Cirrus@Austlit

Christopher Lee was born in the central west of New South Wales, where he also spent his childhood. He completed secondary school in Sydney, and in the late 1960s he studied law at the Australian National University in Canberra. He worked in several jobs, before completing a BA at the University of Sydney. He became a journalist and worked in Sydney, Fleet Street and the Northern Territory. His first novel was Bush Week (1980).

Lee left journalism after receiving an Australia Council Literature Board one year fellowship in 1981 and began scriptwriting after he was accepted into the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS).

While still at AFTRS Lee developed a television script about a journalist which became the ABC drama series Stringer (1988). Amongst his other work for television is the ABC-BBC drama series Police Rescue (1990-1994), as head writer. Co-writer (with Suzanne Hawley and Denis Whitburn) of the ABC mini-series The Bodysurfer (1989). Four of the six Cody telemovies (created by Gary Disher, 1994-1995) for the Seven Network and co-creator and head writer of the Network Ten drama series Big Sky (1997, 1999). He wrote the SBS teleplay That Man's Father (1992), the SKY UK-Seven Network four-hour mini-series Do Or Die (2001) and co-wrote, with Nicholas Hammond, the ABC telemovie Secret Men's Business (1999). He co-wrote (with Judi McCrossin) the pilot for the Ten/Channel 4 UK drama The Secret Life Of Us (2001) and was originating writer of the following series (2001-2004). He was script executive for the third series of the Showtime drama series Love My Way (2001-2007) and co-creator (with John Edwards) and script producer of the Network Ten drama series Rush (2008).

Sources: Artshub website, www.artshub.com.au (Sighted 01/09/2009)