Jeremy Dyson (born 14 June 1966) is a British author, musician and screenwriter who, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is one of the League of Gentlemen. He also created and co-wrote the West End show Ghost Stories and its film adaptation.

Early life

Dyson was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, son of Elaine Saville and Melvin Dyson. He has one older brother, Andrew Dyson, and a younger sister, Jayne Dyson. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School, now The Grammar School at Leeds. He studied Philosophy at the University of Leeds and later completed an MA in screenwriting at the Northern Film School. He lived in Highbury, London, but now lives in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. The League of Gentlemen initially began as a stage act in 1995, which was then transferred to BBC Radio 4 in 1997 as On the Town with the League of Gentlemen, and then became a television series on BBC Two in 1999. Five stories from Never Trust a Rabbit were read on BBC Radio 4 in 2000. In 2023, following the closure of the NatWest bank, the Leeds location of the Cash-Point Oracle from Never Trust a Rabbit was given historical landmark status by Google. His novel What Happens Now was published on 6 April 2006 to favourable reviews and was nominated for the Goss first novel award.

He co-created (with Simon Ashdown) the BAFTA-nominated television series Funland, which aired on BBC Three, and wrote the Billy Goats Gruff episode of the BBC's 2008 series Fairy Tales. although Dyson appears in the background of a few scenes.

Dyson has an interest in the supernatural fiction of English writer Robert Aickman and has adapted Aickman's work in a number of media. With Andy Nyman, he co-wrote and co-directed the supernatural-themed stage production Ghost Stories. A film adaptation of Ghost Stories, directed by Dyson and Nyman, and starring Nyman, premiered in 2017.

Dyson was script editor on the BBC Two comedy-thriller The Wrong Mans written by James Corden, Mathew Baynton and Tom Basden. The show is about a pair of lowly office workers who become unwittingly embroiled in a deadly criminal conspiracy. Its first series was broadcast in 2013. He has written and acted as script supervisor for the BBC sketch comedy series Tracey Ullman's Show and Tracey Breaks the News starring Tracey Ullman.

Alongside his writing work, Dyson plays keyboards in a pop band called Rudolf Rocker,

Following Ghost Stories, Dyson and Nyman co-wrote and co-directed a new psychological horror play The Psychic which opened at the York Theatre Royal in April 2026.

References

  • Transcript of talk with Jeremy Dyson
  • 2001 article about The League of Gentlemen