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Our Pilot opportunity for credited and/or agented writers opens for applications between 5th and 26th of September 2023. We spoke to writer Hamish Wright (who was on the scheme back in 2018 when it was called the TV Drama Writers’ Programme) about what it meant for his development as a writer.

Some careers go off like fireworks. Mine was more like a fire lit with damp logs. To torture the metaphor a bit more, ±«Óãtv Writersroom was a vital squirt of kerosene that kept my fire burning right when it could’ve gone out. Let me explain.

I grew up in Australia an Anglophile, suckled on the best of British TV; Doctor Who, , The Young Ones, , . I moved in 2004. I didn’t really know anyone, or much about the industry, but I knew I wanted to write. I found a home in Manchester working in the story office, and then script edited and wrote on Casualty. Continuing Dramas (CDS) get a bad rap (unfairly so), but I learned so much writing craft and, more importantly, I started finding my people. What do I mean by that? If you meet someone who shares your taste, who’s excited by your work, hold onto them tight. They’re your people.

One of the hardest jumps in our industry is going from writing CDS to original or more ‘authored’ work. In some ways this is pure snobbery on the part of development execs and commissioners, an example of how CDS can brand a writer – but there can be some substance to it. While there’s often a great deal of creativity and innovation involved in writing a CDS script, you’re working within a house style. What happens when you take those guardrails away?

That’s where I was at when I applied to the ±«Óãtv Writersroom scheme that is now called Pilot. I’d just moved to Belfast, and I was feeling very far from the centre of the industry. I’d had a few original things optioned by that point, but they were withering on the vine. I was making the vast majority of my income working on continuing drama but it all felt pretty parlous, like I was surviving script by script. So just as I was mulling the seed of an idea – literally just a paragraph about a lonely young boy writing a letter to a Mars-bound astronaut – I spotted this ±«Óãtv Writersroom deadline and thought, what’s the worst that can happen?

Spoiler alert: the script that resulted from this idea – Sunny – never got made, but I can honestly say that the Pilot process kicked my career to a new level. I was paired with , and ran several outlines and drafts with their brilliant development team. Along with that, I and the other Pilot writers did a series of masterclasses with legends of the industry; , , . There was advice I’ve kept as part of my process to this day: Jed Mercurio talked about looking for the “lock in”, the moment in your pilot script that locks your hero into the key action of the series. But the best part of it was forming friendships with the other Pilot writers. Sharing knowledge; good indies to work for, bad indies to avoid, weird stuff in contracts, significant life announcements. It all comes back to finding your people, and I found a bunch through the Pilot scheme.

It took a few more years, and a lot more pushing, before came about. I’d formed a writing partnership with , the very first writer I edited on Casualty (find your people!) and we’d just had an agonising near miss with a thriller script that we both still use as a sample. Our exec on that piece, , encouraged us to contact her with any other ideas we might have. Dana had just watched an incredibly unconventional Israeli black comedy about two lonely misanthropes who’ve hit rock bottom (sounds great right?) and suggested it could work as an adaptation. I watched it and agreed. Two years and one pandemic later, Significant Other broadcast on in June 2023. I’m incredibly proud of the show we made, no matter what one reviewer from The Guardian might think.

So while I would’ve loved to ‘make it’ (whatever that really means) much sooner, I like to think that the time it took, and the relationships I formed along the way, has made my career a wee bit more sustainable. That’s why I’d say, if you’re thinking about applying for the Pilot programme, if you’re wanting to make the jump to writing and selling your own original work, do it. Definitely.

This year you’re going to need to send in a TV spec as a sample. So what should you send? The cliché goes that you should write something only you can write. I’d add to that; what is the unique thing your script does that no other script can do? No other show but had that dramatic crucible of Don or Peggy making an ad pitch – only Fleabag broke the fourth wall in that exact way – only Significant Other has its main characters meeting while one has a heart attack and the other takes an overdose of pills (sorry, couldn’t resist). Because it’s all about bringing something new into the world, right? I wish you the best of luck, and I can’t wait to see your work on the air.

Applications to Pilot 2024 are open from Tuesday 5th September 2023 at 10am to 12 noon on Tuesday 26th September 2023 for credited and/or agented writers. Visit the Pilot page to find out more about the opportunity and entry criteria

Please Note: This is a separate scheme from our open submission Open Call, with more restricted entry criteria. 

The next Open Call submission window will be open between 12 noon on Tuesday 7th November 2023 and 12 noon on Tuesday 5th December 2023. Visit the Open Call webpage to find out more about that opportunity