However, with great accessibility comes great competition. In the latest Open Call there were nearly 5000 submissions for around 15 or so positions on the Scripted scheme and circa 70 for the Voices programme. Those are tough odds, but that should not deter anyone at all. It’s understood industry-wide how hard it is to get accepted through the Open Call opportunity and it’s known that every stage a writer gets through in the process is a success – the end is not the only goal. Each stage a writer gets through is a fact they can put on their CV, on cover letters and in applications for other opportunities. It’s a sign of how far they have come and, potentially, how far they will go.

This was my first year reading for the ±«Óãtv Open Call and I worked alongside some seasoned readers. They were shrewd and knowledgeable about writing talent from across the country, of trends that have occurred from year to year and were scarily good at pinpointing where, how and why a script might not be working. By reading a wide array of scripts and working with this astute and clever team, I was able to put together some tips that might help those planning to submit to Open Call in the future.

1. Keep your name off the script

The information about Open Call clearly states that the writer’s name needs to be kept off the script, but it seems not everyone gets the memo. The title page is the first thing a reader sees of a submission and if they notice that you have your name on it, it shows that you haven’t paid attention. What’s even more frustrating is seeing writers with their agent's name or other competitions and schemes they have been part of included as well. A reader goes into each submission like they’re on the show Blind Date, they are not looking at the names, accolades, or successes of the writer, simply at the quality of their storytelling. Readers are looking for evidence of the writer’s prospects in their work to see if they’d be suitable for the scheme, we don’t need or look for other information. So let the work stand for itself as it’s the best representation of a writer available.

2. Don’t try to sneak in a comedy

The line between comedy/drama and comedy is a hazy one, but it’s clear to readers when a comedy script has been submitted under the guise of a comedy/drama. Comedies are not accepted into Open Call as there are other schemes and opportunities available for comedy writers at the ±«Óãtv run by the Comedy Commissioning team. A writer who tries to stealthily submit a comedy is only going to frustrate readers and organisers alike. Please don’t be that person. It became surprisingly clear to me how keen an awareness the Open Call team has for previous submissions and their writers. Don’t make them remember you for being “that guy” who tried to sneak in a comedy.

2A. How do I know if my script’s a comedy/drama or not?

That’s a fair question. Comedy/drama has become more prevalent in recent years and can come in many different forms. My personal litmus test for judging a script’s comedy/drama credentials is to ask ‘What is the engine of the story?’ There are a myriad of ways a comedy can present itself, but a comedy/drama needs that essential element – drama. If the dramatic elements are the main driver of the story but with a funny way of presenting itself, then I’d consider that a comedy/drama. If there’s drama present but the main drive is jokes and gags, I’d consider that a comedy. Of course, the balance of comedy/drama exists on a spectrum, the nuances of which can be argued until the sun engulfs the earth, but this is my main method in getting to the heart of the topic and gauging it from there.

What is Comedy Drama? Check out this blog post

3. Treat the first 10 pages like a taster

Open Call operates similarly to many schemes in how submissions progress. Firstly, we read ten pages; if that seems promising, we read 30; and if that stands out, we read the full submission. As every submission will at least have the first ten pages read, they need to stand out to go any further. These first pages should give a sense of the full story in terms of character, motivation and plot, and raise questions that make the reader want to read on. Ideally it should act as taster of the meal that you’re hoping to present to the reader. Give us a taste and make us want more. Scripts that don’t set up their story this way can feel like a bait-and-switch, and might not reflect as well on the writer as they may have hoped.

4. Submit a complete story

Beginning, middle, end; that’s how almost all stories are told. A conflict arises in the beginning of the story, is worked through and some sort of resolution is reached by the end. A beginning, middle and end are expected by audiences in what they watch, and are required from submissions. If a script doesn’t conclude the story it sets out, that reflects on the writer and their ability. It doesn’t need to be neat or conclusive, but a resolve of some kind should be reached by the last page. If you haven’t got a complete script, then don’t submit; 30 pages of a feature or a combination of short film scripts can’t be considered for the scheme and will not endear you to the Open Call team. We need to be sure you can finish the story you start because otherwise how do we know you can tell a story?

5. Minimise mistakes

It’s easy for typos, spelling mistakes and all sorts of errors to pass you by, especially when working towards a tight deadline. Knowing my luck there are probably a few here that I haven’t noticed. Mistakes can be forgiven if they don’t get in the way of the story when reading a script. However, when names get mixed up, scene headers are inconsistent or character actions are misattributed, then it can cause problems. It makes the reader wonder whether the problem is their reading or the writer's writing. The ideal scenario when reading a script is that the reader forgets about all the technical aspects of the writing and just sees the story in its purest form. As a writer, you need to do everything in your power to make sure reading your script is as close to that ideal as possible. Make sure the right person is saying the right dialogue and that a scene that takes place during the day, states that it’s during the day. Make it easy to go on the journey, not get lost in it.

6. Show us what makes you write

This is perhaps the biggest bit of advice I could give to anyone submitting to Open Call. This is a scheme that’s predicated on developing the writer, not the script. What you submit needs to reflect who you are as a writer and how you express yourself, as that’s essentially what we readers are looking for. Your submission should show us what type of stories interest you, what you want to say and how you want to say it. Don’t follow trends, topics or zeitgeisty issues if they don’t compel you to tell a story you want to tell. Submit what you would want to make if you had all the money and creative control possible, as that shows us who you are as a writer the most. You don’t need years of experience or studies to do this, skill level and craft is just one factor in how we decide who goes through, it’s about your voice and how well you use it. That’s what we want to see the most.

Editor's note: We're planning to update everyone who submitted a script to the latest Open Call by the end of next week. Please keep an eye on your email inbox and also your junk folder as our emails can be delivered there in error.

Was the writing process different for you when you were creating Series 2 of The Responder?

Do you know what? It wasn’t. I was expecting it to be, and everyone talks about the difficult second album syndrome, but I think I’m just too stupid to get stressed about it! So it was literally just ‘Do It Again’ – I went into a room and did it again.

Do you have a favourite scene or moment across the two series?

I always say this, and people must be sick of listening to it, but it’s still by far and away my favourite scene, which is in episode 1. It’s Chris (Martin Freeman) and Marco (Josh Finan) in the police car driving along.

One, I love it because it’s beautifully shot. It’s in the dark. It sums up what being a copper is so much about which is you and the person you’ve arrested or the person you’re with and that small fish-tank environment. I love that and I love that they captured that so beautifully, the director . It was the first scene that I wrote and it was me talking to me. I wrote it as an exercise which was me being a copper later in life and me being a scally earlier in life sitting in the back of a car. So it’s very much a conversation between me and me. It’s by far and away my favourite scene.

Were there any new themes that you wanted to explore or existing ones that you wanted to build on with Series 2?

The themes that I wanted to explore and expand upon that were important to me were relationships and love. I think every show – literally every show from right the way up to something like is about love and relationships. It’s the whole thing for me. The Responder is not a crime show, it’s a show about those issues. For me, being a father of a two-and-a-half-year-old I was really interested in Chris’s struggle with being a good Dad and holding that in relation to his struggle with how his own Dad wasn’t a good Dad. It’s about his fears about that and his fears about carrying that mark on him. He’s terrified that he’s going to pass those bad things onto his daughter. Those were the themes that I really wanted to look at – fatherhood, love and relationships. To me those are the most important things.

What do you think made The Responder resonate with people?

I’m still coming to terms with the fact that it did resonate with people! It resonated all around the world. I’m still getting stopped by people who want to talk about series one. It kind of caught fire and took off. I think because everyone was expecting it to be one thing and it turned out that it wasn’t. Everyone thought it was going to be Line of Duty (and I love Line of Duty) but it’s not Line of Duty. And everyone thought if it wasn’t that then it would be something like from years ago, and it wasn’t that either. It’s just a programme about people and I think people are interested in people, so it can only be that.

How important is Liverpool as the setting and what does that bring to the story?

It was massively important to me, if only because the way that I wrote it was very much using the rhythms of speech and the people. The people in the show are almost real, well they are real to me, but they’re almost real. I’ve literally just been chatting to someone who could have been in the show. It was very important to me that I got those people in the show and also I love this city, it means a lot to me. It’s nice to do something in your hometown. I think as well, it gives it an identity that maybe it wouldn’t have had if it was set in, I don’t know… Hemel Hempstead. I might write that show next!

What is it about police dramas that makes them so rich for storytelling?

When I was a copper, very very early on in my career a bobby said to me that we’re never going to knock on someone’s door and tell them they’ve won the lottery. You are only ever dealing with strong emotions and dark emotions. It’s very rare that you just have a bland, boring day. Everything is always very heightened. The minute that you heighten life then any kind of drama that you’re writing about it is exaggerated again and heightened further. It’s just fertile ground for plucking stories out (do you pluck things out of fertile ground?) It’s perfect for it. Big emotions – that’s what you want in a drama.

How did your writing journey start?

A very long time ago… it’s like ‘Once Upon a Time Tony wanted to be a writer…’ When I was a kid, I really wanted to be a writer and used to love writing stories at school. The only class I was interested in was English, that was all I wanted to do. But I failed my English exam and I thought that was it, “Oh well, never going to be a writer”. Thirty-odd years later I’m driving a cab after having a nervous breakdown and quitting the police and a lady got in the cab and said to me that she was the editor of a magazine. I said to her "I’m a writer". I don’t know why I said it, but I just said it. Now I look back and I think that I wasn’t lying really, I’d always been a writer but just hadn’t written anything. Hopefully that’s been born out after three novels and The Responder. She told me to send her some stuff, so I had to go away and start writing again. It was like someone just took the finger out of the dam and suddenly all this stuff flowed out of me. I was a writer, there was a thirty-year hiatus and then suddenly I was a writer again. I think I’m almost qualified to say now that’s what I am.

