Nadolig Llawen!

Merry Christmas everyone, and the very best of New Years!


with love always,


Rob.

Edward Woodward, 1930 - 2009

Edward Woodward, star of The Wicker Man, Callan, The Equalizer and Common as Muck, to name but a few, has died at the age of 79.

I feel terribly sad at the loss of someone who has been a screen presence throughout my life, and has left such a fantastic body of work behind them.

BBC item

Wikipedia

IMDB

Edgar Wright on Edward Woodward

Post-weekend update

The best laid plans, eh?

The weekend went well. I failed to complete the first draft of The Preservationists but will do so in the next few days. The reason for non-completion? Mainly that weekends are perhaps not the best time to lock yourself away in your writey den. I knew that certain jobs would need doing, and that was fine, but Sunday afternoon became a casualty of necessary maintenance on the garden, and whilst it's true that I could have stayed up and worked into the small hours I was happy enough that I can finish it this week not to bother.

Friday saw 13 pages written, a respectable start.
Saturday was another 13 page day.
Sunday saw only five pages written.

So that's about 31 pages written of a likely 60.

I'm out laughing at Eddie Izzard on Tuesday night so I'm unlikely to get any work done then but the rest of the week looks good. If I were a betting man I'd bet on wrapping on Wednesday night.

I'll keep you posted.

Catch up TV

I've been watching stuff and I thought I'd share...

Medium - You know, it's funny. I was always aware of Medium. I knew it existed. I knew it starred the lovely Patricia Arquette. Somehow I never bothered watching it though. I think I may have made some assumptions about the nature of the format and/or the quality of the show, based on what I don't know. Anyway the twittering of Mr and Mrs James Moran inspired me to take a look at the first episode. The first episode inspired me to watch the second episode. The second episode - well you get the idea. Medium is excellent and I'm happy to tell you why... The relationship between the main characters is totally believable, they are very real, rounded, flawed characters. Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber portray a couple who don't always see eye to eye but love each other deeply, and usually find a compromise together. There is a variety in the stories that I didn't expect. Most of all though I enjoy the interaction between the characters, and those unexpected shocks they slip in sometimes. It's a great series and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Burn Notice - I had heard murmers about this series but hadn't seen any until I stumbled upon a Burn Notice marathon on the USA channel while Emma and I were in New York in the summer (meant to post about that but never got around to it - Best. Holiday. Ever. New York is now my second favourite city). It's a brilliant show. Anything featuring Bruce Campbell is always going to be worth a look, but the premise, the tone and the performance of star Jeffrey Donovan make this excellent viewing. Think Hustle with a dash of Bond and a broad streak of humour. I haven't actually seen that much of Burn Notice yet, but now Lost is out of the way (probably) I plan on catching up.

Spooks - They're back. I love a bit of Spooks and I think the partnership between Ros and Lucas is about the best team the show has had. Hoping this series can match up to last years engrossing story arc.

FM - Caught up on this thanks to Virgin Media's ITV player. Just brilliant. Great cast, great scripts, great show. The only downside was the pop star cameos - appearances are OK but actually having them play a song while the characters watch is BORING! Hoping a second series will be forthcoming.

Lost - After eighteen months and 103 episodes I am finally up to date with what I have come to think of as probably the best and most consistent series of all time. Now I'm resisting the urge to try and watch it all over again before the sixth and final series starts next year. So far so good...

Something I've NOT been watching though is Survivors - Where is series 2..? I could have sworn it started the same time as Spooks last year. OK, I know I was vocal about my issues with the first series but I still liked it (it's post apocalyptic - I can't really help myself!). Besides the last couple of episodes were much stronger - the final episode in particular was riveting, and surprising! Add to this the fact that the second series was filmed in my fourth favourite city - Birmingham - and colour me excited. Bring on the further adventures of Tom Price! Still don't understand *that* credit though...

Come back soon for more stuff what I've been watching!

Time May Change Me

I think my calendar is broken. It's telling me November but that can't possibly be right can it? Hmm. Seems my phone is broken too. And my laptop. And my watch. Oh hang on, I don't wear a watch...

