Matthew Baylis was born in Nottingham in 1971 and educated in Liverpool and Cambridge. After working as a literary agent, he went on to write storylines for BBC 1's 'EastEnders', and then to help the United Nations and British Council create the first pan-East African soap opera. He is the author of the novel The Last Ealing Comedy and has written for a number of newspapers, including the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Independent on Sunday and Evening Standard.