Writersroom

E20 was the first piece of professional writing I had ever done and I was very much aware that as young writers, we're almost expected to have a message. I remember sitting on a train ride back from summer school and wondered if I had one, or more so, if I wanted to have one. For me, when drama pushes a message it can become preachy. That's where I think E20 hit gold, it never pushes too much either way throughout the series, and in such a compact timescale, it's seeing those highs and lows which make you love the characters and empathise with what they're going through.

Our training came through our four week intensive course at the BBC's Summer School led by Peter and Debs. The summer school was where we learnt the forms of scriptwriting and developed our writer's toolkit. Getting onto it was through application, advertised through various other mediums. We had to send in a character we've always wanted to see in a drama and then a monologue/diary extract for them. We then had to introduce them to EastEnders in a short scene with a Walford resident, and had an interview at BBC Elstree.

E20 is different to a lot of online and teen dramas. It functions far more independently than other spin-offs from serial dramas yet contributes and receives a high amount of support from the mainline show. Because of this it has developed a following in its own right and the viewers expect a particular style and feel to the show. The characters in it are new, fresh and there's so much fun to be found in their run-ins with Walford residents and this series they will not be disappointed. Naturally with a change in the writers the series has altered, and I feel that the audience will get to see a lot more of the dynamic between our protagonists as this time not only are there three of them, but they are forced together.

After going through the entire process it's amazing to finally seeing it come into fruition. It's even more amazing to have people want to see. For me there's still an amount of vulnerability in knowing so many people will see it, I can't help but self edit everything I do and the perfectionist inside of me still hasn't gotten with the idea of a final draft. But as it approaches the public launch, I still haven't got over the fact that my episode will be opening and moreover, the fact I'm being paid to do something I love.

EastEnders:E20 Series 3 premieres online at 8pm on 20 September 2011, with new episodes every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for five weeks.

Read a script from series 2 of E20 in our script archive.