Mercurio grew up in Cannock in the West Midlands, the child of Italian immigrants (his father was a coal miner).
The first spark of inspiration for police corruption blockbuster Line of Duty came to Jed Mercurio as he was wobbling on a footpath in Glasgow pretending to be sober.
Mercurio once again applies his remarkable ability to chase the seed of an idea all the way to the most devastating possible conclusion in his new series, Bodyguard.
Having worked as a junior doctor at a large hospital in Birmingham, he had first-hand experience of how big institutions functioned.