Paul Abbott - 2

Was it helpful to have produced 'Cracker' before writing your two episodes or did it hinder you in any way?

Producing Cracker was the best and worst year of my life. It taught me more about the practical nature of television than any other period in my life, and I got to work intimately with a real godfather of modernised, ambitious, filmic telly - Jimmy McGovern. Jimmy's love of Cassavetes films shaped Cracker.

It was also my worst year because, no matter how good Cracker was, it was a ball-breaking piece of television to get on screen. Fourteen-hour days, six-day weeks.

But the simple process of overseeing a show and managing a budget that stated how much every actor, extra, or prop cost, totally enlightened me to the practicalities of putting a script together. How much a good scene costs. How much a duff scene costs.

These days, I have to sometimes consciously wipe any memory of the practicalities to try and achieve visual ambitions for a story. All that says is that I'm instictively more of a writer than a producer.

Do you think it's harder for a new writer now than when you first started?

For the first time in years, we've got mainstream peak-time networks vying for 'signature drama' - material with a distinctive writer's voice, and not just high-profile writers who've earned their badges. Young writers like Caleb Ranson made his signature TV debut with a soulful, voice-led piece called Forgotten. Abi Morgan sold Fragile Heart (a community driven apart by suspected paedophilia) to ITV.

For what it matters, they both got fantastic ratings. These writers are now in such demand, it's hard to book them for a beer. This is exactly how it should be. I know that both Caleb and Abi had tried their hand at long running serials, such as Casualty and Peak Practice and struggled miserably to fit into the hermetic world of long-order drama.

In my opinion, their time spent on these series (both excellent series serviced by excellent writers, often) was a waste of time. They're both vibrant dramatists with their heads full of wonderful ideas, and now they're selling them. My first professional writing contracts were all single plays for Radio 4, which is still a fertile forum for testing your strengths. Radio produces more comedy, drama, and sketch shows than all TV channels put together. (It's relatively inexpensive, so you're allowed to experiment, thank god!).

I went from this to a story-editor's job on Coronation Street because they offered me a bankable salary. Then I got promoted to a script writer with guaranteed episodes. I loved the job because it's a mythical programme and I got seduced by the vanity of the fact that my name went on screen at least once a week. But I stayed too long. About four years too long... when all I wanted to do was sell my stuff and make a name for myself.

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