BBC Writersroom
Posts
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Creating U.Me: The Musical
Theo Jamieson
Composer and Lyricist
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U.Me is an international love story staged for radio and podcast which has its world premiere on the BBC's World Service on Wednesday 12th May 2021 at 7.45pm via www.bbcworldservice.com/musical. We caught up with the composer and lyricist Theo Jamieson to find out about the genesis and creation of this innovative and timely work of musical theatre.
Listen to U.Me on Wednesday 12th May at 7.45pm on BBC World Service and on BBC Sounds
Listen to Everything Stops: The opening track from ‘U.Me: The Musical’
How did you first become involved with U.Me?
Simon Pitts, the show’s creator and a Commissioning Editor for BBC World Service, got in touch with me via Twitter. He was looking for a writer for a radio-musical project and he had heard my songs on Soundcloud. What followed was a series of phone calls and emails in which we knocked around ideas and generally got more and more excited about the project’s potential. Simon invited Steve Levine (Culture Club, The Beach Boys) to produce the music and the BBC Philharmonic to perform. Very generously they embraced…
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Adapting The Pursuit of Love for BBC One
Emily Mortimer
Screenwriter, Director and Actor
Adapted and directed by award-winning actor Emily Mortimer, The Pursuit Of Love is a romantic comedy-drama about love and friendship from the 1945 novel by Nancy Mitford. Emily Mortimer explains how the novel was brought to the screen and the challenges of adapting it from book to screenplay as well as directing, including directing herself in the role of The Bolter.
The Pursuit of Love comes to BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Sunday 9th May 2021 at 9pm
Watch the trailer for The Pursuit of Love
How did The Pursuit Of Love come about?
My agent is obsessed by the book and everything to do with Nancy Mitford. She secured the rights and asked me about two or three years ago if I’d consider adapting it. I had loved the book as a teenager and had got into Jessica Mitford and her stories too, but generally the whole Mitford phenomenon had fascinated me from an early age. When my agent asked me if I’d have a go at adapting it, I said yes immediately. I re-read the book and immediately thought yes even more.
The experience of reading…
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What happened on the TV Drama Writers' Programme?
Leanne Davis
Writer
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The TV Drama Writers' Programme is a unique initiative which gives promising screenwriters the opportunity to write the first episode of a potential original series or serial for the BBC with the aim that that the writer’s series or serial will be taken into full development.
Leanne Davis was one of the eleven writers on the 2020/21 scheme, which culminated just before Easter with script read-throughs, and explains what it has involved and meant for her development as a writer.
To say the past year has been challenging would be an understatement. My beautiful mum died during the launch week of BBC Writersroom TV Drama Writers' Programme and just a couple of weeks later a major global pandemic ensued. Taking all this into account, I must say I’ve never been more grateful to have something both thrillingly creative and wholly concrete to focus on, all the while supported by some wonderful people, not least my phenomenal team at Heyday.
But let’s begin at the…
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Creating The Break
Anne Edyvean
Head of BBC Writersroom
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The latest series of BBC Three's The Break landed on BBC iPlayer this week with all five bold short dramas showcasing some brilliant writing, directing and acting talent.
When Fiona Campbell (Controller of BBC Three) said she wanted the next series of The Break to be from disabled talent we were delighted. We told our Writers’ Access Group (BBC Writersroom's development group for writers with…
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Writing for The Amelia Gething Complex
Houmi Miura
Writer
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The Amelia Gething Complex returned for its second series last week on BBC iPlayer. Houmi Miura is a graduate from our Northern Voices writer development scheme and describes how she got the chance to write for the show and what that entailed.
Hello there, my name’s Houmi and I was part BBC Writersroom’s Northern Voices 2020. I’ve recently had the pleasure of going through the pitching and commissioning processes for sketches on CBBC’s The Amelia Gething Complex.
A brief had been sent out with some themes that the team were looking at for season 2 and we’d been told to see where our…
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Meet the Drama Room writers for 2020-21
BBC Writersroom
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The BBC Writersroom Drama Room writers 2020-21
Meet the 20 writers who have been part of our Drama Room writer development group since autumn 2020.
BBC Writersroom's Drama Room is a 1-year development scheme for writers identified through our open submission Script Room opportunity and other talent searches. This Drama Room group was put together following the Script Room which closed in January last year.
The group meet, normally once a…
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The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award - Shortlist Announced
BBC Writersroom North
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Five up-and-coming writers have been shortlisted for the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award with the winner set to be announced in September.
The five writers and their shortlisted plays are:
Driving Lessons by Juliana Sumsion (Lancaster)
Kelly Ann is twenty-one and wants driving lessons, but she has Downs Syndrome. Everyone including her own family doubts her ability to learn. Can she prove them all…
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Writing my first Radio Drama, 'Braids', as part of the BBC Arts Lights Up Festival
Olivia Hannah
Writer
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Over a year on from theatres closing, BBC Arts created, Lights Up, a festival of UK theatre that brings productions into the nation’s homes through TV and radio that were either closed, or never even opened to the public, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Olivia Hannah is an alumni of our Northern Voices writer development group. Her play, Braids was selected to be part of the festival, giving her a new platform for her work and a first Audio Drama credit with BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
Olivia picks up the story of the play's journey from page to stage to radio in a remote working world.
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Script Room - An update from a reader
BBC Writersroom
Script readers
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We received a record 5167 submissions to our latest annual Script Room window for Drama and Comedy Drama. Our Reading Team have been working as fast as they can and we'll let everyone know the outcome as soon as possible.
While you wait for the results we asked one of the newest members of the team for some thoughts and impressions on the experience so far.
Nothing beats the feeling of opening a…
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Beep - How my Comedy pilot was made for BBC Scotland and BBC Two
Bryce Hart
Writer
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Beep written by Bryce Hart was broadcast on BBC Scotland and BBC Two as part of the BBC's Festival of Funny.
Beep is set in Glasgow and focuses on the dynamics and secrets of a working class family as they visit their Dad Tommy, who lies helplessly in hospital, in a coma.
On the day of his wedding anniversary Tommy is visited by his wife Liz and dysfunctional family members, including his emotionally challenged son Martin, sleep deprived daughter Hannah and lonely nephew Nigel.
Boasting a cast of exciting talent, including Siobhan Redmond (The Replacement,…
