鲍鱼tv

It was just over a year ago when fellow 鲍鱼tv Writersroom Development Producer, , said he had an idea that could potentially give comedy writers a break on local radio and wanted to know if I would be interested. I certainly was.

The project was to be jointly funded by the 鲍鱼tv Writersroom and local radio commissioners in Scotland and Northern Ireland, so once we had the budget and schedule sorted we got to work.

We launched a very small search in March 2017 targeted at comedy writers we knew living and working in Scotland and Northern Ireland. A handful of writers were sent a brief to submit a one page 15 minute comedy idea that reflected life in their local territory. We were open to monologues, two handers or even a sitcom. Keith looked after Northern Ireland submissions and I did the same for Scotland. All of the submissions were read and re-read before finally shortlisting the Scottish projects down to five. To ensure our five writers were on the right track for radio, we held a workshop with 鲍鱼tv Comedy Executive and hugely experienced Radio Producer along with the brilliant Senior Producer who would direct the three Scottish radio comedies. We focussed our session on looking at radio comedy examples and why they work before giving individual feedback on each project. The five writers then sent in revised pitches and from those we narrowed it down to the final three. , and . A further development period followed when we went to script and through various drafts before reaching our final versions.

All three writers have been a joy to work with throughout the process and were receptive to all our notes (even the crazy ones!) Special thanks to Dave Flynn who did sterling work in the radio studio as did all of the fantastic cast and crew. We are immensely proud of these three projects and we hope you enjoy listening below to Reply to All, Weekend Survivalist and Drivetime. Listen out for the brilliant Northern Ireland comedies which will be coming very soon.

Reply to All 

by Keiron Nicholson

Here’s how happened: I was about to go on stage at the as a semi-insane 19th-century dinosaur hunter when I got the email from at 鲍鱼tv Writersroom inviting me to pitch for a new scripted radio comedy. What I’m saying is when I got the email I was already wearing a top hat, giving me the exaggerated self-confidence necessary to think you can entertain people by writing, while also providing the essential comedy quality of looking like a dick!

Producers Angela Galvin and were endlessly supportive and invaluable in shepherding the show from early pitch to finished product, guiding me in turning the script over several times until it was cooked just right, brown and crispy at the edges. (This is a metaphor: do not attempt at home.) And a magic cast brought it to life: and who play bickering police officers on TV’s made a perfect sideways step into bickering brother and sister, and two icons of Scottish telly (, ) and () beautifully captured the oddball parents.

I’m very grateful to 鲍鱼tv Writersroom for taking a chance on a new writer and recording my first stab at sitcom. I couldn’t be happier with the end result. And yes, I am wearing the top hat as I write this.

Weekend Survivalist

by Colin McLaren

Writing for the 鲍鱼tv Writersroom has been top fun. I usually write films, where the development of a project takes about seven years if you’re quick. So, to come to the world of radio was a breath of fresh air – and to be given the handcuffs of a 15 minute remit for a character piece / story was also helpful in concentrating the mind. It was an enjoyable challenge to be limited to dialogue and sound effects alone to create a world and a situation. That allows for precision and control that I found … felt great.

Comedy is my default position as a writer but I hadn’t had a go at ‘pure comedy’ for ages, and it felt like coming home. The development process was quick and easy - four or five kicks at the ball, with the notes chiefly concerning maintaining the logic of the podcast format. Once we sorted that it was just a case of lowering and raising the pain level for the lead character. Because the piece had a beginning and an end, as opposed to being part of a series, I could afford to put the boot into the characters more, make the situation irredeemable, which pleased me enormously as I enjoy writing about desperate, angry people and shattering the veneer of their lives!

who played the lead, brought a warmth that counterpointed the bleakness – to sit and watch him bring the character to life, and the sound effects acting like a backing band – that was a fine day to be a writer.

Drivetime

by Maryam Hamidi

I had that mixture of excitement and sheer panic when Angela Galvin from the 鲍鱼tv Writersroom asked me to submit an idea for a new radio comedy opportunity.

Once my treatment got through to the long-shortlist I attended a workshop afternoon with Dave Flynn and looking at how to make the laughs land without constantly reaching for the visual solutions to a gag. I always find workshops a great place to learn but also strengthen those things you were already grasping intuitively. I was happy as a pig in the proverbial when my script got taken forward to production. The team really pushed the script development, helping economise the narrative to make room for more pressure on the protagonist. We seemed to settle for a slightly more composed having a kinda day, which seemed like an average day for our ambitious, Edinburgh lawyer Shazia. I've been in the radio studio as an actor before but nothing prepared me for the total joy of hearing 'Drivetime' lift off the page in the hands of an awesome, funny cast and technical team. The buffoonery of actors in a radio studio is just bonus comedy magic.