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From the moment I first realised I wanted to write for television, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Writers page became my go to resource for access to award winning television pilots, blogs, interviews with writers I admired and of course, opportunities. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scripted (formerly Drama Room) is the most highly regarded development programme and has paved the way for so many incredible writers – it was my dream to get on it, but that’s what it felt like – a dream.

I’d applied multiple times with different ideas, and I always appreciated how difficult it must be to be selected when there are so many talented writers applying. So, I couldn’t believe it when I got the email saying I’d been selected for an interview. It suddenly felt like years of honing my craft, of applying, of watching and analysing shows I love – all of it had been leading up to this moment. This was a huge turning point regardless of what happened – but when I got the acceptance email (my pulse racing!!), I was ecstatic. I had to keep re-reading it just to make sure it was real!

On our first day as a group, we were asked by the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Writers team about our goals, and what we wanted to achieve during our time on the course. Part of what had appealed to me about ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scripted was that we were in a group. Writing can feel quite insular and suddenly I was going to spend a year on a course with other writers who had similar goals and could share experiences. Our group was incredibly supportive to one another throughout the whole process, and this was one of the biggest things I’ve been able to take away from Scripted.

It's hard to pinpoint the best bits of Scripted because we got to attend so many brilliant masterclasses, workshops and apply for wonderful schemes, all alongside working with a script editor and the Scripted team on our spec pilot. Our first sessions (all over the same weekend) included a day workshop with John Yorke alongside attending a Q&A event with Jesse Armstrong. Week 1 and my expectations were exceeded.

The entire workshop schedule was brilliantly curated to support us in advance of selecting our idea for our spec script. For example, gave brilliant insights on selecting the right idea while Jimmy McGovern and Helen Black gave us a masterclass in creating characters and explored the Writer / Script editor relationship with us. These are just some of the highlights of everything we got to do.

In January '24 we got to meet with our script editors for the first time and begin working on our pilot, but the workshops continued and opportunities to apply for other schemes opened up too. Chris Head ran a workshop Writing Comedy Drama for TV and this was my first insight into the structure behind how comedy works. He got us to write our own comedy scenes to demonstrate this, which was brilliant fun as we all acted out each other’s work. We had workshops on story, treatments, character as well as different sectors including Children’s commissioning, Animation, Audio Drama and Continuing Drama.

The really brilliant thing about ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scripted is that you come out at the end with a spec pilot that has been supported by a script editor, and with feedback and notes from the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Writers Scripted Team. The way the programme is structured, from idea to treatment, to multiple drafts gave me so many opportunities for feedback and to interrogate what I really wanted from the story and what I was trying to say. I felt so supported through the entire process and encouraged to trust in my voice and the direction I wanted to go. I didn’t know going into ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scripted that what I wanted most was a script that captures me as a writer – but reflecting on the whole year now, I can see how everything was carefully curated to ensure that we left the programme with just that.

The course ran just over a year, and I feel I’ve grown as a writer across that period. I’ve worked in rooms, I’ve written my first episode of television, I’m excited for whatever opportunities come next. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scripted helped me build my confidence as a writer, it prepared me for the world of the television landscape, it gave me a whole arsenal of new skills and opened so many opportunities. It also put me in a really incredible group of talented writers and I’m so excited to see what everyone does next.

To be considered for the Scripted group you need to enter a script into our Open Call opportunity. The writers who will be part of the next Scripted development group will be selected from submissions made to our last Open Call, which closed in December 2024.