Hello and welcome to a new update on my blog.

Despite the acceleration of 2009 (I suspect we may have skipped September altogether) the year continues to go well. I am almost completely treatmented up and ready to write the first draft of my new script. It's intended as a pilot and has the working title of "The Preservationists", in fact I like that title so much it may stick. I've booked Friday off and my intention is to write like a bastard for three days before collapsing onto the sofa on Sunday night with a glass of wine to have my pants scared off by The Waters of Mars. If all goes well this project will be the long awaited (by no one in particular apart from me) follow up to BBC writersroom's request to see my next work.

Once the first draft of The Preservationists is completed I'm going to forget all about it for a month or so while I do a full rewrite on my horror feature, The Quiet Night Inn. That should take us up to December when I'll have a tinker with The Preservationists before resurrecting a long dormant feature film script and starting it from scratch over Christmas. I'll probably be after some power of three action around then too, so let me know if you're interested - I'll return the favour naturally.

Exciting stuff which will take me up to the new year - hopefully with three decent scripts and a fair bit of momentum. In the new year I have some new projects to start, including a strong idea for another horror feature (something more... urban this time), a sitcom and various other half formed ideas. Most of all I want to start with a clear desk. Hence the frantic work in the next couple of months.

"So how come you're so enthusiastic about your work again?" You're probably not asking. I'm glad you asked. It's because there's something I haven't told you, dear reader. A couple of months ago I left my employer of some ten years for a job that allows me more flexibility, a shorter commute, and some hope of having the energy to work when I come home of an evening. I was sad to leave the old firm, they've been good to me and I will always be fond of them, but there are changes on the way and it was a prudent move. Happily my new job has been a terrific success. I'm home much earlier in the evening and writing most evenings.

I'm feeling positive about the future for a lot of reasons, but particularly because I've worked on my writing more, and harder, for the last few months than for a long time. There have been a lot of changes over the last couple of years; leaving Cardiff, Emma becoming a teacher, buying a house, and so on. My change in jobs feels like the last piece slotting into place. Finally I can commit all my energies to making it as a screenwriter.

As long as nothing else comes along and demands all my attention...

A warning to others...

This is a desktop Henry the Hoover.

This is a Dyson.






One of these is useful for getting the dust, dead skin cells and bits of chilli heatwave doritos out from between your laptop keys. One is not.

Use the wrong one and your laptop will end up looking like this;


Although to be honest there isn't really any point going through the tightly wound knots of dust, human hair and spiders-which-fell-prey-to-your-wife looking for the 'k' key as the retainer will be lost forever. And the sellotape look is so not chic. Save yourself the trouble and buy one of these;

Better yet, don't use a dyson to hoover your laptop keyboard.

The Precious

YES! I have finally started work on my long gestating family drama series. Fingers crossed for the Robin Hood slot. Actually there's not a hope in hell of it being made. It would cost a fortune and no one would invest in an expensive series by an untested writer. It's just meant to show what I can do. It's great fun to outline anyway, and hopefully that will come across to readers. Planning to have the first pass on the pilot script complete by the end of October.

I've been working on one feature script all year, in between changing jobs and other scary/exciting real life stuff, so it feels good to put that aside and work on something new. One skill I seem to totally lack is the ability to juggle numerous projects at the same time. I have to crack that. The revised target for this year is to hit January with three new specs, feels like I'm on course for the first time in ages. Very exciting.

There seems to have been some grumbling recently from writers who want to get into TV but don't want to write for Doctors, or Casualty or the soaps. There's nothing wrong with those shows you know. Chances are, unless you're incredibly fortunate, you'll have to write for something along those lines before anyone decides to film your magnificent octopus so don't get too precious. No one is too good for Casualty or the serial dramas, and those shows are going to look pretty damn good on your cv. Here are some gob-smackingly excellent writers who started out on these shows;

Tony Warren (Corrie)
Jack Rosenthall (Corrie)
Paul Abbott (Corrie)
Frank Cottrell Boyce (Corrie)
Paul Cornell (Corrie, Casualty)
Matt Jones (Corrie)
Gerry Davis (Corrie)
Barbara Machin (Emmerdale Farm)
Tony McHale (Eastenders)
Catherine Tregenna (Eastenders, Casualty)
Ashley Pharoah (Casualty)
Keith Temple (Casualty)
And some fella called Tony Jordan (Boon, Eldorado, Minder, Eastenders).

