It’s hard to name a more feted screenwriter right now than Peter Straughan. His adapted screenplay for Vatican drama Conclave won him an Oscar, a Bafta, a Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award. The Gateshead-born writer, who famously skipped the Oscars parties to celebrate instead with a cup of tea, was also nominated in the writer’s category at this year’s RTS Programme Awards for the BBC’s Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light but lost out to the Jilly Cooper romp Rivals.

“You can’t win them all,” he now says, with a smile, back at his home in Hove, Sussex.

He remembers that the production was a challenge. Like many connected with the adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, Straughan took a pay cut to get the project over the line. External scenes had to be switched to interiors to stay within budget, which in turn meant rewrites. “We are all used to cutting our cloth and, as a writer, I’m used to edits. But it hurts when good material is lost,” he admits. 

He echoes the concerns of Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky that UK public service broadcasters are being priced out by streamers when it comes to high-end drama: “Peter’s idea of a levy for streamers could be an interesting solution. There’s a healthy side to competition, but it would be wrong to seriously limit the type of drama state broadcasters can afford because of inflation in production costs caused by the streamers.

“We also need to recognise the importance of theatre. It’s the route I came up in, and you only have to look at my first TV script [Waiters] and my most recent movie [Conclave] to see how important theatre has been in allowing actors to learn and perfect their craft. It’s a symbiotic ecosystem. If you cut off one of those limbs, the whole body suffers.”

A recent return to Live – the Newcastle theatre dedicated to new writing, where he began his career as writer-in-residence – has reignited his passion for the stage. “I found it very moving to be back there. It made me realise I’d like to return to theatre.”

His first play Bones – a black comedy about an infamous London gangster kidnapped during a visit to Tyneside – resulted in a commission to write his first TV script, for ITV’s Tyne Tees. That was Waiters (2001), one of six half-hour dramas made for the First Cut series, which was co-funded with the local screen agency to showcase ­writers and directors new to television.

Straughan’s screenplay, directed by Live’s Max Roberts, centred on restaurant staff with dreams of being in the movies. It mirrored his own love of the vintage films he watched while growing up on Tyneside and his early ambitions to be an actor. The cast was a Who’s Who of Geordie acting royalty, including Alun Armstrong, Denise Welch, Trevor Fox, Robson Green and Billy Elliot screenwriter Lee Hall.

“That was the beauty of live theatre and regional television back then. The TV station could show local content and there was a lot of loyalty from the actors and technicians. I remember the sense of being able to experiment. We were encouraged to try things out. James Corden said the same about the early days of Gavin & Stacey.

“If you have to justify yourself entirely by ratings, nothing good will get done. That’s the beauty of the BBC. Ratings should not be the only measure for commissioners.” He welcomes the recent resurgence in production across his native North East, along with development of studios in Sunderland and Hartlepool. “I’d like to contribute by setting something up myself. It would have to be a good project – nothing tokenistic. Islands of encouragement are important, particularly in areas so far from London.

“When you’re from a place like this, it’s that sense of ‘Can I really do this?’. When I first got an agent and was asked if I’d like to write for TV and film, I said no. Back then, the screen industry felt like an alien world to me.

“If you’re in a place where productions are happening and crews are working, you can imagine how you might fit in. If that was happening when I was first starting out, I’d have probably graduated to it much sooner.”

Straughan is a fan of bursary and mentor schemes, including the one managed by the RTS, which has supported nearly 400 students from lower-income backgrounds and kickstarted many screen careers. “Bursaries were life-changing in my early career as a playwright in Newcastle. And it wasn’t just the money. I was mentored by [Live’s director] Max Roberts, as well as the people at New Writing North. Later on, Anthony Minghella [The English Patient director] was incredibly generous towards me. Mentors can do so much for your self-belief. That kind of encouragement and reassurance can be the difference between carrying on and giving up.”

How does he feel about his current haul of awards? “Well, it won’t do me any harm,” he observes. “But it hasn’t made much of a difference so far. I have a backlog of projects, mostly adaptations, that I’m working on.”

He is excited about his next TV assignment, for Apple TV+ and Bad Wolf. “It’s an adaptation of Philip Kerr’s Berlin Noir trilogy, set in 1928 and through to the end of the Weimar Republic and rise of the Nazis. It’s a Chandleresque detective series that will be filmed in Berlin.” Straughan hopes that Berlin Noir will offer a similar experience to the one he enjoyed in Rome for Conclave. “I think of myself as a film screenwriter and usually it’s quite a solitary existence. You spend a lot of time on your own, imagining the film in your head.

“But with Conclave, I was able to be part of the team all the way through. I get the impression that TV gives you that as a writer. So I’m enjoying being part of the development of Berlin Noir.”

He is also working on an original film script: Folio is a Jacobean road movie featuring a pair of actors who, following Shakespeare’s death, go to great lengths to gather and reassemble the Bard’s plays and publish them in the famous First Folio.

He cites among his movie influences the Coen brothers, Robert Bresson and old Hollywood film noir. As for his TV picks: “I like Severance [Apple TV+]. It’s really interesting. And I thought Shōgun [Disney+] was great. It was nice to keep bumping into the Shōgun team on the awards circuit.

“I know I’m coming to it a bit late, but I’m enjoying season one of The White Lotus [Sky Atlantic]. I’ve always liked Mike White’s writing.”

Straughan’s generosity in assessing other writers is a trait recognised by his Live Theatre mentor, Max Roberts: “Despite his tremendous success, the multiple awards and critical acclaim, Peter’s warmth, his self-deprecating humour and his gentle and humble demeanour are still evident in spades, just as much as they were when I first got to know him as a young English graduate from Newcastle University.

“He’s a shining example to all those aspiring writers, actors and artists from places like the North East that dreams really can come true.”