educated at two independent schools: Brambletye School^[1] in West Sussex, followed by Harrow School in northwest London, where he began performing as an actor. After school, he took a gap year to teach English in a Tibetan monastery.^[2] He then attended the University of Manchester, where he studied drama.^[3] After graduating, Cumberbatch continued his training as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career[link]

Theatre[link]

Since 2001, Cumberbatch has had major roles in a dozen classic plays at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, Almeida Theatre, Royal Court Theatre and the National Theatre. He was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for his performance as Tesman in Hedda Gabler, a role he performed at the Almeida Theatre on 16 March 2005, as well as at the Duke of York's Theatre when it transferred to the West End on 19 May 2005.

Cumberbatch acted in The Children’s Monologues, a star-studded theatrical event at London's Old Vic Theatre on 14 November 2010. The show was produced by Dramatic Need.^[4] In February 2011, he began playing, on alternate nights, both Victor Frankenstein and his creature, opposite Jonny Lee Miller, in Danny Boyle's stage production of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at the National Theatre.^[5][6] Frankenstein was broadcast to cinemas as a part of National Theatre Live in March 2011.^[7] The Children’s Monologues was directed by Danny Boyle as well.

In April 2012 Cumberbatch won the Olivier Award for Best Actor (jointly with Jonny Lee Miller) for the acclaimed Frankenstein at the National Theatre, directed by Danny Boyle, with the two lead actors alternating the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature.

Television[link]

Cumberbatch's television roles include two separate guest roles in Heartbeat (2000, 2004), Freddy in Tipping the Velvet (2002), Edward Hand in Cambridge Spies (2003) and Rory in the ITV comedy drama series Fortysomething (2003). He was also featured in Spooks and Silent Witness.

In 2004, he starred as Stephen Hawking in Hawking. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor and won the Golden Nymph for Television Films – Best Performance by an Actor. (He later provided Hawking's voice in the first episode of the television series Curiosity.) He also appeared in the BBC miniseries Dunkirk as Lieutenant Jimmy Langley.

In 2005, Cumberbatch starred as the protagonist Edmund Talbot in the miniseries To the Ends of the Earth, based on William Golding's trilogy. Director David Attwood said:

We found Benedict Cumberbatch fairly early. We needed a very good actor, someone young enough to be believable as an aristocratic, an almost slightly dislikeable character who is an adolescent in terms of his views of the world, his upbringing. But we also needed someone who could hold the screen for four and half hours, in every scene. We needed someone with experience who was not only a very good actor, but also with terrific comic timing. Benedict was the ideal answer to that.^[8]

Producer Lynn Horsford added:

Benedict was remarkable. He carried the Golding novels with him on set and constantly referred to them. We needed him every single day and he just didn't stop, nor complain. He simply became Edmund Talbot. And that commitment spread to every cast member. The process of making this film echoed the journey the characters went on in the story—we really got to know each other during our four months on location and we became very close.^[8]

He also made brief appearances in the comedy sketch show Broken News in 2005.