If it was good enough for them (and many more) then it's well good enough for me.

Tell, don't show

Watching The Blair Witch Project and The Haunting in the same week has highlighted to me that the two films, though very different in execution, use the same techniques to render the viewer terrified.

In neither film do you ever see anything truly supernatural or horrific. The tension and scares come from hearing the history of Hill House, or the urban myths of Burkittsville as locals recall stories concerning the history of the town.

Even when the forces of evil strike you still see nothing. The presence of evil is demonstrated purely through the terrifying sound effects and reactions of the cast, building on what you have learned from the films characters.

So sometimes it does pay to tell, not show.

Can You Save Her?

TV's James Moran and the previously mentioned Monsieur Daniel Turner have a new project coming at the end of October, just in time for Halloween.

It's a web series called Girl Number 9 which will be available internationally from here at 9pm GMT on October 30th.

The press release says...

Vincent Boylan (Joe Absolom) has just been arrested, suspected of being behind the brutal murder of seven girls, but the team only have a limited time to get a confession. If they can't make him talk, he could slip through their fingers. Detective Matheson (Gareth David-Lloyd), who is leading the investigation, is sent in to try and get some answers. But things soon take a horrifying turn for the worse, as Matheson and his boss Lyndon (Tracy-Ann Oberman) find out that all is not as it seems. The mystery deepens as everyone is drawn into Boylan's sick mind games, and each twist-packed episode ends on a tantalising cliffhanger, making every instalment a must-see.

Sounds exciting, n'est pas? There is a Facebook page and if you're on Twitter (aren't we all?) you can follow the characters right up until the first episode becomes available. How modern!

Those Twitter links are...

Girl Number 9

@Lyndon

@Dunbar

@Weinberg

@Boylan

Free screenwriting podcasts‏

Hello you.

The Mighty Adrian Mead has filmed a series of awesome free podcasts for The Scottish Book Trust about building a career as a professional screenwriter. The intro to the series is now available here.


If you get something out of the podcasts why not download Adrian's excellent book, Making It As A Screenwriter. All money from the book goes to the UK charity Childline. I've recommended it before, as have many others.

That is all.

Legen - wait for it - dary!

Starting today at 7.30pm E4 will be showing How I Met Your Mother. I'm a huge fan of this show and if you give it a look you'll see why. Reading about it will probably just make you think it's another Friends-type comedy, which I guess it is... but it's also so much more.

The series is about this chap in the year 2030 telling his children how he met their mother. Each episode is a flashback to his youth and a particular incident in his ongoing (up to four seasons now) saga of romance and friendship. Here are three of the reasons why I love How I Met Your Mother...

• It never tells stories in chronological order. There is always at least some jumping back and forth in time. A bit like Coupling used to do.
• The scripts are funny and clever, and touching without making you puke.
• Legendary womaniser Barney Stinson may well be one of the funniest characters on television. Not for nothing does NPH keep getting nominated for Emmys. Check out Barney's Blog.

Anyway, give it a look if you can. I discovered it while channel hopping when it was running on Trouble (a channel that doesn't seem to exist any more). I don't think I ever would have watched it otherwise. True story.

E4 will be showing How I Met Your Mother every weekday at 7.30pm (a little early if you ask me) so it may be one for your PVR to collect.

Now SUIT UP!

Wikipedia
The Official CBS site (Beware SPOILERS!)
E4

Splendid

It's here! It's here! The official trailer for the Splendid pilot (crafted by Messrs Turner, Beckley & Arnopp (sounds like a firm of Solicitors)) is here!

Go now, and learn why badgers don't dance. Then join the facebook group to get further updates. Then tell all your friends to watch the trailer too. Splendid.

