Paul Abbott (born 22 February 1960) is a
BAFTA award-winning English television screenwriter and producer. Abbott has become one of the most critically and commercially successful television writers working in Britain today, following his work on many popular series, including
Coronation Street,
Cracker and
Shameless, the last of which he created. He is also responsible for the creation of some of the most highly acclaimed television dramas of the 1990s and 2000s, including
Reckless and
Touching Evil for ITV and
Clocking Off and
State of Play for the BBC.