Radio Entertainment

Before you even set a finger to keyboard, there are a few golden rules that will help your submission:

First of all, know your market. Listen to the radio and find out what you like and don't like. The schedules are available in the national press or the Radio Times. Remember that everything you hear has been chosen by the controller of that network, and he or she is the person who must ultimately buy your idea too. Remember also that the core audience of Radio 2 and Radio 4 are in their 50s and the networks are not going to sack that audience to accommodate your show.

If it's a sitcom you want to write, find a situation that hasn't been covered recently. However, there's no point in simply trying to 'find a gap in the market'. You have to feel some genuine connection, some passion, for what it is you are writing.

If you're going to write comedy material, try and find your own voice. We get lots of work from new writers that reads exactly like Chris Morris or Monty Python or The Goon Show. Ask yourself: 'Am I the only person in the world who could have written like this?'

How writers respond to criticism is a key aspect of their development, and is always taken into account by producers. Writing the same kind of thing in the same kind of way, hoping that one day you'll get lucky, doesn't work.

Be aware of what this department produces. There is no scope for:

• Documentaries and Features
• Monologues
• Musicals
• Poetry and Verse
• Single plays
• One-off programmes (ideas with series potential are preferred)

RADIO 4 ENTERTAINMENT OUTPUT

Mon, Wed, Fri
11.30-12.00 Radio 4. Comedy Narrative. Light and entertaining comedy drama or sitcom. A rich variety of style, tone and environment is required for these series.

Monday-Thursday
18.30-19.00 Radio 4. Comedy. Sitcom, broken comedy / sketch shows. Family entertainment.

Tues, Wed, Thurs
23.00-23.30 Radio 4. Entertainment. Top comedy performers and writers. New comic ideas and forms. Sharp wit and intelligence rather than surreal.

See BBC What's On for further scheduling details.



THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The submission will be passed on to one of the producers or script readers in the department, who will read it and write a brief report which will be sent to you. Please be patient; we do our best to respond to scripts within eight weeks, but it may take longer.

Be realistic about feedback. If the feedback begins by listing the good points of your submission, they are likely to be followed by a "but". Don't make yourself feel better by only reading the bit before the "but", as what follows it will hold the key to improving your work.

If the script received a good report from the script reader it will get a second read and the script will get read by a producer. If they like the idea they will get in touch with the writer to discuss developing it. Bear in mind that if the idea is for a series/serial then the producer will want to know what happens over the course of the series. You should ideally submit plot outlines for other episodes, to show that the idea has legs.

The producer might have some changes they want to make to the script or the idea, but you don't have to give in to everything they say, provided you can justify why things shouldn't be changed. The producer will try to make the idea as saleable to the network as possible. Once the producer and writer are in agreement as to the proposal, it will be put forward to a meeting of the Programme Development Group. The PDG meets monthly and comprises the Head of Radio Entertainment, the Script Executive and two Radio Entertainment producers.

The PDG will then decide whether and in what way the project or the writer should be developed. Possibilites are: to turn it down outright; to ask the writer/producer to re-work it and re-submit it; to offer the writer some money to work on the script; to commission a pilot recording; or simply to offer it to the network.

Always try to get feedback on the PDG. If you've got this far then you know there's someone in the department who thinks you can write, so even a turndown might mean that there is simply a similar idea in development or it's out a subject that the audience isn't keen on. It's worth noting that pilots are increasingly rare, so don't expect to get one unless you're pitching a panel game.

If the treatment/script/pilot is deemed good enough for offering, then it is placed in the formal offers round (which takes place twice yearly) where the network controller and the commissioning editor will decide whether the proposal is rejected or accepted. And if you've got that far, definitely be encouraged, because not only does one producer rate your work, but it's been approved by the PDG.

It is important to remember that this process can take a frustratingly long time: occasionally years and never less than months. It's not an easy business, but many of the best and most successful comedy writers today honed their craft on radio - and continue to write for what is widely considered the purest medium.

We don't send acknowledgement of receipt, but if you would like to enclose a self-addressed postcard with your submission we will return this as an acknowledgment. It would also help us if you sent a stamped addressed envelope with the name of your submission marked clearly on the back. Whatever the criticisms in the report we will not require you to develop the material further unless we specifically ask you to do so.