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Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne has been named president of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WBBG), promising to fight the “creeping conservatism” in commissioning and the onslaught of AI on written work.
He takes up the role with immediate effect from his predecessor Sandi Toksvig, who has served the maximum term of six years.
Thorne said he is a proud member of the WGGB and will fight for it as president in an increasingly “brutal” landscape for writers. He vowed to do all he can to support creatives in the “clash ahead”.
“I do think we’re about to be in the battle of our lives,” he said. “The landscape for writers is brutal right now, and the conservatism that has crept in to commissioning is vital to combat. But more than all that, there are people coming after our copyright, vultures who’d steal it to put into their machines and we need to make sure the government is robust in defending us,” he said.
“As a kid I went on marches with my parents where we’d chant ‘together, united, we’ll never be defeated’ and I do think these next few years are going to be about us all working together to fight.”
As a leading creative union WGGB represents professional writers in TV, film, theatre, audio, books, comedy, poetry, animation and video games.
The guild negotiates better pay and conditions and lobbies and campaigns on a broad range of issues to ensure writers’ rights are protected.
Extensive credits
Thorne is one of Britain’s most prolific writers, known for his socially resonant screenwriting and foregrounding of under-represented groups.
Over the course of his career, he has written extensively for TV, film, stage and radio. His 2025 credits include Netflix’s Toxic Town and its global smash Adolescence. He is also a writer on Sam Mendes’s ambitious four-part biopic about The Beatles as well as BBC1/Stan series The Lord of the Flies.
His other TV work includes collaborating with Shane Meadows on the This Is England trilogy (Channel 4) and his adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy (HBO/BBC).
He succeeds Toksvig, who over the course of her tenure has secured several wins for WGGB, including negotiating a landmark deal with Netflix – the first agreement with a global SVoD for TV writers in the UK – and initiating the New Play Scheme, to tackle the post-pandemic decline in commissioning of new stage plays.
She said: “During my six years as president we’ve seen a global pandemic, the rise of AI, the fall-out from Brexit, a cost-of-living crisis, the disturbing re-emergence of the far right, and brutal cuts to the arts.
“From deep in the trenches, I’ve been proud to witness my union rise to these challenges and fight at every turn to protect writers’ jobs, rights and livelihoods.
“As I hang up my president’s hat, I would like to pay tribute to every activist who I’ve been proud to walk alongside, and to all who sail the good ship WGGB.
“Unions are precious and more important than they have ever been; we must hold on to them tight. It’s been a privilege to serve, and I wish my successor Jack Thorne the very best – I know he’ll make a huge success of it.”
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