Basterds

I'm getting very excited about Inglourious Basterds, the new film from Quentin Tarantino, which opens in cinemas from tomorrow.


Here is the man himself selecting his twenty favourite films released since he became a director. It's great to see him still as enthusiastic about films as he was way back when he made Reservoir Dogs.


Inglourious Basterds official site
Everything Tarantino
The Quentin Tarantino Archives

In cinemas now

Go and see these films (if you haven't already)...

Moon

Mesrine: Killer Instinct
Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One

I was lucky enough to catch both Mesrine films in a double bill at The Electric, what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Porcine Influenza

Swine flu then. Knocked me out for two weeks. Two weeks where I couldn't do much more than sit on the sofa gazing at the goggle box, sometimes raising the strength to use my Xbox controller. It was actually less fun than it sounds but it did give me a chance to watch a hell of a lot of films.

Had a bit of a John Carpenter retrospective, re-watching They Live and Assault on Precinct 13 and (incredibly) watching The Fog for the first time. Followed those up with some New York films, The Warriors and the original Taking of Pelham One Two Three. The Warriors is so stylish, so exciting, just a great film. Pelham One Two Three blew us away though. The characters were so real, and so quickly established. I loved that everyone looked like real people, no beautiful Hollywood faces. Why don't films look like that any more? And that ending! They're running trailers for the remake on TV that make me want to weep!

Finished the third draft of The Quiet Night Inn on Monday night (Tuesday morning) so that's good. Quite a lot of little changes made and a lot of pages cut. Course now I've had a brilliant idea which involves a massive change to the script so draft four starts as soon as I get my strength back.

Unfortunately returning to work after two weeks off is taking it's toll at the moment. I'm a zombie by five pm every day. Not in a cool way though. There's also some quite major real life stuff going on which I'll be able to mention soon. It's not directly related to my writing but will have a big impact on it, in a positive way I mean! More news soon.

Feeling very motivated at the moment, probably due to a combination of watching loads of films, revisiting James Moran's blog from the very beginning, and just being excited about what I'm working on again. Nice.

Zombies, children and snow

Saw The Children a couple of weeks ago and thought it was absolutely stunning; atmospheric, creepy and not at all afraid to deliver on it's promises. Written and directed by Tom Shankland, The Children is about two families spending Christmas together who find their children begin to behave oddly.The cast are uniformly excellent (even the children) but special mention to Hannah Tointon as the rebellious teenaged daughter who is the first to see something is afoot. Tense and genuinely scary, The Children is the best new horror film I've seen for some years.

Rotten Tomatoes
Eat My Brains
IMDB
Official Site

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Speaking of awesome horror films...

Dead Snow is finally getting a limited release in cinemas before hitting DVD's (and blu-rays, see how inclusive I am) in August. It's also being shown during FrightFest this year. Dead Snow concerns a group of young friends on vacation who run into trouble with a platoon of Nazi Zombies. This film isn't going to win any oscars but has an infectious enthusiasm and will please fans of the genre. This is really a love letter to Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, and horror films in general from Tommy Wirkola. It also features snow and zombies, two of my favourite things.

Rotten Tomatoes
Official site
Eat My Brains
IMDB

Torchwood and stuff

Well they caught me out there. I always watch Torchie and I've enjoyed every episode on some level but I would never have called myself a Torchwood fan as such. It's a good, fun show. It's a bit daft. It's a romp. That's about the level of thought involved on my part.

So where the fuck did Children of Earth come from?! There was I all ready for five nights of gallivanting and rude jokes. What do I get instead? Probably the most impressive and affecting drama event British television has seen for decades. Make no mistake this was landmark event sf happening on six million screens every night for a week. I don't know if I'm happier about the TW production team beating the shit out of Britain with such a hard hitting and devastating story or with the British public for sticking with it all week (it's ratings were not only excellent but consistent!).

