±«Óãtv

"Once again the team at ±«Óãtv Writersroom has been overwhelmed by the incredible talent to be found across the length and breadth of the UK and we can’t wait to see how their projects develop under the careful guidance of the participating indies this year."

(Jessica Loveland, Head of New Writing for ±«Óãtv Drama Commissioning and ±«Óãtv Writersroom)

±«Óãtv Writersroom has revealed the writers and production companies taking part in our latest Pilot scheme. For 2023 this prestigious initiative (previously known as the TV Drama Writers’ Programme) is partnering 10 talented early-career screenwriters with 10 independent production companies, with a script-commission, giving the screenwriters the opportunity to write the first episode of a potential ±«Óãtv-commissioned original drama series or serial.

During the year-long scheme, the writers will attend masterclasses and workshops with established television writers, production teams and experts in screenwriting, while developing their original script. The aim is that the writer’s series or serial will be taken into full development by the ±«Óãtv.

The participants in Pilot for 2023 are:

• Izzy Mant – Company Pictures 
• Jeffrey Aidoo – Greenacre Films 
• Danielle Ward – ±«Óãtv Studios 
• Sorcha Kurien-Walsh – Hartswood Films 
• Liv Hennessy – Moonage Pictures 
• Lawrie Doran – Kindle Entertainment 
• Noel McCann – New Pictures 
• Tom Melia – Eleven Film 
• Ayad Andrews – Dancing Ledge Productions 
• Angharad Elen – Mammoth Screen  

Meet the writers and find out more about them below:

Izzy Mant

Izzy is a writer and comedian. She has TV comedy-drama projects in development with Various Artists Limited, Genial Productions and ITV Studios America. 

As a comedian she made her Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2019 with POLITE CLUB, a multimedia/stand-up show about politeness addiction, which sold out 20 performances. “Engaging, intelligent and unflinchingly honest!” – The List. “Pure hilarity” – Ed Fest Mag. “..in this polished, consistently amusing debut she confirms her emergence from her shell and absolute bona fides as a comic.” – The Scotsman. Her jokes were featured on Best Jokes of the Fringe lists in The Telegraph, iNews and GQ. 

Izzy was a winner of the BAFTA Rocliffe Comedy Showcase, has been commissioned to write sketches for HARRY & PAUL (±«Óãtv2), has storylined for Beano Productions, and developed the sitcom pilot BOOTEEQ for ITV Studios through a writers’ room process. She was Story Producer on TRYING (seasons 2 & 3) for Apple TV+ and contributed additional material.

Previously, Izzy worked closely with writers as a producer on TV scripted comedy such as THE WINDSORS, HARRY & PAUL and PEEP SHOW Series 5. She has also directed theatre, live comedy and radio, and she co-created the ±«Óãtv interactive radio drama THE DARK HOUSE, winner of a BAFTA Interactive award.

Jeffrey Aidoo

Jeffrey Aidoo is a British writer with a unique voice, who is determined for the world to hear new stories, from new perspectives. He straddles both comedy and drama, but above all, he is driven to tell raw, distinct, unadulterated stories that enlighten, educate and entertain. Jeffrey has multiple credits and commissions across Amazon Audible U.S, ±«Óãtv Radio and Television.

Danielle Ward

Danielle Ward is an award-winning stand-up comedian turned writer. Her credits include Horrible Histories, Danger Mouse, Mongrels, Idris Elba's sitcom In The Long Run and most recently Brassic for Sky Max. Danielle is also the creator and host of hit podcast Do The Right Thing, cult club night Karaoke Circus and she played bass for Welsh indie pop band The Loves. She lives in North Yorkshire with her actor husband David Reed and their daughter

Sorcha Kurien-Walsh

Sorcha Kurien-Walsh is a playwright and screenwriter based in London. She was part of the Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab from 2016-17, and then was a writer on attachment at the Oxford Playhouse from 2017-18. She is the writer of a short film in post-production, has two original TV ideas in development with ±«Óãtv Studios, and has participated in a writers room for an upcoming Netflix show. She is currently a staff writer on Disney+'s adaptation of Jilly Cooper's RIVALS, and one of the founders of Messy Women, a new writing collective.

Liv Hennessy

Liv Hennessy is a screen and theatre writer from the West Midlands, now based in London. In 2020, she was a finalist in the Paines Plough Women’s Prize for Playwriting with her debut play Colostrum. Previously, she has worked as Story Producer and Story Editor on ITV’s Emmerdale. Currently, Liv has multiple original projects in development for theatre and screen, with companies including Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Boffola Pictures.

Lawrie Doran

Lawrie Doran is a writer for TV and film. His feature script YESTERDAY TOMORROW TODAY placed in the top three on the Brit List, a showcase of the country’s best unmade screenplays, and will be produced by Met Film Production. He is currently developing an eclectic slate of projects with companies including Elation Pictures, Rabbit Track, and Augenschein Filmproduktion. Lawrie’s past films have played at London Film Festival, Austin Film Festival and Palm Springs. He is a BAFTA Connect member, an alumnus of Torino FilmLab and a recipient of the John Brabourne Award. Born and raised in Manchester, he now lives in London, and is known for writing that blends genres to confront audiences with different ways of seeing.