How important is life experience to your writing?

I think for me it’s very important. For my writing it’s very important. But I do sort of take umbrage with people when they say “ah well you’ve got all that life experience, someone who is twenty-one hasn’t got that life experience”. But they’ve probably just got a better imagination that I have. I don’t think life experience is important for everyone. I don’t believe in write what you know, I believe in write what you can imagine. I think people should just enjoy writing. You shouldn’t wait to start writing.

How do you create compelling characters?

I don’t know! I hope I just do it. I think what I do is not just to write a scene between two people. I’ve got one person here and one person there and information is passing between them – what should a scene do? Pass information. When I’ve written that scene I’ll come round behind this character, and I’ll try and move into their head – this is what I’m doing at three in the morning! I’ll move into their head, and I’ll look at the other character through their eyes. So, I’ve got all the information but when I run that scene again in my head I’m trying to see if there’s anything between them that I can use and build on. It might be their appearance – “look at the state of you, where have you been?’’. It’s a bit of human language. When I’ve done that, I’ll come round the other side and look through the other character’s eyes.

Your scene has got to convey information. If it’s not conveying information, then it shouldn’t be there – that’s what people would say. They’re probably right but I don’t necessarily think that’s true. I think there’s always space for a scene where you don’t have to convey as much information in what people say. Sometimes no words are better than a lot of words. People think to make a compelling character that they’ve got to say a lot. Chris Carson (Martin Freeman) in the show doesn’t really say that much. He doesn’t pass that much information on. Sometimes the compelling nature of the character is in the silence as well and what they’re doing with their hands, or where they’re sitting or what they’re looking at. Get in their head, get behind their eyes and look at the world through their eyes.

Any top tips?

There’s one that I wish I had known which is – Don’t get in your own way. I keep saying this over and over. The one thing that stops writers more than any others is themselves. Get out of your way. Start writing. We talk about self-doubt and block and confidence. It’s all you. You’ve just got to write it. Don’t think that you’ve got to buy a new notepad. I’m guilty of all of this, I’ve got about twenty brand new notepads on my desk, I’m guilty of it and that’s why I can speak with a degree of confidence. Stop telling yourself things like ‘I don’t know how to format a script’, just write it. It doesn’t matter if the format is wrong, or you haven’t got the software.

Jimmy McGovern – well if you’re going to get writing advice go to the boss! Jimmy said to me “Write you”. At the time I thought he meant just write my story but as time has gone on, I think what he was saying was to write what you feel is right, don’t write what you think will be a hit or that people are looking for. Don’t try and tailor your work to the current crop of television shows or films. Be you, you’re individual and unique.

What are the benefits of writer development schemes?

The experience – it’s just that. I was part of the ±«Óãtv Writersroom North group (Voices). You have people coming in to speak to the group who I would never in a million years get the opportunity to listen to. People would come in and talk about commissioning and theatre and radio. It’s also a calling-card if you can get onto those schemes it’s a way of other people getting to know you. One of the first people I met at a ±«Óãtv Writers event was at Stratford in East London (at the writers’ festival). It’s a bit of a hike from Liverpool. I met Helen Black who went on to write Time series 2 with Jimmy McGovern. When I met Helen neither of us had written anything for television but we’re still mates and hoping to collaborate together one day. I’m Britain’s worst networker so it was Helen who came over and put me in a headlock and started talking to me! If you find it difficult to network, just go anyway, you’ll learn stuff, why would you not want to learn stuff?

It’s been a strange start to 2024, with a variety of issues culminating in so many brilliant people looking for work in scripted TV. I’m emailed daily from people wanting to introduce themselves, ask advice and enquire about opportunities.

A thread I posted on X offering some advice on networking received an overwhelming response (I mean, overwhelming for me), which clarified quite how difficult things are.

In an industry that can feel isolating and closed off at the best of times, building a network and making yourself visible is essential. Often it’s your one shot to make an impression and I remember walking away from meetings thinking I’d failed miserably. It took practice to work out how best to make the most of the conversations I had, and now, on the other side of the table, I’ve gained a bit of an insight into what might help you stand out in a crowded market.

1) Always remember it’s in the interest of the industry for us to meet new people.

The industry has grown significantly over the last decade and competition to win the shows is tougher than ever. Talented development people are golden and we all want the best to help us do it – to bring new relationships and a different perspective, to help identify talent and have the skills to nurture that into greenlights. The more people WE know in our networks, the more we can ensure we’re finding the right person when we need them. As an industry we often fall back on the people we know, which is great, but there are always more devils to know and we hate missing out on the best.

As one of the replies to the thread put it, ‘people buy people’. It’s easy to forget this as we try to find new work, prioritising fitting in over standing out. So don’t feel nervous about cold-emailing companies and people you want to connect with, but be aware...

2) You may not always get a reply.

Production and development can often be demanding. Weeks of writers' rooms or working on set mean emails are picked up at random times and we’re regularly responding to the urgent demands of the projects we’re working on with all the best intentions to circle back to the requests to connect later on.

If you don’t get a reply to your attempt to connect, wait six weeks or so and try again. Don’t sound put-out or accusatory, just check to see if they’d received your initial approach and ask if there’s anyone in the team it might be better to coordinate with. When I’m up against it, often there’s a colleague who might be better placed who can be a brilliant ally. Still no reply? Move on with grace.

But back to that first email...

3) Make an effort.

Be polite. Direct the email specifically to the person and production company you want to connect with, and please only email one person from the company at a time. Reference shows they make and have worked on, and why you like their content. There really is nothing worse than an impersonal mail merge or a cut and paste job. You’re asking people to give up their time to connect, so show you’ve done the same in return.

4) Be clear what you’re looking to gain.

You may only get one shot with this. Are you looking for advice about the industry and breaking in, or to introduce yourself for future work and opportunities? These are two different conversations and it’s hard to do both in one.

5) You want advice to break in or on the industry?

Think about who would be best to have this conversation with. Introduce yourself and what you do. Share your CV and be prepared with the questions you’d like to ask as a starting point for any meeting. In advance, if you already work in a different industry, think about how your skills can transfer and why you want to work in TV development.

6) You want to introduce yourself for future opportunities?

Make sure you make an impression. Attach your CV and be clear about where you are in your career and what you’re looking for in terms of your next steps. Name the last show you worked on or the companies you’ve been working with.

Are you interested in development or looking for a production role? It’s easy and understandable (especially in today’s market) to say ‘anything!’. I know I did for a long time, but try and work to your strengths and what you can offer. Be realistic if you’re looking for a step up – make sure you are able to articulate why and what your contribution has been to the projects you’ve worked on. Titles are free, so take a look at the roles at the companies you’re approaching and the experience/credits of those with similar titles to check you’re being realistic.

7) Ensure your CV reflects what you want.

I could write a whole blog on CVs. It’s understandable to want to outline all your experience, but in a world of talented multi-hyphenates and hustle, a CV can often feel confusing and do you a disservice if it doesn’t give a strong indication of who you are. You want the reader to get a clear and confident sense of where you sit in the industry and the path you’re on. Tailor your CV to the role you’re looking to achieve and focus on the relevant experience and transferable skills that speak to that.

So you’ve got the meeting...

8) Make an impression.

You want the person you’re meeting to get a sense of who you are, where your strengths lie and what gap you could potentially fill in a team.

I’ll be honest, I’ve come away from generals without a real sense of the taste and editorial judgment of the person I’m meeting which makes it hard to consider them properly when we do have an opportunity. If it’s on zoom or teams, meetings often blur into one rectangular shaped box, so impressions become even more important to distinguish yourself.

Can I judge how your taste will fit into our team? Can I tell which shows on my slate you’ll be a natural fit for? Tell me what you like and why. We don’t have to agree – I can pinpoint two roles I’ve been offered in my career that were down to respectfully NOT agreeing!

Be humble. Don’t inflate your role. Being part of a team is essential. We all know telly is made by a whole team of countless skilled people collaborating, and that’s how we like it. How did you play a part in that, what worked well and what do you think might’ve gone better?

9) Have an opinion.

That’s what we’re paid for, so give us a glimpse of that. It can be controversial, it can be niche, but let us know you think deeper and wider and can analyse content. We all loved Fleabag/Breaking Bad/Happy Valley – so tell me something I might not have considered about them before.

You’re obsessed with sci-fi? Tell me your thoughts on the ones that work and the ones that don’t. You did your dissertation on Austen? What underrated classic do you think is ripe for adaptation next?

Tell us what you’re watching and be ready to chat about them, but don’t list endless US shows. They’re brilliant, I love them too, but sadly we have neither the run lengths nor the budgets, and our audiences are very different.

10) Have an awareness of the industry.

We all love great writing, but the best people also realise we’re a business. Try and express an opinion on that - who’s watching what, what are the trends you’ve noticed, where has a particular streamer/broadcaster got it right or wrong in their commissioning. And the million-dollar question: what’s next?

It’s hard to be across everyone making waves in the writing world. Bonus points if you can tell me about someone I might not have heard of and what you’ve identified about them. Who have you been tracking? A voice in theatre you think we need to see in TV? A writer you’ve worked with or read you think is on a path to properly breaking through?

11) How you express that opinion is EVERYTHING.

Opinions are our currency, but delivering them is how we develop and thrive in the industry. Creative relationships can be lifelong and how we flexibly resolve editorial differences and give notes are our bread and butter. Be humble, our world is built on collaboration and development is about facilitating the creative vision of a writer. Make sure you show us some of that.

It should feel like a conversation, a joyful fun one that builds and develops. We love to encourage an inquisitive team and are interested in how you can contribute to that. Absolutely be controversial, but a red flag rises quickly if it’s delivered in a way that feels inflexible or over-confident. Interpersonal skills are an essential part of the industry but as I was gently reminded a few days ago, these skills don’t always come easily and as an industry we’re on a path to recognise that we have a whole host of differently wired brains that go to support our creativity. If that resonates with you, there are brilliant organisations that can support you in building a network, check out and .

