John Sullivan began scriptwriting in 1977 with a series entitled Citizen Smith which ran for four series on BBC TV. Since then he has written five other series and a total number of scripts exceeding 150.
His best known work in the UK is the comedy series Only Fools and Horses which has been running on British tv since 1981 and has constantly topped the ratings. Another series is in the pipeline. This series has been nominated four times and won two British Academy Awards in 1985 and 1989 and the British Comedy Award in 1986.
His series Just Good Friends also won the best comedy award at the British Academy in 1986 and the British Television Industries Award in 1985.
He won the British Academy Writer of the Year award in 1986 and Writer of the Year at the British Comedy Awards in 1991. He also won the Pye Television Award in 1985.
His American series of Dear John starring Judd Hirsch ran for 94 episodes on NBC and won an Emmy (Best Supporting Character) in its first season. Sullivan won the American Society of Composers (ASCAP) award for best theme music in 1991.
John Sullivan is currently developing new projects for BBC Television and is also writing a six-part series for the new Paramount channel and a pilot for NBC which is being produced by Ed Weinberger, creator of Taxi and The Cosby Show.