Of course then the Torchwood 'fans' had to go and leave a nasty taste in every one's mouth by having a pop at TV's James Moran, hardest working screenwriting blogger in the world. Apparently they have an issue with something that happened in the story. Twats. I didn't like it when Apollo Creed died in Rocky IV but I didn't get in Stallone's face about it. Grow up. James Moran appears to have been a victim of his own availability, and the result is that we regular readers of his blog are the one's who will now miss out while the Woodies all piss off to argue amongst themselves or burn RTD in effigy. Arseholes.

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If you haven't seen any of Getting On (Wednesdays, BBC4) it's well worth checking it out on the I-player. It's a very, very funny sitcom written by and starring Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlon and Vicki Pepperdine and directed by Peter Capaldi. The BBC describe it as a "darkly comic drama series about life on an NHS geriatric ward", which is accurate.

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Last recommendation for today is Chuck (Mondays, Virgin 1). This is a great series about a young chap who works in the equivalent to a Curry's store and finds himself drawn into the world of international spies. It's great fun watching Chuck balance the demands of the NSA and CIA against those of his employers and his big sister. It also benefits from co-starring Adam Baldwin of Firefly fame who is hilarious as a hard-as-nails NSA hitman posing as a shop assistant. Check it out.

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Wow. Two posts in one day, you lucky dabs. I was also going to tell you about space flu and the rewrite from Hell but I think I'll hold back for the weekend...

Flickchart

Flickchart is really much more fun than it ought to be. The idea is that Flickchart shows you two films and you choose which you prefer. On the basis of your selections Flickchart then starts building a list of your favourite films. The more selections you make, the more accurate your list becomes, in my experience anyway.

There are a lot of films missing at the moment as the site is still pretty new. In particular non US films are currently under represented (which explains why Hell Drivers in uncharacteristically absent from my favourites).

You're also able to look at charts reflecting the choices of all flickchart users. You can view the best films of all time, or even select genre's, directors, decades etc.

I recommend you check it out, better clear an hour or so though as it's fiendishly addictive! More than the charts, or the rankings, I just love being presented with films that I'd forgotten existed (for example Megaforce or Sssssss).

Michael Jackson, 1958 - 2009

Specialist Subject: The Bleeding Obvious

Spotted two items of interest to writers on television recently...

Fawlty Towers Reopened

Last weekend there was a terrific new documentary about Fawlty Towers on (what used to be called) UK Gold. Knowing cable I'm sure there will be opportunities to catch this again if you missed it. It's well worth keeping an eye out as there were a lot of insights into the genesis of the programme, and how John Cleese and Connie Booth wrote it.

Says (not) UK Gold...

To help celebrate its 30th anniversary, G.O.L.D. is throwing open the doors of TV's most famous hotel once more after a lengthy absence.

New and exclusive, Fawlty Towers: Re-opened gathers cast and crew together to retrace the history of the sitcom from a rarely seen insider point of view. The one-off special leaves no English Riviera stone unturned in its search for trivia and nuggets of information from the Fawlty Towers guestbook, together with in-depth interviews with John Cleese, Andrew Sachs and Prunella Scales, as well as Connie Booth talking about her memories from the show for the first time in 30 years. Just don't mention the war.

Meanwhile, on ITV3...

There's a series called Beyond a Joke looking at how the British sitcom has reflected society over the years, with insights from the writers and actors (plus some irrelevant pundits). You can catch up on this with ITV's catch up telly widget here.

Breaking into the film and TV industry

In case you haven't already heard about this elsewhere; Adrian Mead has a new course coming up in London in July. Adrian is the author of 'Making it as a Screenwriter', which I mentioned only last week, and his courses have a reputation for being incredibly useful AND inspirational. I may even stray down to the big city myself for this one.

Here's some more info straight from the man himself...

Breaking into the film and TV industry

How are you going to get your break and advance your career as a screenwriter or filmmaker in the midst of an economic downturn?

The idea for a day about career building came from a spate of calls I've had recently from new writers and filmmakers who were ready to give up trying to build a career. Despite gaining qualifications, reading numerous websites and sending out scripts nothing had changed for them.