The industry is changing, seen recently with the 2022 launch of , an alliance of ten of the UK’s biggest broadcasters and streamers who have pledged to work together to ensure access provision for Disabled talent.

12) Follow up!

They’ve given up their time, so thank them! Perhaps reflect on an area of the conversation - expand on a thought you’d had, send a link to the article you mentioned or the name of the writer you’d loved. This will help cement you in their mind.

They have a sci-fi greenlit? They’ll remember your opinion on the genre. They’re keen to find IP to adapt? Your obsession with classic literature is about to pay off.

13) Connect with your peers.

Of course, you want to connect with people making hiring decisions, but don’t overlook your peers! Development assistants and coordinators, Assistant Script Editor’s and Script/Development Editor’s know EVERYTHING. They have the inside scoop on who, what, and where. They have a much better sense of the best and current ways into the industry as well as the issues. They know where the jobs are, when they’re coming up and the best places to find a home.

Email them, have coffee with them. If it’s advice you’re looking for, they’ve got it. Best case scenario, you’ve found a friend and they’ll facilitate a meeting with someone else where you can use their advice and make that impression I’ve been banging on about.

Forget HODs and Exec Prods - your peers and those a role ahead of you are the people you need in your tribe. Nurture that and you’ll be flying...

14) No meeting is wasted.

There may not always be a job available but every connection will expand your network. Person by person you’ll build a richer picture of the industry and how it works. You’ll leave with a sense of the company and whether it might be the right fit for you. You’ll pick up an insight into the industry that can help form a theory of your own and, if you’re lucky, there’s a brilliant bit of insider knowledge to be had. If you’ve made an impression, one day, I promise it’ll pay off.

15) BE KIND

Make the best tea, be an ear, be humble, roll your sleeves up and get stuck in and be the person everyone wants in the office. Scripted development and production can be stressful and demanding, and frankly, so it should be; we’re in a privileged position and there are big budgets at stake. Being trusted to always work with kindness and respect will take you a long way – it’s not always been prioritised in TV, but slowly and surely, we’ll get there. Absolutely know your worth but be willing to learn, as we all do every day...

Can you outline your writing career to date?

Bronágh: I started out as an actor and still am an actor, that was my gateway into writing. I moved from Belfast to London for acting and then when I was over there, I decided to enter the writing competition and ended up getting selected for that. When you’re selected you get to do a performance piece and industry people come along. Luckily ±«Óãtv Northern Ireland were over for it, and they were putting together a team for a new show called 6 Degrees. That led to me going onto the writing team. It started from there really. After that I wrote on lots of C±«Óãtv and other children's dramas before I made the leap into more grown-up drama. The two areas work exactly the same, it’s just for a different audience. That experience gave me so much, I got to write so many scripts. I think that’s the only way to really polish your skills – by writing as much as possible.

Noel: My journey into writing is a bit random in that my previous career was as a police officer. I’ve always loved storytelling, but I was just writing for myself, almost as self-care, it was cathartic. I never imagined that anyone else would ever read it. Then it came to the stage that I had a finished script and I wondered if it was any good. The only person who I knew in the industry was (one of the creators of Blue Lights). He agreed to read the script and reacted to it really positively. That gave me the confidence to take it out, so I contacted who gave me the name of local producers. I contacted who agreed to read it and took it into development and then out to broadcasters. It was literally the first thing that I’d ever written, which was just crazy! From that I ended up getting an agent. The script was taken to the ±«Óãtv and (who was commissioner there at the time) said “we love this, but we’ve committed to a cop show in Northern Ireland already” which turned out to be Blue Lights! That’s something which happens a lot – there will be something else similar on the development slate. I was disappointed at the time but now I’m pleased that’s the way it worked out.

Have you been involved with any of the writer development groups or opportunities offered by ±«Óãtv Writers?

Bronágh: I’ve done development residentials in the past when you were known as ±«Óãtv Writersroom. I remember one of them was when I was writing for a teenage audience. I’d just had a baby and remember it was bliss because I actually got some sleep! It was great just to be mingling with other writers and it did lead onto some work.

Noel: I was on the ±«Óãtv Writers Pilot scheme. It was genuinely brilliant, the best scheme that I’ve done. I got teamed up with a mentor called , this legendary showrunner who also has a foothold in America. It was meant to be a professional mentor scheme but she’s just my mate now. We’re chatting all the time and the advice that she’s given me is unbelievable. She’s put me forward for jobs which have come off. The actual group of writers who were involved in Pilot and being part of that peer group was also great. It’s just lovely being in a group chat and being able to run things past each other. I’m not from the industry, outside of work I’m not involved with people from the industry, so forming that friendship group and being able to ask questions is just so helpful.

How did you become involved with Blue Lights?

Bronágh: I was already working with the production company, , when the first series was happening. , the joint CEO there, gave me my first writing job on 6 Degrees. I was very pregnant when the first series came around and couldn’t also swing getting into the writers’ room, but they said “if it comes back we’ll give you a shout”. I met Dec (Declan Lawn) and he read a spec’ script of mine. Then I was asked into the writers’ room for series 2 with the showrunners Dec, and Noel.

Noel: For me, because Dec had read my police script and I had that USP of having actually done the job, I was brought on board when series 1 was commissioned. I was involved in creating most of the characters and using my experience in shaping the storylines.

Why do you think the show has resonated with so many people?

Bronágh: I think it’s because it very, very cleanly explained aspects of Northern Ireland that people could never get their heads around. I lived in London for 10 years and people were always asking me to explain Northern Ireland, explain Belfast, to explain certain political aspects. People are fascinated by it and there’s only so much you can try and explain when you’re working in a coffee shop to your co-workers who are from Madrid or the north in England. Blue Lights came out and I think people just went "Oh I understand it more now – the layout of the city, the different communities, the trust issues, the differences in the police service". That’s a really hard thing to achieve.

Noel: Blue Lights was character-driven from the start. I remember from day one of the writers’ room that was the plan. On the surface it’s about the police but really, you’re getting to know the characters because they’re thrown into these incredible situations. How they deal with those situations tells you so much about who they are. I think through the fact it’s a police drama you get to know them very quickly and their personality traits – you really get behind them.

For me the best thing about Blue Lights is that it’s unashamedly localised. I think people buy into that. My favourite TV shows are ones that are totally of the place and don’t apologise for it in any way, shape, or form.

How does the writers’ room process work?

Bronágh: Dec and Adam come in with a very clear view of what the overall arc is going to be – the crime story which is always the driving force. That’s not to say that it doesn’t morph and change as time goes on. Within that overall arc we’re free to feed in in terms of guest stories that will come in and out and we do a lot of talking, breaking down our main family of characters and what we’re going to do with them.

At the end of the writers’ room process what do you leave with?

Bronágh: A document, photographs of scribbles on whiteboards, sheets going down the walls! our script editor writes everything up at the end of every day and streamlines it for us. As you can imagine, we’ll be on one episode and then the conversation jumps down the line to another. Sarah has the job of trying to put it all into order so that when we’re reading it over afterwards it’s more organised. I still don’t know how she does that! You leave with a sense of what each episode is – I know this because we walked out with a sense of episodes 1, 2 ,4, 5 and 6 but not so much episode 3 – and I was like ‘great that’s my episode!’ but that was just because we hadn’t cracked it yet in the room, but we cracked it later.

How does it work writing your own episode within the series?

Bronágh: You have an idea of the overall arc of the series, something will stand out with every episode, so you know what that episode is. Your A storyline – in terms of what incident your characters are called out to on the streets in that episode (for example) is still up for grabs and you get to bring that to the table and decide what you would like to do with the main characters within your episode – while keeping an eye on how it falls in the whole thing. That bit is really satisfying.

Noel: We knew from the beginning that Adam and Dec would write the beginning and end of the series, so we knew that episodes 3 and 4 were up for grabs. There’s a big storyline for which the crescendo happens in episode 4. That storyline was inspired by my real-life experience, so I agreed with Bronágh that I’d take episode 4. But before this point all four of us together with the producers had come up with the entire series and knew pretty much what was going to fall into each episode. Once the writers’ room stage is finished it’s about Bronágh and me going off and writing our outlines of what our individual episode are going to look like. Then after that we’ll all work on it together, agreeing and moving stuff around. The script editors are also involved at this stage. Once we get the sign off then it’s off to write the full script.

What are you most proud of about your episode?

Noel: For series 2 I campaigned to have a character who is a cop who’s a bit of a rascal and we’ve got him in a new character called Shane (Frank Blake). I’m proud that in the first draft of my episode, how I’d written him resulted in him being re-written in earlier episodes to get him to that point. Without giving any spoilers there’s a scene that I refer to as the Harry Potter scene – that’s where Shane comes to the fore – that’s what I’m most proud of.

Bronágh: In my episode I got to pitch a big emotional storyline. Everybody calls it the ‘tearjerker’. I got to write for Stevie (Martin McCann), who I just love as a character, and I got to delve deeper with him and into his past – through the job and his relationship with Grace (Sian Brooke). I think it takes things in a slightly different direction.

Why do you think people should watch Blue Lights?

Bronágh: I think it does that thing where it swings a lens onto another area of Belfast – which is such a complicated city. The show is doing this amazing thing of taking an aspect of the city and trying to interrogate it a bit. As Adam and Dec interrogate it the audience get to learn about the inner workings of this place. It can still baffle you – as it still baffles a lot of us who live here, but I think they’re just going deeper and deeper and through this world of policing you get to see so many other walks of life in Northern Ireland. Adam and Dec are journalists, and they know how to do this stuff. It feels great to be in the hands of people who are really good at that.

