Steven Moffat, Abi Morgan, Chris Chibnall, Peter Bowker, Russell T Davies, Kay Mellor, Sarah Phelps, Jed Mercurio, Nicole Taylor and many more writers share their advice on crafting a great script.
Browse the videos in this section and find out what inspires Britain's top TV, radio and theatre writers. Get advice on overcoming writer's block, making your characters tick and structuring your scripts.
We also interview the commissioners, agents and producers who have some great tips on what they look for in a great script.
Television, Radio and Theatre Writers
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Sally Abbott
EastEnders and Casualty writer, creator of ´óÏó´«Ã½ One's The Coroner. -
Levi David Addai
We spoke to Levi David Addai (Youngers, My Murder, Dark Money) at the TV Drama Writers' Festival in July 2014. -
Jesse Armstrong
Creator and showrunner of the Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning Succession. -
Gemma Arrowsmith
Comedy writer and performer Gemma Arrowsmith on her work on children's comedies DNN (Definitely Not Newsround) and Class Dismissed. -
Simon Ashdown
BAFTA award-nominated EastEnders writer, plus Holby City and Funland. -
Dane Baptiste
Dane explains how his comedy show Sunny D made it to ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three. -
Matthew Barry
The writer of 'Men Up' and 'The Guest' on his career in the UK and USA -
Katie Baxendale
Writer of 'London Bridge', 'Sugar Rush' and 'From Darkness'. -
Tom Bidwell
Writer of E4's 'My Mad Fat Diary and adaptor of Watership Down. -
Helen Black
Writer of Time series 2 and Life And Death In The Warehouse -
Peter Bowker
Screenwriter of Blackpool, Flesh and Blood, Occupation and Marvellous. -
Jamie Brittain
Writer of Skins on his techniques. -
Danny Brocklehurst
The writer of The Driver, Exile, Shameless, Clocking Off and Ordinary Lies explains how he got his first TV Drama credit when he was working as a journalist. -
James Cary
TV and Radio comedy writer known for Think the Unthinkable, Hut 33, Miranda and Bluestone 42. -
Chris Chibnall
Chris Chibnall (Broadchurch, United, Doctor Who, Torchwood) spoke to ´óÏó´«Ã½ Writersroom at the TV Drama Writers' Festival in July 2013. -
Russell T Davies
We spoke to Russell T Davies at our Wales Writers' Festival in December 2019. -
The Dawson Bros.
Sibling writing partners with credits on Ant and Dec and 8 Out of 10 Cats. -
Andrew Davies
Adaptor and writer of War and Peace, House of Cards, Pride and Prejudice, Vanity Fair, A Very Peculiar Practice, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, The Line of Beauty, Tipping the Velvet, South Riding, Mr Selfridge and many many more. -
Abigail Docherty
Radio drama writer and playwright. -
Andrew Ellard
Writer and script editor who has worked on shows including Red Dwarf, The IT Crowd and Miranda. -
Bryan Elsley
The writer of Skins, Nature Boy and The Crow Road talks about why he writes, how he develops characters and gives his advice for emerging writers. -
Kayode Ewumi
Creator of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three's Enterprice and the writer and star of #HoodDocumentary. -
Rachel Flowerday
Writer for Holby City, Doctors, Casualty, EastEnders, Father Brown, The Moonstone and Malory Towers. -
Peter Foott
Writer and director of The Young Offenders. -
Brent Forrester
The writer and showrunner of The Ben Stiller Show, The Simpsons, King of the Hill, The Office US shares his top comedy writing tips. -
Emma Frost
The White Queen and Jamaica Inn writer, Emma Frost talks to us about her journey from fine artist to script editor. -
Lucy Gannon
Writer of The Best of Men, Soldier Soldier and Peak Practice. -
Julie Gearey
TV writer Julie Gearey (Prisoners’ Wives, Secret Diary of a Call Girl). -
Andrea Gibb
Writer of Call the Midwife, Swallows and Amazons and Elizabeth is Missing. -
Matthew Graham
Writer of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. -
Tony Grounds
Writer of Our Girl, Births Marriages & Deaths, Bodily Harm and Canterbury Tales. -
Matthew Hall
Creator and screenwriter of hit ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales and S4C drama Keeping Faith. -
Sian Harries
Writer of Man Down and Tourist Trap. -
Lisa Holdsworth
Writer of New Tricks, Waterloo Road, Fat Friends and Emmerdale. -
Richard Hurst and James Cary
The writing duo talk about their comedy drama Bluestone 42. -
Daf James
Daf James introduces his upcoming ´óÏó´«Ã½ One drama Lost Boys and Fairies and talks about his writing journey with the ´óÏó´«Ã½. -
Tony Jordan
Writer of EastEnders, Hustle, Life on Mars and The Passing-Bells. -
Colette Kane
The writer of Moving On, Indian Detective and Broken on the need for more authored TV drama by women and to pass on any advice for other aspiring writers. -
Dennis Kelly
The writer of Pulling, Matilda the Musical, Utopia describes how he develops characters, and why the character's voice is the key. -
