James Graham Hopes to Turn Punch Into Television

Playwright James Graham has revealed that he hopes to adapt hit play Punch for television. Speaking on Cathy Newman’s new Sky News podcast Backstory with Cathy Newman, the playwright revealed his hopes as his show Sherwood comes to an end.

Playwright James Graham has revealed that he is hoping to turn his play Punch into a television drama. The play opened to critical acclaim in the West End in 2025, following a sold out run at the Young Vic. It also transferred to New York’s Manhattan Theatre Club for a limited run.

Speaking on Backstory with Cathy Newman, Sky News’ new video-first podcast, Graham explained, “I did a play called Punch, which was on in the West End and went to Broadway. I’m hoping to turn that into television.”

An act of violence

Graham elaborated, describing the play as “the experience of going out on a Saturday night” in market towns and cities, where “there is often a crucial moment in the night where drinking and a culture meets and it can often end in violence”.

In this case, that violence was real. The play is inspired by the real-life case of James Hodgkinson, a paramedic who died in 2011 while on a night out in Nottingham. During a confrontation at Yates’s Wine Lodge, his assailant, a then-19 year old Jacob Dunne, threw a single punch. Hodgkinson fell, hit his head and died in hospital.

Graham said he wanted to understand “masculinity and drinking and expressions of yourself”, exploring the question of, “if you don’t have an emotional outlet, does it come out physically violently instead?”

The play is ultimately a drama about the consequences of an act of violence and the transformative power of forgiveness.

Graham on screen

Graham is no stranger to writing for the screen. He has adapted two of his plays for the screen, including film Ink, and television series Dear England. He is also the creator of Sherwood (BBC), the television series starring David Morrissey and Lesley Manville, the lasting impact of the miners’ strikes on former mining communities.

It’s also inspired by real life murders in Nottinghamshire.

In the same podcast episode, Graham confirmed that the television show is coming to an end. “We’ve finished it, we’ve edited it, and it will be the last series.”

Backstory is a new video-first podcast from Sky News, in which Cathy Newman sits down each week with a guest personally connected to a major news event from recent history. It launches on 12 November.

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Main photo: James Graham