What’s the best piece of career advice that you’ve been given about writing?

Noel: I did a writing course with and he gave out his top ten tips. Number one was ‘Don’t be an a***hole’ – and I’ve never had any other piece of advice which has surpassed that! Because it’s all about relationships. If people enjoy working with you they are going to come back to work with you again.

Bronágh: For me the best piece was from . She said, ‘Just get it done’. I’d written a first draft and brought it to her with all the typical insecure writer caveats of ‘it’s really rubbish, it’s really bad, I could do another draft etc etc’ and she just took it from me and said, ‘You got it done. That’s the difference between people who want to write and people who write. We can’t collaborate with anyone unless you have something. We can talk all day about ideas (and a lot of the job is doing just that), but at the end of the day we’re going to need a script.’

As soon as you have a script you’ve something to work from, something to polish and to improve. Just get it done!

Watch Blue Lights Series 2 on ±«Óãtv One and ±«Óãtv iPlayer from Monday 15th April

How would you set the scene for This Town?

Steven Knight (writer) - The setting and backdrop for This Town is 1981, Birmingham and Coventry. ‘81 was a time of turmoil and change in every sense - in society, in politics but in music as well. This series opens with a riot and I hope the sense of ‘riot’ continues throughout the whole thing. , it happened in Handsworth, Birmingham and I’ve used that to introduce four very different characters who will come together.

You might say it’s about music or it’s about people who are drawn to a certain type of music, but I’ve tried not to do that. I didn’t really want to do a thing about people who form a band, which is part of what it is, I wanted to create a group of people who have no choice other than to form a band because all the other options are so bleak. Having said that I hope ‘bleak’ isn’t a word that people use to describe this, because what I’m trying to do is meet these people living their lives on big, sprawling housing estates in the early 80s and it’s beautiful. The place is beautiful. The series is not trying to say ‘isn’t it awful’.

Where did the idea for This Town come from and why did you want to write this story?

Steven - It originated with , the production company, who suggested creating something to do with this sort of music. That struck a chord with me because this was the era when I grew up and I’m from similar places to where the music originated.

At the time it seemed completely normal, but when you look back there was a period when in Coventry and then Birmingham that a certain sort of music appeared. Suddenly everyone seemed to come together regardless of differences like race. You’d go to a Birmingham football match and go to the pub after the match and someone would turn up with a record player and plug it in and everyone was united. The point being that it wasn’t deliberate or forced, or anyone at the time said “this is good”, it just happened. Music was everywhere. Not just the younger generation but parents and uncles and aunties would have a party and everyone would turn up and everyone had their song which they did. People were just singing all the time. In pubs people would sing.

I thought it would be interesting to tell a story set at that time. I tried not to tell a story of four people who form a band but four people in very very difficult circumstances which they can only escape from if they form bands.

Music is such a force of hope for so many of us, especially at that time of your life?

Steven - Music appeals to some part of your psyche that isn’t rational or reasonable. The characters are not seeking it out or trying to find it – this thing is finding them. A lot of the character stuff is based on real people’s experiences – the character of Gregory for example. I’m trying to get the reality of people’s lives into the story, the unusualness of reality.

What part does music play for the different characters?

Steven - For each character there is a role for music. For Bardon music for him is this Irish rebel music, it represents what his dad does, the danger, the jeopardy and the thing he doesn’t want. For Dante it’s words and he can’t cope with how they come to him, he needs to get them away. For Deuce, Dante’s dad who is a preacher, there is gospel music which for him is the lifeline to save him from addiction. Estella, Bardon’s mum, could’ve made it in the 60s and 70s, because she is a brilliant singer – and luckily Michelle Dockery is also a brilliant singer. For Estella music is what might’ve been. It’s a different thing for all of them but it fits when they all come together. 

The setting is so vital to the story?

Steven - Yes, there are these two council estates, and you could approach it by saying ‘isn’t it a shame, these poor people’ but for people who live there you don’t think like that. It’s brilliant, it’s glamorous and it’s dramatic. The idea is that those blocks look beautiful.

And all the influences and sounds come together to make this series unique?

Steven - I think so. We’ve been so fortunate with our performers and our director and the people who have contributed music, so I’m really excited about that – by the time you get to episode six it’s on fire!

Paul Whittington - Director

I read Steve’s script a couple of years ago now and I know it sounds like a cliché but it was one of the best scripts I’d ever read. The energy really leapt off the page and the vitality of these characters. Also, it’s interesting that it’s a very personal piece for Steve because actually it felt very personal for me too. The more personal you make something in the writing of it then the more universal it becomes. All the themes of being that age, being a teenager and that search for identity, ‘Who am I? Who is my tribe?’ Expressing that through the music that you listen to and the clothes that you wear – I think that’s something that we can all relate to.

I have a particular nostalgia for it because I remember that time, I’m from the Midlands too. It’s nostalgic but also universal thematically. You could set this story at any stage of history since the invention of the teenager!

How do you recreate those locations at that time?

Paul - Birmingham offers a lot in terms of the locations and people were very welcoming to us. If you say you’re working with the guy who created Peaky Blinders the doors open! The Brummies are rightly very proud of that show.

We found an area called in Birmingham – a sprawling estate with green spaces and woodland and then a location in Coventry that we wanted to be a bit more insular and inward looking – an incredible estate that has a large tower in the centre and four low rise blocks around each side that felt like a fortress. We had these two very distinctive and different locations.

How did you select the music for the incredible soundtrack?

Paul - Steve had written a lot of stuff into the script. Reading the script with a playlist in your head brought a lot to life. We also had a fantastic composer, , who wrote all the original music. He brought that time together with something that feels very contemporary.

Did you think ‘oh no I didn’t get this song in’?

Steven – I really tried not to think about it in terms of, it’s got to be about music or have a forensic analysis of what music was there at the time or even worse, try and be pure about things. It’s not based on the story of any specific band. People were listening to all kinds of different music. That’s why I wanted Leonard Cohen in there – just the last thing you’re expecting.

Steven this is the first production out of your new Birmingham studios isn’t it? How important is that?

Steven - We did it before we were ready, which was good! It’s a project that I’ve been working on for about eight or nine years, to get a studio there in Digbeth which is quite a rough but also cool bit of Birmingham with lots going on. We’ve got 20 acres of land with a mix of industrial warehouses and Victorian architecture. I love it. We’ve got Masterchef moving in and a lot more stuff coming. For me to be shooting in Birmingham was incredibly important. I love I think it’s beautiful! There’s a lot of in this show! I just wanted to take the bits of Birmingham that I’ve always thought are just amazing and great to look at and put them on screen and see if anybody agrees.

When you were writing the show did you have more than one season in mind?

Steven – Yes definitely. I think if you’re going to write a show you have to think that you’re going to be with these people for quite a long time and you’re going to get to the end of their journey. What’s good about television rather than film is that you can have a character who is unsympathetic for a long time and then redeem them. There’s always a thought that these characters are going to mature over quite a long period of time.

What’s the connection to the political context of the time and does it have contemporary resonance?

Steven - I think yes, fracture and destruction of society and pessimism. My intention was to take all of that bleakness and then find out that people will make it through. These characters are in very, very difficult circumstances, not through any fault of their own, and find ways to get out of them. At least you can have a laugh and a song.

Watch This Town on ±«Óãtv iPlayer and ±«Óãtv One from Sunday 31st March

The Verb is a weekly "Cabaret of the Word", featuring the best poetry, new writing and performance, presented by Ian McMillan. The Verb is a longstanding collaborator with ±«Óãtv Writers, offering the chance for writers from our development groups (including Scripted, Writers' Access Group, and Voices) to garner a short audio drama commission - and also the opportunity to appear on the show. 

Once selected, our alumni writers underwent an intense development process with a ±«Óãtv Audio Drama North Producer. Below, you can listen to their final audio drama productions, as well as read their experiences of the process. 

The ±«Óãtv Writers alumni selected for the most recent Verb audio dramas are Amy Arnold, Alan Flanagan, Matthew Smith, and Karen Featherstone. 

"I was so happy to have my radio play selected for The Verb – KISSING WITH TONGUES was the first thing I’d ever written for radio, and I really wasn’t sure how my writing would translate given that I have mostly worked on television scripts before now. Once I got started, I found the loose brief – to simply ‘celebrate language’ – and also the tight 7-8 minute timing really focused my brain, getting me to think hard about the purpose of every word (I can sometimes tend towards verbose when left to my own devices!)

"My script editor Pippa Day was brilliant in helping me hone the finer story details, and I loved the day I spent in the studio with her and Lorna Newman, who directed the play with so much energy and enthusiasm. Hearing the actors performing my words was really special – for me it was the first time I’ve experienced that, and it gave me a renewed excitement for radio as a storytelling medium. Listening to the final edit felt so intimate and romantic - the perfect way to dive into the inner thoughts of my two characters as they mull over their feelings for one another. I’m so grateful I got the opportunity to create this piece through being part of Writersroom, and look forward to writing more for radio in the future!"

- Amy Arnold

Listen to the full episode of The Verb including Amy's introduction to Kissing With Tongues (at 44 minutes)

"Anyone who's spent more than five minutes in an Ann Summers knows that it's the fate of humanity to eventually fall in love with machines, so I decided to pitch 'Something Borrowed' -- about a dead relationship resurrected by some ungodly combination of AI and wishful thinking. I love writing for radio because there's this inherent weirdness to it, the audience with an ear cocked to their wireless (slash bluetooth headset) will pretty much sign up for anything, so it feels like a great space to explore genre stories. After getting the initial pitch accepted, I faced the agonising uphill battle of bringing an idea to life -- only kidding (I don't work down a mine), it was all smooth sailing with the wonderful producer Vicky Moseley guiding me through several drafts.

