鲍鱼tv

The 鲍鱼tv Writersroom's Voices development group is six month programme offering participants an insight into how the television industry works, featuring expert masterclasses, craft sessions, roundtables and discussions. In 2023, we worked with 72 talented writers from across the whole of the UK and Republic of Ireland, all of whom had varying levels of writing experience and came from a variety of different professional backgrounds. 

GP and emerging writer Mark Williams shares his experience of being selected for the 鲍鱼tv Writersroom's Voices development programme and how it sparked his "(neglected) passion".

Stories have an analgesic, healing, and restorative effect on the orator and the listener. Yes, I’m a GP and a writer so this might sound contrived, but it’s still true. Patients and clinicians use idioms, metaphors, and other literary devices to tell the stories of their illnesses. Being a clinician and writer means working with stories. It doesn’t feel as though I’m balancing two different roles; conversely, there is a synergy between the two that improves my writing and enhances my ability to help patients.

Colleagues ask how I manage to meet deadlines while working as a GP. After all, aren’t GPs always moaning about being busy? Yes, on both counts. I still spend most of the week in general practice. At the start of the programme, I was also working as a clinical director for an NHS mental health trust, and I’ve recently left this position to devote more time to writing. I have always worked long hours and I know I’m privileged to have very understanding colleagues and most importantly, a very supportive wife. It’s also incredibly hard to complain about being busy when during the Thatcher years, my Mum juggled three jobs, alongside night school, as a single parent on a council estate.

Writing has always been my (neglected) passion. In 2019, I took the opportunity to write an episode of Four Thought on 鲍鱼tv Radio 4. There wasn’t any doubt that I would enjoy writing the script, but I grew up with a speech problem and undiagnosed dyslexia. Giving a talk in front of a live audience, to be heard by millions of listeners around the world, would risk career-ending mispronunciations and embarrassing mistakes. Fortunately, I worked with Sheila Cook, an experienced producer who patiently helped me to perform the talk.

The episode was well received, and I planned to do more writing but then came a shocking twist: I became quite unwell and was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, and at the same time a bat met a pangolin, or a clumsy lab technician in Wuhan made a terrible mistake, (delete as applicable), and the world stopped spinning. In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, as some of us began to restart our lives, I decided to start writing again.

One evening I saw a Tweet that advertised the 鲍鱼tv Writersroom Open Call. I had never entered a writing competition or open call, but for years I’d had a story called “Heartsink” stuck in my head. It’s about a locum GP’s first day in a strange village and the limits of his tolerance. The script got me through to the Voices shortlist and then the interview. It’s important to note that for Voices, the reviewers want to hear a writer’s voice in their work. Fortunately, I had no preconceived ideas of desirable styles, themes, or genres. “Heartsink” was a story I wanted to tell, and the Open Call was the excuse to write it.

Before my interview with Commissioning Executive, Alice Ramsey and Development Producer, Usman Mullan, I spent hours preparing my answers, googling my interviewers, re-reading emails from Emily Demol (Development Coordinator), and worrying that I was well outside of my comfort zone.

Had I prepared enough? Would my minimal experience rule me out? What the hell do writers wear to Zoom interviews? (I opted for a shirt and tie). Alice and Usman were brilliant and not the least bit intimidating. I tried to be as honest and authentic as possible while appearing normal and selectable.

Weeks later; still recovering from the shock of being selected, I travelled to Media City to meet the other North and Midlands Voices. I’m confident, sometimes loud and always opinionated, but once again my anxiety returned. How do writers act? What do writers talk about? What do writers wear? (I opted for jeans, a polo shirt, and fleece).

There were 12 members of our Voices group for the Midlands and North of England Hub, all of whom were wonderful, non-intimidating human beings. We were split into four groups of three. I was put in a group with Paul Jones and Makeda Matheson, supervised by Usman. Both writers were fun to be around and helpful. Paul is the humblest writer I’ve met, even though he wrote Patterdale, a brilliant audio drama. We enjoyed talks and interactive sessions with experienced writers, script editors, producers, and agents. By the end of Voices, we were expected to produce a fully worked series outline from which we could create a specimen script.

Since joining Voices, I have written a comedy-drama series outline and specimen script called “THE GOAT”. This is about a con man who becomes a televangelist with a plan to build Stoke-on-Trent’s first-ever Megachurch. It’s a story about the effect of losing faith, abusing faith, and then regaining faith in something; religion, family, or vocation. The Voices sessions helped me improve my characters/arcs plus pacing, and Usman’s advice during 1:1s was extremely helpful.

In the Voices groups, there were people younger than my walking boots, people with long careers in the industry, people doing completely unrelated day jobs, and people who found amazing success with their first script. With so many routes into this vocation, I think the best advice for other writers is to:

• Write because you want/have to write not just because you want to be a scriptwriter or novelist,
• Write truthfully, everyone has unique experiences, perspectives, and a unique voice,
• Make peace with the prospect of rejection or embarrassment, even established writers fail to win scriptwriting competitions or fail to get selected at Open Calls.

Most importantly, keep watching, reading, and writing. Cormac McCarthy said that “Books are made of books” and I reckon that statement also applies to TV and film.

To meet the selected writers for our Voices Development Group 2023, visit our blog

If you would like to be considered for our future development groups and would like to find out more about our work, read this blog post on ‘How we find and develop writers’ from Jess Loveland, Head of New Writing for 鲍鱼tv Writersroom and 鲍鱼tv Drama Commissioning.

Open Call will return for submissions towards the end of 2023. For further details and updates visit our the opportunity's page on our website.