Screenplay Research

The BBC Writers Room

The BBC Writers Room is an organisation set up as part of the BBC that seeks to identify and support potential new writing talent. They do this by setting up a format that informs you of how things are changing on BBC platforms. However, they also give you access to commissioners, production departments and, what they describe as “most importantly” to the skills and experience of established writers. As part of the help they give, they offer advice on elements of writing such as an introduction to writing a good script and information on how to go about sending a script to them. They also inform you about other opportunities that are open to you.

Currently Existing BBC Dramas

If you want to take advantage of BBC Writers Room and the opportunity it offers to write, then it is important to research what type of dramas they usually commission. One way to do this is to look at the sort of work that is by an experienced BBC writer such as Accused writer, Jimmy Mcgoven, who announced earlier this year a one-off drama, set in Liverpool and entitled ‘Common’, that he has had commissioned. There are also ways to look at scripts of recently broadcasted shows by visiting the Writers Room’s script library such as this link to the script for an episode of brand new BBC drama, Last Tango In Halifax written by Sally Wainwright. http://bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/last-tango-in-halifax-s1-ep1 

Sally Wainwright has previously written other BBC dramas such as The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006) and Sparkhouse (2002) as well as doing a lot of writing work for ITV including Scott and Bailey (2011) and Unforgiven (2009).

Listings

BBC often broadcast dramas in the late evening, not including soaps which generally run at peak times between 6pm and 8pm. As the BBC is one of the biggest broadcasters, millions of people are likely to be watching the channel at this time and this means that competition is also likely to be strong. Other dramas, particularly crime or horror dramas, are usually broadcast from 9pm onwards as this is after the watershed so they can show employ more taboo language and shocking imagery that would otherwise disturb young children.

Ratings

If you look on the BARB website at the top 10 BBC ratings for November, we see that the majority of them are either soap operas like Eastenders or drama series such as New Tricks, both gaining viewing figures of between 7.5 million and 10 million audience members.










Silent Witness
In order to learn about the conventions of screenwriting for BBC dramas, it is important to look at some existing dramas that they have broadcasted in the past and currently. Firstly, I watched parts 1 and 2 of the episode of the BBC Crime Drama, Silent Witness entitled 'Choices' which were originally aired on 1st August 2005 and 2nd August 2005 respectively.

In the opening scene, we are introduced to some of the important characters for the episode's narrative. For example, a club owner known as Ainsley Modest and his now fiancé as well as the unknown gunmen. As the episode opens, we see Ainsley and his fiancé talking in the car and looking at the engagement ring. This is what gives us the backstory of them being engaged to be married. This sentimental element of the plot gives us a slight emotional attachment to these characters right from the off. However, just as quickly as they are given to us, they are taken away by a machine gun drive-by outside Ainsley's club.

Throughout the episode, the plot develops to involve family issues, drug taking, organised crime and more violence. Due to this fact, I am sure that the programme would have been broadcasted after the watershed and I would suggest a primary audience as being aged 35-55 as it incorporates the mature themes that are appropriate to that age group. A lot of dramas are conventially female but this features violence and other elements that are likely to appeal to a male audience also. This higher level of excitement and action is also likely to attract a secondary audience that is slightly younger, perhaps from the age of 20+.

Personally, I enjoyed the way that the episode tied together the backstories of several of the characters, particularly with the 12 year old Wayne Devlin (played by Perry Allen) who actually turns out to be the pivoting point for the entire narrative to come together at the end because of the people that he knows (the gun smith).

There was an element which I noticed when watching this episode of Silent Witness which I would try to avoid in the construction of my own drama. They made a point of the fact that Wayne's mother took pills near the start of the episode and then, for the majority of the plot, this was ignored giving Wayne little reason tor explanation o end up in some of the locations and situations that he did. I was also irritated by the completely irrelevant side plot about a heroin overdose. I felt that this took the focus away from the main story as well as being written in a non-realist fashion. It gave off the impression that it was a common thing for people to do in college and I am firmly against the way that companies such as the BBC encourage these stereotypes in their programming.



Sherlock
I also watched an episode of another BBC Crime Drama, Sherlock, called 'A Scandal in Belgravia', originally broadcasted as part of the second series on Sunday 1st January 2012.