"The main challenge was getting so much story into about 8 minutes while still keeping the characters intact and interesting, but Vicky was the perfect collaborator the whole way through. Recording radio is always so much fun, and (after getting over being star-struck by meeting a former Corrie star) I was bowled over by the performances of Jenny Platt and Andonis Anthony. Andonis found the slowly growing humanity in this artificial-intelligence-turned-spurned-boyfriend, while Jenny achieved the impossible by doing an Irish accent that I, a curmudgeonly Irish person, found flawless. I can't thank Vicky, Jenny, Andonis (and Lorna Newman, and others who worked on the project) enough for allowing me to have so much fun bringing this story of literal "it's PC gone mad" to the nation's earholes."

- Alan Flanagan

Listen to the full episode of The Verb including Alan's introduction to Something Borrowed (at 32 minutes, 40 seconds)

"Radio is a visual medium. Well, no. But hold on...

"When I think about audible storytelling - like a podcast, radio advert or interview - the bits that stick with me are the moments where I can visualise the scene. So this was my mission throughout the writing process: write visually. Sure, write well, but for the love of God write visually.

"I committed to an idea which is specific and absurd. On the very first page of my script, a Huddersfield Town fan transforms into a donor kebab. This set the tempo. The rest of the story must evolve from this foolish imagery to keep the listener guessing and, ideally, bewildered.

"My commitment to ensuring the story was populated with lush yet unfamiliar imagery led me to expecting higher standards from my writing. It's all well and good to imagine bizarre illustrations, but none of this imagery is worth spit unless it actually means something. Therefore I interrogated the story's characters, themes, language and structure much more than I usually do; ensuring the ambitious visuals are complimented by ambitious storytelling.

"What I'm trying to say is, more radio dramas should open with a kebab mutation in the John Smith's stadium."

- Matthew Smith

Listen to the full episode of The Verb including Matthew's introduction to No Smoking in the Ground (at 13 minutes)

"My play GHOST IN THE MACHINE was my third attempt to have my work included as part of The Verb, so I was thrilled when it got selected. In a way, having being rejected before helped, I think, as I stopped second guessing what I thought the team would like.

"I just wrote about something which had been bothering me (my increasing claustrophobia in MRI machines; I’m a disabled writer and have had a lot of MRI scans). It was a happy coincidence that the weird noises an MRI machine makes meant they were going to contribute to a rich soundscape. I’m told the sound designers got quite excited at the challenge.

"Developing the piece with the wonderful Pippa Day, and then being invited to the recording were huge factors in me feeling that this piece was going to turn out very close to how it had played in my head. There was a slight delay when we had to find the correct pronunciation of the word ‘parapharyngeal’, but the patience and dedication of Pippa, the actors and tech team paid off. It was really one of the best experiences I’ve had of my writing being produced."

- Karen Featherstone

Listen to the full episode of The Verb including Karen's introduction to Ghost in the Machine (at 22 minutes, 30 seconds)

I’m really lucky to be able to work across development and production, and the Script Editor role for each of these can be quite different.

If you’re in development you’re sourcing new projects and working with writers to come up with ideas for shows. So this involves reading lots of books, new ideas, sample scripts, meeting different writers and thinking about what the audience and commissioners are looking for. For me, meeting writers and chatting about new ideas is the best part of the job – anything is possible at this stage! You’ll also be developing ideas with writers and supporting them through the (sometimes long and arduous) development process.

A Script Editor isn’t there to write the script, it’s about being a fresh pair of eyes on things like character, story and structure, but mainly it’s asking questions to help the writer shape a project. And also, in the back of your mind, you’re thinking about what similar ideas are out there, how you can make an idea stand out and how you might pitch it to commissioners and production partners.

The Script Editor job on a Kids & Family production can vary depending on the show, but it’s all about getting lots of scripts to be the best they can be within pretty tight deadlines. So, you’re giving notes and asking questions to help the writer develop their script, but as they could be writing one episode in a 10, 20 or even 52-episode show, you’re also thinking about continuity across the series, the production or financial implications of scripts, consistency of characters and tone, series arcs and links between episodes. On a production you might be doing research into certain activities or themes and looking for compliance issues (so in Kids & Family making sure we don’t glamourise or encourage dangerous behaviour that might be imitated at home is important). And as a show starts shooting, you’re the link between the writer and the wider crew - answering questions about the script, managing schedules to hit deadlines, involving the writer in any changes, making script amendments and generally trying to wrangle Final Draft into doing something it doesn’t want to do!

How did you get into script editing for Kids & Family content?

When I was looking for jobs I’d never even heard of a Script Editor. I was working in my local hospital but knew I wanted to tell stories so initially I studied to be a journalist. It was only when I realised I wasn’t confident enough to talk to people and would therefore be a terrible journalist that I took a course in TV writing and learned how scripts and stories work. I applied for loads of jobs as an Assistant Producer thinking this was an entry-level assistant role (spoiler – it’s not) and eventually got a job at the ±«Óãtv recruiting and managing staff for C±«Óãtv. C±«Óãtv were developing a sketch show called Class Dismissed and some very kind people let me sit in the writers' room where I met some brilliant writers and producers, saw how a show was developed and even wrote some sketches myself. After that I started to read more scripts, meet more writers and it only took me another 5 years asking myself "can I do actually this?" before I got my first script editing job. So it takes as long as it takes.

What skills do you need to be a Script Editor?

You do need to be able to understand and analyse scripts and stories and how they work. You can get that from courses, websites and books, but also from just reading loads of really good scripts (and some not so good ones). And just think about what you like, don’t like, what works well about a script and how you might communicate that to a writer. Those communication and people skills are really important. There is a lot of trust between a writer and a Script Editor, it can be personal and exposing for a writer to constantly be showing their work and getting feedback, so it is important to be honest but supportive. You could be writing anything from book reports to script notes to pitch documents so writing skills are also handy. And then it’s definitely the ability to juggle lots of things at once with a real attention to detail, even a tiny mistake in a script can cause massive headaches for the cast and crew!

Do you have any advice for people looking to get into script editing?

There isn’t a ‘right’ way into script editing. So whether you start out as a runner on a show, an assistant at a production company, script reading for a theatre, recruitment (like me) or any of the thousands of other jobs that exist in TV, all that experience can be really valuable as a way to learn about the industry and can often lead to opportunities that might help you move towards script editing.The team I work in all have different backgrounds and experiences and it just makes us better at looking at a wide range of ideas and perspectives I think.

My main advice would be to read loads of scripts – good ones, not-so-good ones, TV, radio, theatre, experienced writers and less experienced writers. You’ll start to get a sense of why some work and how you’d change others, but you’ll also build up your knowledge of the brilliant writers out there and who you might want to work with one day. The other thing is to try and understand the market. Before you approach any producers or companies, look at what they’re making, who their competition is and what else is out there. Kids & Family content and what our audience want is changing all the time, so when we meet people we want to know that they understand what we’ve made, what shows they think are missing and what our buyers might want from us.

Read more blog posts about Script Editing

Explore our online Script Library

I worked in book publishing for years. When I was a book editor I assessed, commissioned and edited promising manuscripts across genres and formats. Being inquisitive and interrogating writing choices with love and care was my favourite part of my job – making stories the best and the most emotionally impactful they can be.

Before I made the leap from the book industry to scripts via the incredible training of ’s , the gulf between industries seemed insurmountably large. But I knew that on a core level, my role’s end goal remained the same; asking the public to spend their little free time with characters I help shape and worlds I help build. Supporting writers and shepherding new, impactful stories into the world is a joy!

Attending Duly Noted’s Script Editor Forum in the autumn, hosted by and Eleven Film, reminded me that script editors are the custodians of the story. It is our job to remain unflappable under pressure as the bridge between the writer and the production company. It is important to measure the success of an editorial project in not only the final product but in how seen, supported and held each writer feels throughout the process so that they can move on to their next project with more confidence than the last.

Creating books and scripted content is a very similar creative process. Both mediums require intense collaboration and, therefore, stamina – being a writer’s cheerleader through many notes and rewrites and staying true to the original vision is a huge part of being both a book and script editor.

IP development in TV often starts with brilliant source material, and I have found that my foundation in books has helped me understand the adaptation process and what needs to change on a structural level when translating a story across formats. In prose, we can often crack open our protagonist’s head and learn their wants and desires through reading their inner thoughts and learning how they act alone. On screen, we don’t have the luxury of living inside a character.

Working in publishing also exposed me to literary trends. I saw everything from vampires coming back in a huge way (though this time they weren’t sparkly), to themes of ambivalent motherhood, to waves of mythology retellings. Because TV shows and films are, with a few notably huge exceptions, quicker to make and produce than books, being on top of new publishing is a great way to predict the next big thing in TV and film. I’d recommend reading all the major publishers’ catalogues to stay on top of what’s releasing in the next year and a half – most catalogues can be found on each publisher’s website – and to do some research to figure out which publishers and imprints are building a list that aligns with your interests and needs. Interested in prize-winning literary fiction? Try . Looking for quality commercial fiction and non-fiction? Try .

A huge difference between the book world and the scripted world is that in TV the roles of a development script editor and commissioner are split across different parts of the industry. When I was a book editor, I was both the commissioner and the editor, so I was thinking simultaneously creatively and commercially from the very first read. Which books would this sit beside in a bookshop? How will it stand out in an impossibly saturated market? Which trends can I spot simmering under the surface, waiting for the perfect story to catch and fling them into the mainstream? I think this vigorous and often ruthless assessment criteria has helped me in TV and film to always place the projects I work on in a cultural context.

New visual content in the age of streaming is now competing against the greatest TV shows and films of all time – viewers have the choice between trying a new release that hasn’t yet been reviewed or revisiting something they know. As creators of TV and film, we are competing for people’s time against classics, as they are just as accessible and often just as culturally relevant. Viewers are no longer tuning in to whatever is airing on a Saturday night – everything is accessible, and everything can be revisited.