My answer was simple and brutal, "If you haven't achieved what you want yet, then you aren't really putting all that knowledge into action. Knowing isn't doing."

Think back to January. You were all fired up about breaking into the film and TV industry, "This has to be the year when I make it happen!"

So, how has it gone? What have you achieved so far? Be honest, didn't you make that same speech last January, maybe even the year before that? So why are you trapped in your own version of Groundhog Day?

In order to find the answer you first need to recognize a huge and fundamental truth.

Knowing isn't doing

Knowledge doesn't change things. Action does.

Already some of you will have been lining up your excuses, "The film and TV industry has changed massively in the last six months. I don't know where to start now. I mean, what's the point in trying to break into an industry besieged by cancellations and budget cuts?"

In fact you couldn't be more wrong. This is a great time to be a new writer or filmmaker trying to get your break. Seriously. If you know where to look there are numerous new opportunities available to you because of the economic downturn. Yet most of you will miss them as you continue employing a half-hearted, outdated and now redundant approach to advancing your career.

Take action and join me at THE SCREENWRITER'S CAREER GUIDE to discover what you need to do in order to break into the film and TV industry today.

This will be a day jam packed with the very latest career building opportunities for screenwriters and filmmakers. No screenwriting theory, just a clear guide to the shape of the Film and TV industry as it is now and how it is likely to develop.

The once standard approach you used even three months ago is now redundant. Everything has changed. You need to do the same or get left behind. These are exciting times filled with opportunities for new writers and filmmakers who know where to look and are ready to adapt and collaborate. THE SCREENWRITER'S CAREER GUIDE will teach you how to take action that will build contacts, find money and build a career.

Adrian

THE SCREENWRITER'S CAREER GUIDE will be presented by Adrian Mead. If you have attended one of Adrian’s classes before you know to expect the most up to date information from a working professional.

We work hard at creating a fun and friendly atmosphere and this will be an excellent opportunity to forge links with fellow creatives and extend your network of contacts. This event is sure to sell out early and here's what participants of Adrian’s previous classes have said -

I found the course absolutely invaluable. Adrian avoided the well trodden ground of screenwriting theory and instead concentrated on how to actually get finished manuscripts into the hands of producers and agents.

Stuart

Adrian delivered the lab in a charismatic and professional manner. Giving clarity and focus to the sometime daunting task of making it as a writer.

Monica

The course was amazing. I gained a real insight into the industry and now feel enthused to pursue my goals with vigour and boldness!

Megan

When and Where
The next course will be held on 4 July 2009 at a central London location.
The course fee is £ 70 + VAT (EARLY BIRD UNTIL 15 MAY). The fee includes all materials and light refreshments.

To book go to http://www.initialize-films.co.uk/ and check out THE SCREENWRITER'S CAREER GUIDE.

Testimonials
You can view testimonials for Adrian's sell out classes and acclaimed e-book MAKING IT AS A SCREENWRITER at http://www.meadkerr.com/

In the confusing forest of screenwriting books here is a sturdy oak: simple, honest and true. Highly recommended.

Ashley Pharoah
Screenwriter and Producer
Co Creator of Life On Mars, Ashes To Ashes

William Goldman on the Southbank Show Tonight!!

Apologies if everyone knows this already but...

Tonight's South Bank Show is on William Goldman, screenwriter extraordinary and author of Adventures in the Screen Trade and Which Lie Did I Tell? (amongst others).

Says RT...


When you see tonight's programme is about the screenwriter William Goldman, you may wonder if he has a film coming out. He hasn't. This is a free-standing, plug-free South Bank Show that simply revels in Goldman's insights (he's famous for saying that in Hollywood, "Nobody knows anything") and allows him to cast an eye back over a career that includes Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Marathon Man and Misery. It's a joy to watch some of his great scenes - the knife-fight challenge in Butch Cassidy, the hobbling scene in Misery - and hear Goldman's comments, as well as contributions from screenplay guru Robert McKee and Hugh Grant. We hear how Steve McQueen nearly played Sundance, but his agent and Paul Newman's couldn't agree on who would get top billing. And we get Goldman's perspective on directing ("the brutal labour of it") and stars ("very frightened people"). But strangely, neither he nor Melvyn Bragg ever mentions The Princess Bride.


