BBC Writers Academy
Encyclopedia
About to enter its sixth year, the BBC
Writers Academy is a major initiative aimed at discovering and training the next generation of writers for BBC
One’s flagship drama series - EastEnders
, Casualty
, Holby City
and Doctors
. Eight writers are selected out of hundreds of applicants, to undergo an intensive fifteen month programme designed to equip them with all the skills necessary to write successfully for BBC Drama. The course entails classroom training, lectures from the country's best television writers, instruction in all aspects of television production and direct writing experience on the four BBC Continuing Drama shows. The course was started and is currently taught by John Yorke, Controller, In-House Drama.
13 weeks training made up of:
- Classroom lectures accompanied by intensive writing exercises, analysis and individual tutorials, led by John Yorke.
- Guest Lectures from leading British TV writers including: Jimmy McGovern
, Tony Jordan
, Tony McHale
, Alan Plater
, Sarah Phelps
, Ashley Pharoah
.
- Presentations from leading British Directors: Bharat Nalluri
and Dearbhla Walsh.
- Workshops in all aspects of television production including scheduling, design, production management, casting, editing etc., led by members of the department.
During this period each writer will also be commissioned to write an episode of DOCTORS.
2) Writing for Broadcast
At the end of the 13 weeks, if their individual Doctors
episode is green lit for broadcast, each writer will be commissioned to write EastEnders
, Casualty
and Holby
. During this time, they will be mentored by the Lead Writer on the show.
At the end of the 15 months, each writer will have written for each of the four shows.
The BBC
also has an option at this time to guarantee further commissions on the shows.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Writers Academy is a major initiative aimed at discovering and training the next generation of writers for BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
One’s flagship drama series - EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
, Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
and Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
. Eight writers are selected out of hundreds of applicants, to undergo an intensive fifteen month programme designed to equip them with all the skills necessary to write successfully for BBC Drama. The course entails classroom training, lectures from the country's best television writers, instruction in all aspects of television production and direct writing experience on the four BBC Continuing Drama shows. The course was started and is currently taught by John Yorke, Controller, In-House Drama.
"You can't teach writing. What you can teach is structure, and if writers master that, it allows them access to their voice - and it is those voices that will keep the industry thriving."
- John Yorke
History
Previous course graduates have gone on to become core writers on Casualty, Holby City and EastEnders. 90% of graduate are still in constant work with the department.Content
1) Introduction to Writing for Continuing Drama Series13 weeks training made up of:
- Classroom lectures accompanied by intensive writing exercises, analysis and individual tutorials, led by John Yorke.
- Guest Lectures from leading British TV writers including: Jimmy McGovern
Jimmy McGovern
Jimmy McGovern is a BAFTA award-winning English television scriptwriter from Liverpool.-Early career:McGovern started his career working on Channel 4's soap opera Brookside in 1982, tackling many social issues such as unemployment.-Successes:...
, Tony Jordan
Tony Jordan
Tony Jordan is a British television writer. He was listed as the number 1 television screen writer in the UK by Broadcast magazine and among British Broadcastings Top 20 in The Stage ., He currently resides in Hertfordshire, UK.For many years, he was lead writer and series consultant for BBC One...
, Tony McHale
Tony McHale
Tony McHale is a British actor, writer and director who has the dubious honour of being best known as a "stooge" to Jeremy Beadle on Game For A Laugh and later, Beadle's About. He trained at Rose Bruford College. He also enjoyed a long stint as a writer/director on the top rated BBC1 soap opera...
, Alan Plater
Alan Plater
Alan Frederick Plater, CBE, FRSL was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s.-Career:...
, Sarah Phelps
Sarah Phelps
Sarah Phelps is a British television, radio, film and freelance playwright who was working for the Royal Shakespeare Company when she took part in a BBC initiative to find new writers...
, Ashley Pharoah
Ashley Pharoah
Ashley Pharoah is a British Television writer, co-creator of the successful drama series Life on Mars, which began on BBC One in 2006....
.
- Presentations from leading British Directors: Bharat Nalluri
Bharat Nalluri
Bharat Nalluri is a British television director, best known for his work with the independent production company Kudos Film & Television in the 2000s and early 2010s. For Kudos, he has directed episodes of Spooks, Life on Mars, Hustle , and Outcasts: all for transmission on BBC One...
and Dearbhla Walsh.
- Workshops in all aspects of television production including scheduling, design, production management, casting, editing etc., led by members of the department.
During this period each writer will also be commissioned to write an episode of DOCTORS.
"You have a need to tell stories. I had that, but not the skills necessary to do so for television."
- Abi Bown (2006 graduate)
2) Writing for Broadcast
At the end of the 13 weeks, if their individual Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
episode is green lit for broadcast, each writer will be commissioned to write EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
and Holby
Holby
Holby is a fictional city in the United Kingdom, in which BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City, and police drama HolbyBlue are set. It is based upon the city of Bristol, and is located in the fictional county of Wyvern in the South-West of England, not far from the Welsh border...
. During this time, they will be mentored by the Lead Writer on the show.
At the end of the 15 months, each writer will have written for each of the four shows.
The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
also has an option at this time to guarantee further commissions on the shows.
“Writing for television can feel like running across a muddy field at night being pursued by man eating pigs...the Academy gives you a torch.”
-Ian Kershaw (Writers Academy graduate)