This is a dynamic book editors know well. I have met so many readers over the years who proudly declare that they only read the ‘classics’ and non-fiction books about self-optimisation – particularly as our education system so often sucks the joy out of books for reluctant readers. Reading is often seen as worthy, and something that we should be doing to grow, so when editing and developing fiction I knew I was competing for people’s time against the Brontës, Austen, Orwell – even though, of course, books can and should be everything from laugh-out-loud funny, to smutty, to gentle, to profoundly moving – so no pressure! The bar for excellence is higher than ever, and helping writers craft the very best version of their idea is a skill set I am very grateful to have honed in publishing and transferred over to TV and film.

Developing a manuscript that will jumpstart joy and create lifelong readers was an amazing part of being an in-house book editor. My years in publishing were accidentally wonderful training for my current role as a script editor because both roles demand a huge amount of emotional intelligence. Writing is hard! And so being a supportive and understanding voice in a sea of rewrites and drafts is essential. Giving notes to a writer that might be challenging to receive requires a deep understanding of the manuscript and how exactly the notes being given will change the story being delivered. Some writers want solutions; some just want a kind but firm nudge in the right direction.

1) CULTIVATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE

You want to be developing a deep love and understanding of story, and this means watching loads of TV, and devouring books, plays, and films.

Watch the great classic TV shows and movies from the past as well as the present, so that you can understand where the language of TV has come from. This is especially important if you want to work with writers, who are often voracious readers, and fans of films and TV.

If you can afford it, go to the theatre, especially theatres that showcase lots of new writing. To work in TV development, you will need to start thinking about the writers whose work you love and admire, and who are the new, exciting writers coming up. TV is different from film, in that we are ALL about the writer.

2) MAKE CONNECTIONS

This probably feels like the trickiest part. If you can, you should attend any networking events that you can manage. Ask people already working in the industry if they would be kind enough to have a coffee and a chat with you. (They should be kind enough incidentally, as we all had people help us too when we were new!)

Look people up who have the kind of career you might be interested in, and when you write to them, use their first name, rather than anything more formal. We’re pretty informal as an industry.

You want to start building a network of contacts, over time.

3) WHEN YOU MEET PEOPLE, DO YOUR HOMEWORK

If you have a meeting with someone, it’s always wise to look them up, and find out what they personally have worked on, and what their production company has made. Remember that it’s a small industry, and lots of people know each other, so if you’ve impressed one person, they’re likely to mention you to other people they know, and to recommend you for opportunities.

4) FIND YOUR TRIBE

Potential mentors are great, but so too are your peers – it’s a brilliant idea to start cultivating a network of people who are also starting out, because you will come up in the industry together, provide invaluable support to each other, and often become great friends.

5) GET ON SOCIAL MEDIA

There are quite a few Facebook groups advertising TV jobs, and it’s definitely useful to see what the community is discussing on sites like X, Threads, and Bluesky. Jobs are mentioned on these sites too. It’s also helpful to look at trends, and what’s happening in the States, as the USA and UK are closely linked when it comes to television. One recent example is the Writer's Guild of America writers’ strike in the USA, which had a big impact over here too.

You should create a LinkedIn profile for yourself and start adding connections as you make them.

There are great resources for those looking for entry-level jobs, such as , Creative Access, apprenticeships with , and of course the ±«Óãtv’s early career schemes like . Look for schemes, and also check out organisations championing greater diversity in TV, like (the Disabled Artists Networking Community).

6) BE PERSISTENT AND TENACIOUS

You might find it takes a while to find your way in, and that is completely normal. The big thing is to be persistent and keep trying.

7)    ACQUIRE PRACTICAL, HANDS-ON SKILLS

As a new entrant to the industry, you can best recommend yourself to potential employers with a great attitude and an eagerness to learn. You also want to start gaining skills as soon as possible – creative skills like understanding how to read and analyse a script, practical skills like how to use Final Draft, and how to take great notes in meetings, and administrative and organisational skills like how to manage a diary. Be prepared to work very hard!

8) GET YOUR HEAD AROUND ENTRY-LEVEL JOBS

Your first step in an editorial career in TV drama might be in one of the following roles:

• As a runner in-house at a production company.
• As a freelance reader of scripts for a company or a broadcaster.
• As an assistant at a production company (a Team Assistant, Development Assistant, or a Personal Assistant).
• An assistant at a Literary Agency (e.g somewhere like or ).
• As a runner or Production Assistant on a show.
• As a researcher, although these roles are few and far between.
• As a Trainee, when this kind of role is offered by a TV company.

9)    START UNDERSTANDING THE MORE SENIOR CREATIVE ROLES, AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION 

When you’re building an editorial career in TV drama, it’s critical to understand the more senior roles, how you fit into the company structure, and the kinds of jobs you might be aiming for in time. 

A great start is understanding the difference between development and production. 

Development is when you’re pitching projects to broadcasters, networks and streamers, when you’re storylining and developing scripts, and very often, when you’re working in-house at a company. 

Production is when the project is actually getting made. Production work is often freelance, or PAYE on fixed-term contracts. 

IN DEVELOPMENT: 

In-house at a company, the most senior jobs are usually Head of Drama, Creative Director, Executive Producer, and Director of Development. These people set the creative direction of the company, run the development slate, pitch to broadcasters, and usually Executive Produce shows. There are also Development Producers, another senior role, where people work directly with writers to progress projects, and might manage their own slate. 

Mid-weight roles include the role of Development Executive, whose responsibilities include looking for new talent and developing projects with writers. 

Junior roles include the roles of Development Assistant and Development Coordinator. 

IN PRODUCTION: 

On a show, the Executive Producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing and delivering the show. (N.B there are often multiple Exec Producers). The Producer is the person responsible for the show’s day-to-day management, and for managing the budget, alongside the Line Producer.   

There will be a script team, led by the Story Producer, who manages the creative process, and who will work closely with the Showrunner and other writers to deliver the scripts. There is usually a Script Editor, who manages the technical side of the scripts (what we call the ‘amends’, i.e live changes to the script that are made throughout the shoot), and may also give notes to the writers (more on this below!), as well as liaising closely with other departments in Production, for example, the Art Department. You can also be a Script Executive – similar to a Script Editor, but more senior. 

Sometimes there will be an Assistant Script Editor too; this is great entry-level creative role in Production. 

The script team are the guardians of the story and are responsible for the integrity and good health of the story and the scripts. 

In time, you’ll need to start understanding how the work of the script department dovetails into the wider production process on a show. As a creative, you should definitely aim to get as much production experience as possible, because this will enable you to come up with brilliant story solutions in high-pressure situations.

10) WORKING WITH WRITERS AND SCRIPT NOTES

Working with writers to develop stories and scripts is a huge part of any creative role in TV drama. This includes giving script notes, which means feedback on the latest outline, treatment, or script draft the writer has been working on.

My advice on notes:

• Tell the truth, but be positive, and always say what you like, and what you think is working, as well as the things that need sorting out.
• Understand that it’s a process, and that it takes time to arrive at a finished script. Most scripts go through multiple rewrites.
• Developing a relationship with a writer is also a process. It takes time to develop the trust that is at the heart of a writer/script person bond, and it’s normal to experience some resistance from writers when you’re first getting to know them!
• Notes form part of a conversation in a wider collaborative process between you, the writer, and often many other people, such as studio execs, commissioners, etc. Notes are for another human being, so they should not be your lit crit essay on the script, or your musings on the state of the universe. Great notes are respectful, actionable, and specific. You are there to champion the writer, and to help them realise what they are seeking to accomplish creatively.

And with all of this in mind…

11) BRUSH UP ON YOUR PEOPLE SKILLS, TACT AND DIPLOMACY

You will need these skills to pursue a creative career in TV drama, and they will help you to create fantastic, long-lasting professional relationships, and to diffuse tensions with difficult personalities.

12) BE A GOOD HUMAN

It’s no secret to say that TV hasn’t always been the easiest industry to work in. I’m so encouraged to see how many of the young people coming into our industry exemplify the kinds of values we need more of - integrity, generosity, and kindness.

Alexis Hood is an experienced story producer, who has headed script teams on award-winning projects for traditional broadcasters and streamers, and who has worked in development and production for numerous companies. Her most recent credit is A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW for Paramount Plus and Showtime, starring Ewan McGregor.

The West Midlands’ very own Sir Lenny Henry is backing the new scheme that will support emerging writing talent from across Birmingham and the Black Country.

Applications are now open for the Write Across Birmingham and the Black Country scheme – the product of a partnership between the ±«Óãtv, Create Central and a number of the West Midlands’ leading creative organisations. Find out full details and apply

Speaking at the launch event in Birmingham on Friday 2nd February, which was also attended by ±«Óãtv Director General, Tim Davie, Sir Lenny Henry, said: “This is a very good time to be in the Midlands, the next few years are all about development. It’s going to be a cultural hotspot again. The ±«Óãtv is here, Create Central is here, ±«Óãtv Writers is here. I want to be involved in that and Steven Knight wants to be involved in that. Good things are coming.”

On the Write Across Birmingham and Black Country scheme, which provides twelve aspiring writers with a crucial insight into writing for TV, Sir Lenny added: “This is a brilliant way of saying the doors are open, come in. There are a gazillion people who want to write stories, and represent people like them. This is a brilliant opportunity for people to say ‘I’ve got eight weeks, I don’t have to pay, I’ve got all of these brilliant people to learn from, and to nurture me. I want to be part of something like that.’”

Through a series of engaging workshops, expert-led sessions and networking opportunities, the eight-week scheme will cover the foundations of storytelling for the screen, while demystifying the process of writing for television. It runs from June to September 2024 with applications closing at noon on Tuesday 5th March.