I guess it'll be on the ITV eyeviewer type thingy after the fact. Personally I'm gonna tell my swanky V+ box to record it because I'm sooo high tech.

The Skinny

In The Loop

Caught this at the Electric on Friday and was very pleased with it. I heartily recommend the film, and no prior knowledge of The Thick of It is required.

Newswipe

I think this is half way through it's run now but as I always seem to promote Charlie Brooker's television exploits why break the habit now? Here he uses his razor sharp wit to cut right through the media flim-flam and get at the guts of how the News works. If you haven't been watching you can catch up here, for now at least...

Primeval

They're back, and they're making some brave changes to the set up. I'm a big fan of the show and series three continues to deliver. If you like Saturday night family drama then check it out.


Law & Order: UK

This has been fantastic, and has lost none of the pace or tone of the original in the transatlantic shift. I think we're in a mid-series break at the moment but you can see previous episodes here. Episode seven from the sixth of April has been the best of the bunch so far. I understand they made thirteen episodes for series one so hopefully it will be back soon. It can be strong stuff though, so be warned.

Waiting for Godot

My favourite Beckett, well it's everyone's favourite I suppose. Caught this in Malvern in March and was a bit blown away. The production hits London April 30th, you could do far worse than get yourself a ticket.

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I finally got around to buying Adrian Mead's Making It As A Screenwriter last month. Embarrassingly I hadn't bought it because I no longer have a paypal account (don't like or trust paypal after nearly getting badly burned a few years ago). I decided to open a new account just to get the book only to discover you didn't actually need one. D'oh!

Anyway if you haven't got it (and I'm pretty sure you have) then you really ought to snap it up. It's a bargain at £7.79 and the dosh goes to Childline.

I used to buy a lot of books about screenwriting but stopped because they all had more or less the same amount of useful advice in them. Also most were written by people whose names you never see on a screen, large or small, which says something, eh?

Mead's book is different. It's relevant, filled with example documents and clear, simple advice, it's witty and motivational. If you're serious about screenwriting this is the tool you need most urgently, click here to buy it.

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I've been having a go on Trigger Street at last. Response to my script has been encouraging, and there has been some very useful notes. Towards the end of the month I'll compile a list of points raised and get ready for a rewrite next month.

I didn't realise quite how the credit system works, which is my own fault, but it turns out it's quite a lot of work to get credits so that your script get's reviews. It is if you're going to put your full energy into reviewing someone's submission anyway (which is only fair if you're going to expect the same in return). I now know that it takes me a good hour or more to read a script (more if I'm not enjoying it), and probably the same again to write up some notes. That's two hours per script, and for me it's coming out of writing time (unless I pick up a netbook or something, then I can do it on the train). That's quite a drain on your time, though worth it for the feedback.

I don't think I'll be putting all my energies into TS. It's fairly rare for me to work on a feature anyway and they have no forum for television scripts. It has been very useful with this specific script, if you're after unbiased feedback I recommend it. Doing a lot of recommending today!

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Heartfelt congratulations to Jason, Dave, Oli and William for securing positions on the Red Planet workshop with Tony Jordan. Congrats also to Mark Wilkinson, the winner of Red Planet 2009.

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You may have noticed I'm updating this site less often. This is only because I'm being much stricter with myself as regards usage of time. All my energy is being put into writing at the moment.

When I sit in my nice shiny chair in my (Lamont Cranston-style) Sanctum I sit here to write, not to blog. Blogging isn't working, so it has to come second. In fact it's further down than that because it comes after planning too. Ahh, poor blogging.

Also a lot of this blog used to be television reviews, and me spouting off about telly in general. In fact that was initially how I intended to use it, I started blogging about my writing only when I saw others were doing it (No sheep jokes puh-leeease!). Since I read Making it as a Screenwriter I'm somehow less keen to do this. I should be building bridges here. It's not like I'd go into work at the day job and email the MD to tell him his latest idea is shit, is it? I don't want to piss him off.