Ayub Khan-Din
Watch highlights from our Q&A with screenwriter and playwright Ayub Khan-Din from 2011. -
Steven Knight
Creator of Peaky Blinders and Taboo and adaptor of Dickens novels including A Christmas Carol. -
Nick Leather
The writer of ´óÏó´«Ã½ One's Nightsleeper, The Control Room and Murdered for Being Different. -
Joseph Lidster
Writer on Doctor Who, Torchwood and children's TV dramas including The Sarah Jane Adventures, Wizards vs Aliens, Eve and Hetty Feather. -
Barbara Machin
Writer of Waking the Dead and Casualty on her inspirations at the TV Drama Writers' Festival in July 2014. -
Tony Marchant
Writer of Garrow's Law, Mark of Cain and Holding On. -
Jimmy McGovern
BAFTA-award winning writer of The Street, Cracker, Accused, Common and Broken. -
Kay Mellor, OBE
Writer and director of Band of Gold, The Syndicate, Love, Lies and Records and In the Club. -
Jed Mercurio
We spoke to the writer of Line of Duty, Bodies, Cardiac Arrest and Bodyguard at the TV Drama Writers' Festival in July 2014. -
Paula Milne
Writer of 'Die Kinder', 'The Politician's Wife', 'The Fragile Heart', 'Second Sight', 'Endgame' and 'The Virgin Queen. -
Dominic Mitchell
Writer Dominic Mitchell and director Jonny Campbell on In The Flesh -
Peter Moffat
Writer of Silk, Criminal Justice, Cambridge Spies and The Village. -
Steven Moffat
Sherlock co-creator and Doctor Who writer. -
Debbie Moon
Debbie explains how ´óÏó´«Ã½ Writersroom helped develop the idea which led to Wolfblood being produced by C´óÏó´«Ã½. -
Abi Morgan
Emmy Award-winning writer of The Hour, The Iron Lady, Sex Traffic, White Girl, Royal Wedding, Suffragette, River, The Split. -
Hattie Naylor
Award winning playwright Hattie Naylor talks to Jeremy Mortimer as part of Radio 4 Extra's '´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Young Writers: 25 Years On' season. -
Patrick Ness
The creator of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three's Class Patrick Ness shares some great screenwriting advice at a BAFTA Cymru event. -
Alice Nutter
Theatre and television writer of series such as The Street, Moving On, Accused, Trust. -
Debbie Oates
Coronation Street and Primeval writer, Debbie Oates on how how casting your favourite actors in our head can help you overcome obstacles in developing characters. -
Sarah Phelps
Writer of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s latest Agatha Christie adaptations, The Dublin Murders, Oliver Twist, EastEnders, Being Human and The Crimson Field. -
Tim Prager
Writer of Silent Witness, Dalziel and Pascoe, Dangerfield, The Ambassador & Vendetta. -
Adil Ray
Creator, writer and star of ´óÏó´«Ã½ One sitcom, Citizen Khan. -
Emma Reeves
Emma Reeves, writer on Tracy Beaker, Young Dracula, The Dumping Ground, Eve, Hetty Feather and The Worst Witch on her experiences. -
Tim Renkow
US-born writer, actor and comedian, star and co-writer of Jerk. -
Amy Roberts & Loren McLaughlan
The writing duo on how they met and got their first writing break. -
Tony Schumacher
The writer of The Responder shares his advice for new writers and how he approached The Responder series two. -
Lauren Sequeira
Creator and writer of Domino Day talks about character, genre, and writing to a soundtrack. -
Brian Sibley
The writer and adaptor for radio of iconic books including Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings', CS Lewis' 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and Mervyn Peake's 'Gormenghast'. -
Frank Spotnitz
Man in the High Castle creator and X-Files writer Frank Spotnitz shares his tips on getting through problems in your writing. -
Frog Stone
The comedy writer and performer on her 2017 show Bucket. -
Nicole Taylor
BAFTA and RTS winning screenwriter of dramas including The C Word, 3 Girls and The Nest. -
Jack Thorne
Writer of The Fades, Cast-offs, Skins and This Is England '86 on his 14 hour writing days and how he overcomes obstacles in his scripts. -
Jude Tindall
Writer of Shakespeare & Hathaway, Father Brown, Casualty, Land Girls and Doctors. -
Sally Wainwright
Writer of Last Tango in Halifax, Scott & Bailey, Gentleman Jack and Happy Valley. -
Josh Weinstein
Writer and showrunner for C´óÏó´«Ã½'s 'Strange Hill High' and former writer and showrunner on The Simpsons and Futurama. -
Toby Whithouse
Being Human writer and creator, creator of The Game and writer on Doctor Who. -
Jack and Harry Williams
The sibling writing duo Jack and Harry Williams on their drama series The Missing and One of Us. -
Roger Williams
Roger is a Welsh playwright and screenwriter and was shortlisted for a Writers’ Guild Award in 2018 for his ground breaking crime drama series BANG. -
Roy Williams
Playwright, TV and radio writer. -
Esther Wilson
Esther talks about how she finds her way through the story and how important it is for her to engage emotionally with what she's writing. -
Justin Young
Holby City, Death in Paradise and Sanditon writer and Holby City producer.