Jessica Loveland, Head of New Writing for ±«Óãtv Writers and ±«Óãtv Drama Commissioning, is urging up and coming writers to get their applications in now: “We know there are many brilliant writers in this region who have exciting, entertaining and urgent stories to tell. The aim of Write Across is to give writers the tools and the knowledge to share those stories more widely. And with some creativity, hard work and a sprinkle of magic, hopefully in time they’ll bring their writing to screen.

“We want to work with a range of new voices who represent the diversity of this incredible region. We’re looking for writers who absolutely LOVE TV, who watch lots of shows, read all the scripts and are really excited to explore writing for the medium.”

Sir Lenny continued: “I want to do more things set in the Midlands, my production company are hopefully going to create more here because why wouldn’t you? There are so many talented people here, so many great places. I want to say ‘this is a place you haven’t seen before – Dudley, Wall Heath, Tipton, Smethwick. I want to make a drama in Tipton, in Smethwick. I want to write about the North Street riots. I want to do a story about black American soldiers meeting people in Wolverhampton, and asking what pork scratchings are.”

±«Óãtv Writers will be hosting a second launch event for the scheme at the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton on Wednesday 21st February - . We'll also be running an online drop-in session on Friday 16th February from 1-2pm if you have any questions about the opportunity.

Full details of Write Across Birmingham and the Black Country and apply now

Can you tell us about Domino?

Domino Day is about a very powerful witch, who doesn't understand the true extent of her powers. All she knows is she needs to feed off the energy of others and she uses dating apps to find her victims. There is a coven of witches based in Manchester that see her as a threat and want to stop her before she hurts someone.

Why did you decide to set the series in Manchester?

The series was originally set in London but the ±«Óãtv are really keen to represent other regions and to film and set dramas all across the UK. I’ve always thought Manchester was just such a cool city - a little bit of old and new, especially in the fashion sense. The swagger is just different to London so I thought it would be unique to set a witch show here.

What makes the series unique?

Domino Day is unique as it's about witches but looks at modern relationships as well. It's a very sexy show, blending relationship drama with the supernatural, which I think young people will love.

What are the key themes?

It’s very sexy and dark but also the main character Domino is finding herself throughout the series, which I think a lot of young people can relate to. So the show is also about self-acceptance as well as how you connect to people in the modern world, especially when there are apps everywhere.

What did you want to explore and develop in this story?

I really wanted to explore sisterhood. Obviously, there are guys in the show but I see the series as a real display of sisterhood, as you've got Domino and this coven of witches. For me, the three main witches are Sammie, Kat and Domino so it's a real display of Black Girl Magic on screen.

What made you write it as a genre?

I just love the supernatural genre. The Americans have done it so well with the likes of True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, etc. And I just thought...we need our own show in the UK!

Where did you find inspiration for this story?

A lot of my own dating stories are in there and Domino's journey is a lot like the journey I've gone on in finding myself as a writer, finding my own voice and learning how to own my own power and magic.

What in the show do you think audiences will most relate to?

I think everyone will relate to the dating and the dating apps. I think they'll also relate to those core themes and the feeling of life being a little bit out of control and trying to regain it.

Where does the story begin? Who do we meet in the beginning?

We first meet Domino in the bathroom of a bar. Her nose is bleeding and we have no idea why, but she seems to know the reason for it. She cleans herself up, goes back into the bar and we see her waiting for a date. Whilst she's there, she starts chatting to the barman, played by Percelle Ascott. There's an obvious natural connection between them and it's the sort of perfect real life meeting which is so rare in the dating world, but then her actual date arrives. We can immediately tell he's not right and there doesn't seem to be any chemistry between them but Domino is desperate to go back to his house and when she does, we find out why...she needs to feed.

From that point, how does Domino's character develop?

Domino is trying to understand why she needs to feed. She's only known one other witch in her life, her ex-boyfriend, so she's trying to find out what kind of witch she is whilst this coven of witches are circling her trying to find that out as well. So she goes on this journey, but is also trying to figure out how to be a good person with the immense power she possesses, compared to the other witches.

You touched on the female relationships in the series, can you tell us more about the coven?

Yes, each coven member goes through their own journey with her. Sammie, who is an aura witch, is the first to see how much Domino is struggling. She’s very empathetic towards her and is the first of them to really make contact. Whereas Kat, who's the coven leader, is a bit more guarded. Jules is the newbie to the coven who initially doesn’t really care about being a part of it but goes on her own journey to seeing the coven as a sisterhood. And Geri is just quite angsty. She really dislikes Jules’ indifference at the start but then they sort of come together at the end.

Which scene is your favourite?

The first time Domino feeds off a date. It's one of the scenes that was the most clear in my mind when I wrote the script as I really wanted to do this "rug pull" moment where the show is suddenly introduced as supernatural - whereas beforehand it could've been mistaken for just a normal show about relationships. I really wanted the audience to fear for Domino in this setting and be worried that the guy might take advantage of her but then for it to become a really powerful moment for her.

Can you give us an overview of the cast that you've assembled? Siena is of course BAFTA-nominated…

I knew Domino was going to be a tricky character for someone to play, especially in the first couple of episodes where she isn't connected to the coven yet. We needed someone that could really get inside her head and feel what she feels. Siena has this really great way of portraying vulnerability, but also strength in just one look. It's hard to describe but there's just something in her eyes that when I watched her casting tape I just said "that's my Domino" and everyone was on the same page. We were lucky we got her so early on.

And what about the coven?

The coven is amazing because they're all friends. Babirye is just Sammie in a way, they’re very warm and caring. Molly is more serious than Jules, the character she plays. Jules just doesn't care but Molly works really hard and you can see that in all her takes. For Alisha, I really wanted a strong black woman as the coven leader. She goes on her own journey with her attachment to magic which sort of echoes Domino's in a way, and that's how she connects to Domino. And Geri, like Jules, is sort of the light relief as it's a very dark show and sometimes we needed some light moments. And then the guys, Percelle and Sam are both very good looking men with different qualities. They show themselves as different potential love matches for Domino so it's interesting to see that love triangle play out.

How's the collaboration been with the other writers and director?

There are two other writers on Domino Day, and , who are doing an episode each. It's been great to do the writers' room with them and that whole process. I know writers' rooms are more of an American thing but I'm a very collaborative person. I always want to hear ideas that will make my ideas better.

If you could describe Domino Day in one sentence what would it be?

Domino Day is dark, sexy and deep - it has a lot to say about the world.

What was your pathway to becoming a professional screenwriter? When did you first even think that was a possibility and what did you do about it?

I always knew I wanted to get into visual storytelling. I went to university to study media with a focus in directing, but then came across screenwriting. It was a career path I’d never even considered before and I completely changed my trajectory. I studied it further after graduating — doing an MA in Screenwriting at LCC. It allowed me to hone my craft and build a portfolio of scripts I could then send out on spec. I then spent a few years sending out scripts, trying to get an agent and/or an option, but it was years later when a spec script of mine got into the hands of , who were looking for writers for their upcoming show . Getting that first credit really kickstarted my professional writing career — I was able to get my agent and then more credits followed until I finally got my first original show greenlit.

Before that point were you writing TV spec' scripts or were you writing for the theatre?

Yes, I was writing lots and lots of spec scripts. Lots of genre in there too, which the industry doesn’t do a lot of. I had done a couple of short plays soon after graduating at local theatres like , but I always knew I wanted to primarily be a TV writer writing High End TV.

What's the most useful advice you've received on your writing journey?

To not focus on the competition in the industry and trust that your own voice is unique. With lots of writers and producers out there, I think there’s a danger to always look at what others’ are doing. But everyone’s journey and path is different and their own. You do need resilience for the moments of rejection, but your passion for the stories you’re telling — stories you need to tell — will always carry you through.

Watch Domino Day on ±«Óãtv Three and ±«Óãtv iPlayer from Wednesday 31st January 2024

The Fellowship was created in partnership with the award-winning Leeds writer in 2019 and was first awarded to Bradford writer Kat Rose Martin in 2020. It continues in memory of Kay, who passed away in 2022, with a new three year investment from the ±«Óãtv, , and .

Through her poetry and spoken word, Kirsty has always been a champion of her home city of Bradford, showcasing and giving voice to its unheard stories. Her work champions those traditionally underrepresented on stage and screen through humour, drama and exploring non-traditional form. She was part of the campaign which helped Bradford win the coveted . Her debut play Cashy C’s: The Musical was performed in a non-traditional theatre space – a former frozen food store in Bradford city centre – and was set in a recreated cash convertors, exploring the multiple lives of those who passed through the shop.

During her Fellowship, Kirsty will explore stories of adoption and severance from the perspective of birth families, working with local birth mother groups to research and develop both a play and TV pitch which tells the stories of how and why children get taken into care, with authenticity, intricacy and integrity.

Kirsty is the first of three Fellows over the next three years. Each will receive a bursary and spend their year on attachment with Leeds Playhouse and Rollem Productions to develop their own script and TV pitch, as well as receiving a place on the ±«Óãtv Writers Voices writer development programme.

Kirsty Taylor said: "Being awarded this Fellowship feels like a massive and timely next step for me. The opportunity to develop my ideas through the legacy of Yorkshire's iconic Kay Mellor who properly championed people like me, where my background, voice and experience is not only welcomed but embraced feels really special. I'm passionate about telling authentic stories about real people, so the support this Fellowship offers will really allow me to explore how I go about doing that to bigger audiences, in new and different forms with the critique that's crucial in taking my work to the next level. Buzzing.”

Gaynor Mellor Creative Director of Rollem Productions said: “We are so excited to be announcing Kirsty as this years Kay Mellor Fellow. Her work shone through during the application process and her playwriting has the ability to portray often gritty and dark subject matters with warmth and humour, much like the work of Kay. We will be welcoming her into the Rollem family with open arms and can’t wait to transfer her incredible playwriting skills into the world of television."

Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Leeds City Council’s executive member for economy, culture and education, said: “This inspiring programme is the perfect tribute to the remarkable legacy of Kay Mellor and it’s wonderful to see her home county’s proud tradition of nurturing local talent and creativity continuing.

By working together and helping Yorkshire artists like Kirsty to bring their work to the stage, we can give these unique, northern stories a bigger voice and profile as we pass the torch to the next generation of Yorkshire playwrights.”

Head of New Writing for ±«Óãtv Jessica Loveland said: "The ±«Óãtv Writers team is thrilled to be partnering with Leeds Playhouse, Leeds City Council and Rollem Productions on the Kay Mellor Fellowship this year. We can’t wait to start work with Kirsty via our ±«Óãtv Writers’ Voices writer development group, and we look forward to supporting her as she brings her unique voice to TV writing.”

Leeds Playhouse Artistic Director and CEO James Brining said: “Kirsty is a great champion of stories rooted in Yorkshire, and is particularly passionate about exploring working class lives and the perspectives of women, so it is fitting that she will follow in the footsteps of the brilliant Kay Mellor. Kirsty has great skill as a writer, crafting her work with much care, truth, humour and integrity. We can’t wait to welcome Kirsty to the Playhouse, to support in her development as a playwright and to learn from her unique artistic perspective. We look forward to seeing what she creates during her Fellowship year.”

In addition to the Fellowship, Leeds Playhouse launched The Kay Mellor Fund in 2023, to raise money to nurture local writers – something that was always very close to Kay’s heart – through its industry-leading Furnace Artist Development programme. This fund will support locally rooted writers through bespoke investment, mentoring and training opportunities.

Read a blog post by Kat Rose Martin, the first recipient of the Kay Mellor Fellowship

Submissions to our Annual Open Call for writers were open this year between 7th November and noon on 5th December. We received an amazing 4988 submissions, (significantly up on 4228 in 2022). As always, it’s fantastic to see the incredible amount of creativity and imagination coming in from across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Our reading team is in place and reading is already underway, but it will be the middle of 2024 before we are able to get back to everyone with the outcome of their submission.

Just a quick reminder that we use this big annual call-out to select writers for our Scripted (formerly Drama Room) and Voices programmes each year, supporting up to a hundred writers out of those submissions. It’s a very competitive process and you should reassure yourself that whatever the outcome it is still a huge achievement to complete and submit a script. Many of the writers who end up gaining a place in one of our groups have submitted scripts on multiple occasions before being successful, so if you’re not selected this year then please don’t be downhearted. We track the progress of writers who submit to us and really love to see people get further through the process from year to year. However, unfortunately every writer will have to deal with rejection at some point in their working life and one of the key skills they will need to develop is how to pick themselves up and get stuck into their next project. You can find more writing opportunities on our website from the ±«Óãtv and across the industry. Keep checking back as we constantly update this page.

The writers who were selected for the latest Scripted group following last year’s Open Call began working with us a couple of months ago, beginning with a workshop in London. They will continue to meet regularly online for workshop sessions, and they will be matched with script editors to begin work on their new spec' scripts in the early New Year. We’ll be able to announce their names next autumn as they conclude their time with us.

Once each Scripted group has been decided we then move on to select the writers who will take part in our Voices programme. Our Voices 2024 writers kick off in earnest with us in January. We will be working with around seventy writers from across the UK and Republic of Ireland in our six local Voices hubs (Belfast; Scotland; Wales; North and Midlands; London; and South). Find out the shape of what our Voices writers have to look forward to.

Elsewhere we have finished the first stages of reading submissions for our next Pilot programme (submissions were open in September) and have let everyone know the outcome. And our new Writers’ Access Group (who were chosen following an open call in the spring) joined us for their first session in November, an in-person workshop in Salford where our programme ambassadors Jack Thorne and Rose Ayling Ellis joined us over zoom to wish the writers well for their time on 'WAGs'. The programme will run for eighteen months, and all writers will work towards leaving with a new spec' 'calling card' script.

We are also delighted to announce that the next iteration of our regionally specific Write Across opportunity will be for writers based in Birmingham and the Black Country. We are currently working with our local advisory group partners and ambassadors Sir Lenny Henry and Kit De Waal to spread the word about the opportunity locally. We will also host two launch events in the region (Birmingham and Wolverhampton) in February so look out for details of those and please come along! Applications for the opportunity will be open from 1st February to noon on 5th March and we will be looking for twelve new writers to work with later in the year. The programme itself will run from July – Sept 2024. Find out details about Write Across Birmingham & the Black Country here.

On the digital front watch our great new video interview with supremo following our live event with him back in October in the ±«Óãtv's Radio Theatre. And check out a bumper batch of scripts which were added to our popular online Script Library last week. They include nine scripts from our friends at ±«Óãtv Film including Rye Lane and The Power of the Dog and scripts from over a dozen recent ±«Óãtv TV Dramas including Blue Lights, A Very British Scandal, The Sixth Commandment, Wolf and Champion.

Coming up from ±«Óãtv Drama over Christmas are shows including Murder is Easy, an Agatha Christie adaptation written by (herself a former member of our Drama Room development group), Men Up (“The Full Monty with Viagra!”) based on a true story and written by (you can read a new interview with Matthew on our blog here), who credits his first professional TV writing break to ±«Óãtv Writersroom and the ±«Óãtv Writers’ Academy and the second series of thriller The Tourist from  (you can read the scripts for Series 1 in our library).

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and New Year from everyone at the ±«Óãtv Writers team!

The first series of The Tourist was the most watched drama of 2022. What were the challenges and opportunities of writing the second series?

[Jack Williams] Writing a second series is always hard and when we wrote the first series, we weren’t planning on a second series.

[Harry Williams] It was only when we asked ourselves, what does a second series look like that we realised there's an interesting question at the heart of a second series. Which is, Elliot now knows he’s done this awful thing - what does carrying that around look like? Can you forget something as massive as that? And how does that affect his relationship? The first one was always supposed to be a love story, and this sort of continues in that vein.

How did the themes of the story for series two come about?

[Jack] The idea for season two started with the characters. We talked about what we loved about writing and making the first series, and what we enjoyed as both viewers and writers. For us, that's the relationship between Jamie Dornan’s character and Danielle MacDonald's character. The thing we wanted to write about was “what does that look like if it continued?” With the revelations at the end of series one, can you continue a relationship with something like that? Can you look past the past?

[Harry] Additionally, we wanted to move it to a different country because we felt we had done Australia and none of Elliot’s history is from there. In series two we are asking where did he come from? 

What were your ambitions for series two?

[Harry] The ambitions were to continue what we did with series one, which was to strike a balance between the comedy, thriller, emotive elements of the drama. So, for series two we have dialled it up a bit as we know Jamie and Danielle can handle the balance so well.

What did you want to achieve with the look and feel of this series?

[Jack] Visually, series one was very distinct: we loved the way it looked and felt, our director [] did such a good job, and while obviously we wanted it to have a lot in common with that, it is a new country, it’s a new story. The Australian outback is very different from the very green and rainy country that is Ireland. So, we’ve been trying to take what we did in season one and keep that very cinematic feel, getting some big wide landscape shots and finding a sensibility that works for series two.

What sort of Elliot do we see in this series?

[Jack] After the events of series one we left Elliot in a state of complete despair. Elliot was on his deathbed, and he gets that message from Helen. So, when we pick up in season two, we find him in a relationship, and he is trying to move on and enjoy his life, but he is about to find out across the series that you can't leave things behind that easily. And more importantly can Helen forget his past and accept this new version of him?

What is it about Helen and Elliot's dynamic that you wanted to develop in a new series?

[Harry] I think there's a really unexpected romance in the first series, where Helen is so naive and just such a good person. In the first series, she was pretty much the only nice character. So having Helen with this deeply flawed man Elliot, who is trying to change, and watching their chemistry throughout was endearing. It is something we wanted to see more of and exploring their relationship was exciting. 

Tell us a bit more about the new characters and what they bring to the story.

[Harry] There is Ruairi Slater who's the local Garda, and a little bit like the Helen of series one. He is a new cop character who comes in, but has also got his own story, his own mystery, and is a new flavour that plays into this story of him and Helen. Ruairi instantly likes the look of Helen, and their story gets kind of weird.

[Jack] There’s also the McDonnell family. They're a very important element to this series. We've got Frank, who's the sort of patriarch of the McDonnells,. He’s a slightly sinister, history-obsessed man who believes in the value of knowing your past and where you come from. We also have Frank’s children Donal, Orla and Fergal. We find that the McDonnell clan clearly have some kind of agenda with Elliot, as he's kidnapped by them in episode one. We don't know what it is, but he's done something to seriously upset them. Elliot of course has no memory of it, and that kicks off the events of the second series. On the other side there is the Cassidys where we have Niamh, who is this wild unpredictable, and slightly feral woman.

What should audiences expect from series two?

[Jack] Audiences should expect the same show they enjoyed in series one. The story does continue, but it's also its own new and unique journey. There's more of the thrills, surprises, and offbeat characters. Everything in this series is dialled-up to 11, with a bit more of everything thrown in; hopefully it’s more thrilling, and hopefully funnier.

Please can you sum up series two in one or two sentences?

[Jack & Harry] It’s surprising, funny, Irish, exciting, and offbeat.

Watch The Tourist - Series 2 - from 9pm on New Year's Day on ±«Óãtv One and ±«Óãtv iPlayer

Catch up with Series 1 of The Tourist now on ±«Óãtv iPlayer

Read the scripts for Series 1 of the Tourist in the ±«Óãtv Writers Script Library

Watch an interview with Harry & Jack Williams