The opening scene follows directly on from the end of the last series where characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson are talking to Holmes' arch-nemesis, Jim Moriarty, whilst surrounded by his off-screen snipers. This introduces new viewers to these characters but the situation is written under the assumption that you watched the end of the first series. However, it is not essential for your viewing pleasure to do so as each story is written as a stand-alone plot which ties into the overall narrative of the series. This plot structure makes the action of the episodes very easy to follow.

The episode features a myriad of witty remarks and clever plot twists which suggests to me that the primary audience starts from teenagers, ranging up to adults in their early to mid-30s. In terms of other people who might enjoy viewing this drama, I do not think that the secondary audience would be any younger because of the mature themes that are featured, particularly in this episode with the  character Irene Adler who is a dominatrix. However, I think that an older audience than the primary audience may also find viewing pleasure from Sherlock.

When watching this episode, the elements that I enjoyed which I feel I would like to include in my own drama included the attention to detail which the characters have; this is shown through on-screen text highlighting the subject of the character's interest. I also like the complexity of the main characters, particularly Sherlock Holmes who has a lot of interesting quirks such as being a violin prodige and demonstrates evidence of Aspergers Syndrome. This sort of unsual behaviour makes it very difficult to understand the way his mind works making his actions and thought processes marginally unpredictable. However, one thing I was less keen on is some of the alterations that have been made to the original character for the sake of reaching a wider audience and making more money. For example, it is well-known that Holmes takes drugs such as opium to help him think. I am against such changes as a film maker as I believe that characters should be shown in their full glory.



Edge of Darkness
Next, I watched the first two episodes mini-series called Edge of Darkness which was originally broadcast on Monday 4th November 1985. The genre of this series was a combination of crime drama and political thriller.

In the opening scene, the two characters Inspector Craven and his daughter Emma Craven are driving home. During this sequence they are talking about Emma moving in with a boyfriend. This is a slight hint to some of the plot that is to unfold later in the episode such as her involvement with Gaia, a group focussed against nuclear weapons. This occurs shortly before Emma is shot by a mystery gunman with a double-barrelled shotgun. We are not totally sure who he wanted to shoot as he only says the surname, Craven, which they both share.

This drama features some mature themes which would be inappropriate for a younger audience such as the featuring of murder and a sex toy; it deals with the psychology of how Inspector Craven is coping with the killing of his daughter. I would say that, overall, the primary audience would range from the age of around 25 to 45. However, some people slightly either side of this range may also enjoy watching but it is important to consider that this was broadcasted in 1985 so some of the more difficult subjects shown would have been even more shocking than to a contemporary audience who are more accustomed to seeing gore etc with the power of modern special effects.

In this drama, I enjoy the way that much of the attention is focussed around Inspector Craven's solitude and his mindset but I do think that more details could be given regarding Emma's background activities earlier on because it seems that this side of the plot is dragged out quite unneccessarily. I also do not like the characters such as Pendleton whose identity changes without much explanation making it confusing to follow exactly how he is involved with the Inspector.



Eastenders
The BBC's Eastenders is one of the biggest Soap dramas in the UK and it is continuous running five days a week, every week. I watched an episode broadcasted on 17th December 2012.

This structure involves many different characters side plots that tie into an overall depiction of life on Albert Square. There is usually a main plot as well which generally involves a large scandel around one of the characters which is revealed over several weeks. The opening scene of this episode focusses on the 'main' plot at the moment which is Kat and Alfie. We know that Kat has been having an affair and the first thing we see after the title sequence is Alfie looking solemn which we are lead to believe is linked to the situation with Kat. However, it is revealed shortly afterwards that it's the anniversary of one of Alfie's relatives.

As Eastenders is broadcast before watershed, it does not feature anything that would be grossly inappropriate for a younger viewer. The primary audience, however, would be people from around the age of 16+ as it deals with issues relating to that age group and above. This leaves very little room for a secondary audience but people younger than 16 may very well enjoy watching it or be encouraged to as part of family viewing at peak time.

I like the way that many of the side plots for different characters tie together and, because of the way that the soap is constructed, we can cut between these very smoothly in one location such as the Queen Vic pub and the market. However, I do not like the way that other, totally irrelevant, events are put in the plot just to make up the time and spread the plot development over a longer period of weeks so that they keep their viewers watching just to find out what happens. In this episode in particular, a lot of attention is paid to Alfie getting into the Christmas spirit with a german theme at the Queen Vic.