BBC Writersroom
Posts
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The Essentials of Scriptwriting
BBC Writersroom
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Our submission window for Comedy scripts (Script Room) is open until 5pm on Monday 29th April.
Watch a short animation below to support your writing which covers The Essentials of Scriptwriting, including Developing Your Idea, Beginnings (and Endings), Dialogue, Characters and Scenes.
(Our Script Room is normally open twice a year, once for drama and once for comedy).
Watch now
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Trust Me - Writing Series 2
Dan Sefton
Writer (and Doctor)
Trust Me returns on Tuesday 16th April at 9pm on BBC One. The drama's writer Dan Sefton spoke to us about the premise for this series, which introduces a new storyline and characters, but retains the first series' focus on 'the dark side of medicine'. He also talks about why he thinks doctors can make good screenwriters but why it also feels like "having an exam tomorrow for the rest of your life"!
Watch the trailer for Series 2 of Trust Me
In the interview we did with you for Series 1 of Trust Me you described a key element of a successful drama being that you create strong characters and place them in an interesting dilemma. Who is your key character in Series 2 of Trust Me and what is the dilemma?
Alfred Enoch plays Jamie McCain – a soldier who has a spinal injury. He’s also haunted by what happened before the accident and has undiagnosed PTSD. So when the seemingly paranoid kid who has told him that patients are being murdered dies, he has to decide whether he can really trust himself or anyone else? Is this all real or in…
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What happened on the TV Drama Writers' Programme?
Sarah Page
Writer
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Getting a place on the BBC Writersroom's TV Drama Writers’ Programme was like Indiana Jones’ mission to get the golden idol at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark - with each step of the quest being more formidable than the last.
It started with sending a copy of my play Punts (which had recently had a run at Theatre503) and a pitch for an original drama series. Then I had an interview with the BBC Writersroom’s Development Producer (Ros Ward). This was closely followed by a second interview where I had to present three original drama ideas this time to Anne Edyvean, the Head of the BBC Writersroom.
The final stage of the selection process - the boulder rolling after Indy part - was to meet with all of the production companies interested in my ideas. For me this was BBC Studios, Bad Wolf, Balloon Entertainment, Clerkenwell Films, Hartswood Films, Kudos North and Mainstreet Pictures.
At one point I had to pitch to five of these incredible production companies simultaneously which was rather like being on five speed dates with phenomenally attractive people at the same time.
However, I did come out of these (terrifying) production company ‘speed dates’ in a relationship: I was…
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The Victim
Rob Williams
Writer
Rob Williams is the writer of BBC One's The Victim, which plays out across four consecutive nights from Monday 8th April 2019. He explains why he wanted to tell this story and why it's so pertinent now. He also explains how he got started in screenwriting and his experience on the BBC Studio's Writers' Academy, which has just relaunched.
Watch the trailer for The Victim
What were your reasons for wanting to write this story and…
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10 Reasons Why You Should Enter Your Script in the BBC Writersroom's Comedy Window
Lynda Kennedy
Writer
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Spring has sprung, which means it’s time to get polishing. But, forget Mr Sheen*, it’s time to buff up those scripts and make them sparkle. For the BBC Writersroom Comedy Script Room 2019 has now opened. Having just completed last year’s Comedy Room development scheme, if you write comedy you owe it to yourself to apply. Here are my 10 reasons why.
*Other polishing products are available
1. You’ll Learn Loads
Unlike sitcom where the character never learns, you will learn. A lot. Over the course of six months, you’ll attend monthly sessions where you’ll learn the different…
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Getting Your Comedy Script Ready
Robin Taylor
Writer and Script Reader
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It’s that most wonderful time of the year! March! Which means the imminent opening of the BBC Writersroom Comedy script submissions! In 2019 the submission window opens on April 1st, and it’s “no joke” that we can’t wait to read all the hilarious comedy scripts from you, the budding writers of the UK and Ireland. In fact you’d be quite the “fool” not to apply. You could even say it’s “April”... No, that one doesn’t work. But yes, now is the time to be putting the finishing touches to or frantically typing out your script, wondering where you can slip in a topical vegan sausage roll reference.…
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BBC Writersroom NI - March 2019 Update
BBC Writersroom Northern Ireland
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The last six months have been a busy time in the BBC Writersroom Belfast office. Not only have we launched an opportunity for BBC Three, we have helped secure writers' commissions on a television series, a Radio Ulster sketch show, recommended writers to agents and producers, developed writers spec' scripts in Belfast Voices and appeared at several local festivals. Find out more about what has been happening in Belfast since our last blog post below.
The Break launched in Belfast
In early October, we were thrilled to announce the launch of The Break Series 4 in Northern Ireland. The submission…
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Writing Radio Drama
Dan Rebellato
Writer
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Lorenzaccio, which was broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 10 March and is available to listen to now on BBC Sounds, is my 21st script for BBC Radio. Lorenzaccio is an adaptation of a French play by Alfred de Musset from the 1830s that I fell in love with as a student and have wanted to find some way of bringing to wider attention ever since. It is set in the Florence of the Medicis in the 1530s, a place of corruption and wealth, cruelty and revenge. It’s a play from the Romantic movement, which, in French playwriting, meant drawing on the sprawling model of Shakespeare rather than the austere…
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An Update from the Drama Script Room Reading Team
BBC Writersroom
Script readers
We received 3634 scripts in our latest open submission window for drama scripts, which closed in January. We asked the newest member of the script reading team for an update on their progress.
We’re now into the “Full Read” stage of reading for the Drama Script Room 2019, and it’s getting harder and harder to whittle it down to the final scripts. I’ve been so impressed by the huge range of ideas…
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Writing MotherFatherSon - An interview with Tom Rob Smith
Tom Rob Smith
Writer
Tom Rob Smith is the writer of novels including 'Child 44' and the screenwriter of London Spy and American Crime Story - The Assassination of Gianni Versace (Emmy nomination and winner at the Writers' Guild of America Awards).
His new drama MotherFatherSon starring Richard Gere, Helen McCrory and Billy Howle begins on BBC Two on Wednesday 6th March 2019 at 9pm and on BBC iPlayer. We caught up with Tom to find out more about MotherFatherSon and his writing life.
Watch the trailer for MotherFatherSon