Commissioners, Agents and Producers
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Richard Bond
Executive Producer of factual TV and documentary programmes including Locked Up Abroad, The Unexplained Files and Get Out Alive. -
Mark Brennan
Mark Brennan is a literary agent specialising in film and TV writers. -
Rab Christie
Rab Christie is the MD of the Comedy Unit. -
Laura Conway
Laura, former C´óÏó´«Ã½ Development Producer, explains why C´óÏó´«Ã½ is such a great place for new writers and why writers should want to write for children's TV. -
Jessica Dromgoole
´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Drama Producer on what makes a great radio drama - and the possibilities writing for radio offers writers. -
Anne Edyvean
The former Head of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Writersroom on how we work with writers and directors across the UK. -
Bethan Evans
Bethan Evans is a literary agent specialising in writers for television and film. -
Lizzie Gray
Head of TV at Blazing Griffin and former executive producer at Sky. -
Jeremy Howe
Jeremy Howe, former Commissioner for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4 Drama, shares his 5 Top Tips for writing Radio Drama. -
Kurupt FM's Top 5 Tips
For Future Talent, Kurupt FM share their 'Top 5 Tips' on creating an online pilot and 'how to make the ´óÏó´«Ã½ love you!' -
Philip Shelley
Producer and Script Editor who created the Channel 4 screenwriting course. -
Nicola Shindler
Red Production Company founder and Chief Executive, Nicola Shindler. -
Ben Stephenson
The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s former Controller of Drama Commissioning with his top tips in July 2013. -
Jane Tranter
The co-founder of Bad Wolf productions and former head of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Fiction. -
Neil Webster
Co-founder of Happy Tramp, Neil is a Writer, Executive Producer, Producer and Script Editor. -
Webseries directors
Directors Chris Munns (Chronicles of Syntax) and Leon Maynes (Brothers with no Game) with their top tips for making web series. -
Piers Wenger
Controller, ´óÏó´«Ã½ TV Drama Commissioning on his tips for pitching TV drama. -
Writing for CBeebies: Top Tips
Director of Children's, Joe Godwin, Executive Producer, Tony Reed and Studio Director for CBeebies, Anna Perowne, share their writing tips for pre-school age children. -
Writing for Radio - advice from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Drama North
Scriptwriting advice from the team at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Drama North. -
John Yorke
John Yorke has run both ´óÏó´«Ã½ and Channel 4 drama as well as working in the Independent sector on dramas including Wolf Hall.
Writers on...
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Adapting Classic texts
The adaptors of the Barchester Chronicles on the challenges of adapting much-loved classics into radio dramas. -
´óÏó´«Ã½ Writersroom
Established writers including Tony Marchant, Jack Thorne, Esther Wilson and Justin Young talk about how useful a resource ´óÏó´«Ã½ Writersroom is for emerging writers, and how it has helped them. -
Desert Island DVDs
Toby Whithouse, Jack Thorne, Esther Wilson and other TV writers tell us which boxsets or films they would bring with them if they were stranded. -
Developing Characters
From drawing dots, to mimicking their voices, to acting our their body language - writers including Roy Williams, Toby Whithouse, Debbie Oates and Jimmy McGovern share their techniques for bringing characters to life. -
TV Drama
Jimmy McGovern, Alice Nutter, Jack Thorne, Sarah Phelps and other writers talk to us about why TV dramas like The West Wing, Boys from the Black Stuff and The Wire, had such an impact on them. -
Dealing with Writer's Block
Jimmy McGovern, Alice Nutter, Frank Spotniz and more tell us about their experiences with writer's block and how they get through it. -
Writing for Children
Nathan Cockerill, Elly Brewer, Ben Ward and Paul Rose share their advice and offer top tips. -
Writing Doctor Who
Doctor Who writers Steven Moffat (Lead writer and Executive Producer) and Nick Lambon (Script Editor) in a live Q&A session in 2016.
Technology
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Filming with a Smartphone
Top tips on how to shoot video with your Smartphone. -
Opportunities for writers in new technology
Simon Smith of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Blue Room demonstrates a few of the opportunities for writers and scripts that have been created by new technology.