Noel McCann

Noel McCann is an Irish writer who served as a police officer for 15 years. A passionate storyteller, he left behind a world of suspect interviews and crime scenes for pitch meetings and producer notes. His unique experiences heavily inform his view of the world.

Most recently, he has been writing for Belfast-based police drama Blue Lights, due to air on ±«Óãtv1, as well as working on a number of his own commissions.

These include an exciting period drama for Element Pictures called Hallions, while also developing a unique cop-drama with The Forge. Noel is also adapting a novel for television which is based on a real-life bank robbery.

Previously, Noel was shortlisted for ±«Óãtv Writersroom Drama Room 2019 and was chosen for the 2020 Writersroom scheme ‘Belfast Voices’. This year he has been accepted on to NIScreen’s ‘New Writer Focus’ programme where he is developing his feature Two Little Birds.

Tom Melia

Tom is a writer and producer for TV, film and radio. His credits include Bloods for Sky, Zero Chill for Netflix, The Lenny Henry Show for ±«Óãtv Radio 4 and Hollyoaks for CH4. His forthcoming debut feature film, the romantic-comedy Rye Lane, co-written with Nathon Bryon and made with ±«Óãtv Films, BFI and Fox Searchlight, is set for release in cinemas next year. As well as an original comedy-drama series in development with Various Artists and Lionsgate US, Tom is also currently working on exciting projects with companies such as Pulse Films, Deadpan Pictures, ±«Óãtv Studios and Boffola.

Ayad Andrews

Ayad was born in Baghdad, Iraq and came to the UK in 1971. He was sole writer and co-creator of the multi award-winning ±«Óãtv 5 Live/±«Óãtv Sounds podcast docu-drama series THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY – ALI v FRAZIER. Winner of a Gold ARIA at this year’s Audio and Radio Industry Awards, the series has charted in over 80 countries and won four New York Festivals Radio Awards as well as bronze at this year’s British Podcast Awards.

He’s also written for TALES FROM MALORY TOWERS – SPORTS DAY (C±«Óãtv/King Bert Productions) and two series of Wondery Media’s BUSINESS MOVERS strand – GEORGE LUCAS: CREATING A HOLLYWOOD EMPIRE and THE HP SPYING SCANDAL.

Ayad’s first full-length play, TERP, was a winning finalist in the Theatre 503 International Playwriting Prize 2020, and he has gone on to have success in a number of competitions, including the ±«Óãtv Writersroom Drama Room and this year’s FrightFest horror film festival (New Blood Class of 2022).

Angharad Elen

Angharad writes for TV, film and theatre in both Welsh and English. After gaining a first-class degree in Welsh Literature and Philosophy at Cardiff University, she went on to gain an MA in Creative Writing – also at Cardiff University – before being appointed as Literary Manager for new writing theatre company Sgript Cymru. She then went on to work as a producer at Cwmni Da production company in Caernarfon, where she stayed for 16 years. In 2021, she made the leap to become a freelance writer.

She created the drama series STAD (6×60’) for S4C in 2021, co-storylining the series and scripting four episodes. In 2018 she co-wrote the Welsh language scenes in the ‘Tywysog Cymru’ episode of THE CROWN (Leftbank/Netflix) and was Associate Producer on William McGregor’s debut feature, GWEN (Endor/BFI) starring Maxine Peake. A short film she wrote, TITSH (S4C/EBU) was broadcast in 11 territories world-wide and a pre-school live action series she created – DEIAN A LOLI (Cwmni Da for S4C) – has been in production for 8 years running, has won numerous awards, has been sold internationally, is now a book series and has a theatre show and feature film in development. Her drama and documentary productions have won a Broadcast Award, a New York Film and Television award and numerous Bafta Wales and Celtic Media Festival awards, including the coveted Spirit of the Festival award for GERALLT (Cwmni Da for S4C) - a cinema verite film she produced about Wales' most enigmatic and celebrated poet.

She has three drama series in development with various production companies - CALON LÂN / I HEART YOU, PIGEON and DO NOT GO GENTLE! - and is currently writing her debut novel.

She is an EAVE Producers’ Workshop graduate and works part-time as Development Executive at Triongl production company in Cardiff.

She lives near the sea in Llandwrog, north Wales, with her partner and three children.

Recent successful outcomes from Pilot include written by Welsh writer Daf James and produced by Leeds-based indie Duck Soup Films, which was developed as part of the 2019 scheme, and will be filmed for ±«Óãtv One and ±«Óãtv iPlayer during 2023.

Applications for writers to take part in the next Pilot opportunity will be open in early autumn via the ±«Óãtv Writersroom website.

Find out more about Pilot and the writers and production companies who have taken part