I'll still update as and when I can, and trust me - if I have news I'll be here like a flash. In the mean time though, I'll see you when I see you.

Getting Saturday nights

I didn't like the look of Demons, the recent ITV series. I don't know if it was Mackenzie Crook's bird mask, the synopsis that made the show sound like it had been made ten years ago (probably after someone watched a bit too much Buffy) and slipped through a time hole, the idea of getting a Brit to play an American (I mean in this day and age!), or the fact that Phil Glenister appeared to be wearing his Gene Hunt costume.

Whatever it was I thought, "This looks dire, I'll give it a miss and if the reviews are good I'll catch up." It's a lazy technique but it's served me well before, and I don't have time to catch up on the shows that ARE worth watching never mind soiling my eyes with stuff I know I'm going to hate. I might as well watch The One Show, or paint drying, if there is a difference.

The reviews weren't good. They were scathing.

OK. So I made a good call. Go me! No down side. Except...

They were really scathing. So scathing that I hear they've postponed the third series of Primeval so people can forget about Demons first. You know, because the idiots that watch ITV programmes might not be able to tell the difference between two different TV shows. Or something.

This is proper, card carrying, hitting your own head with a mallet, nuts. Primeval is great. It's imaginative, original, exciting, varied, fresh, but most importantly of all it's the only Doctor Who stand in so far that actually gets Saturday Night/Family drama.

When I was a kid Saturday night TV was all about Doctor Who, Robin of Sherwood, The Tripods, The A team, Knight Rider, Manimal, Automan, etc., etc. Where is the variety now? It's no good just cloning shows about legendary characters or ripping off successful series from the nineties! We need some actual ideas.

Let's think about this for a second. Since Doctor Who did what they said couldn't be done and proved that British society hadn't slipped so far into some Anthony Burgess vision of the future that the whole family couldn't watch television together on a Saturday night without Graham Norton, Cilla Black, Noel Edmonds or Dale Winton staring dead-eyed back out at them there have been several further attempts at Saturday Night Family Drama.

Robin Hood. OK on the one hand this was the first effort, thrown into production as soon as Saturday night was resuscitated. On the other hand it was made by the BBC who might be expected to get it? In fairness I didn't mind Robin Hood. Most people though seemed to be a bit hung up on the non-period costumes and language but I liked it's Xena-ish tone and thought it was good enough fun. It's no substitute for Who though. The third series has been so long coming now that I wonder if anyone will even notice when they follow up killing Marion off by having Robin leave the show.

Primeval. We'll come back to this.


Merlin. Putting aside my previously mentioned issues with the retelling of the Merlin story (or rebooting of Arthurian legend), Merlin worries me for a number of reasons. It's another BBC effort. It's another period set show. It's another myth/legend poured onto our screens for family viewing. It's Robin Hood 2 isn't it? It's 'Here's what we learned from making Robin Hood by the BBC: We took out the anachronistic costumes'. Bit lazy isn't it? Isn't there any more imagination than this planning our TV schedules? What next? Beowulf? William Tell? Jack the Giant Killer? People in forests with swords volume 3?

Demons. I can't really comment on this as I didn't watch it. The fact that it appears to have failed says enough though. Clearly it didn't get Saturday nights.

What has Primeval got that these other shows haven't? I'll tell you. It mixes the every day with the fantastic. It has a different setting every week. It has a strong sense of humour. It doesn't take itself too seriously. Remind you of anything else?

But what this post is really about though is this; There are massive opportunities for people who do get it to create fresh, exciting family drama for Saturday nights. Just thinking of BBC1 and ITV there are 104 potential slots per year. At present only a fraction are occupied. The powers that be may not know this yet but if they get enough fresh, exciting ideas for family drama from talented new writers maybe they'll look at one and say, 'Hey, the eight million or so people who watch Doctor Who every Saturday night would watch this!"

Whatever you do don't tell any other writers though or they'll all be at it. Must dash, I've a family drama script to finish. You'd love it, it's period set...