Bianca Rodway

Bianca Rodway is the script producer for Casualty. She started her career as a researcher on Family Affairs and has worked as a script editor on shows including EastEnders and Holby City.

What does a script producer do?

The script producer oversees and manages the script team. That would be the script editors, the script secretary, the researcher which we'll be getting soon, and the assistant script editor. I guess it's about ten people.

They're also a point of contact for the writers, and particularly the core writing team - we have a group of writers who are signed up to write multiple episodes in a series, and they come to our long term storylining conferences.

I suppose it's to do with everything script really. And we've started a shadow scheme to find new writers, so organising that as well.

What's the shadow scheme?

It's relatively new. It's something that I do with one of the script editors who's dedicated to looking at new writing with me. But I do it alongside my normal job, so we're flexible with the writers depending on what their commitments are and what our shooting deadlines are.

We did an induction where we invited people with, relatively, quite a bit of writing experience. So people that had maybe written on EastEnders, or some other TV, but had never done a medical drama or a continuing drama. That was three days where we talked through the Casualty format, the way we work, the kind of story ideas we like to work with and what we're trying to do with the show. Then we gave them a sample storyline and they put together a trial pitch for a little mini commissioning meeting where they pitched their ideas, and we offered a couple of people commissions off the back of that.

Quite a few of the other people we've taken on board we're going to do shadow work with - that would be allocating them an episode, not for transmission, but one that's in development at the moment. So they'd work up pitches and then we'd feed back on their pitches. Then they'd work up a treatment with the serial stories and their guest stories, and then we'd give them feedback on that and they might re-draft it a couple of times.

Once we're happy with that, then they write a script, probably only a draft or two, to see if they like and fit with the programme, and do we fit with them, and do they fit with us. The idea being that you've got a bit of time to get your head around the process, the way the show works, before you're thrown into a commission.

A couple of people we did offer a commission, because it seemed like they were ready for that. But without wanting to make the process sound more mystical or difficult than it is, I think it's not good for people to attempt it before they're ready, because it can be quite a lot to take on board. You've got the serial stories that you've got to be able to handle, your own guest stories which you've got to generate and make work with the serial, and then all the medical stuff. It can be quite a lot to handle.

How many core writers do you have?

Our core at the moment I think is eight. They write between three and five in a series, and a series is forty eight episodes. Eight times four is thirty-two, so then there's maybe another sixteen episodes left.

We get eight writers from the Writers Academy every year, and they get one apiece... I'd say beyond that there's probably about another ten people.

It's good for us to have a core because it's people who are very invested in the series, and know what the serial stories are. If somebody's doing it for the first time there's an awful lot to take on board. You've got to be up to date, read all the serial documents, have watched lots of it, and know where we're heading as well.

Does Casualty read scripts from new writers?

We can't accept unsolicited scripts on the show. If writers are looking to write for us, their first port of call should be either the BBC writersroom, or they should get their agent to approach us if they have one.

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