Over Spring 2018 BBC Writersroom Wales placed Welsh Writer Huw Davies with The Comedy Unit on their production, Tourist Trap.
Tourist Trap is a brand new mockumentary comedy for BBC One Wales starring Sally Phillips as the head of Wow Wales, the Tourism Agency for Wales.
With the full 6 part series now available on iPlayer, we caught up with Huw to find out more about the experience, what he learnt and any top tips he can share.
Caught In The Tourist Trap
How did I, Huw Davies, a disappointing educationalist get to contribute to a comedy show starring Sally Phillips?
It's a long story. It started in 2008 when I started writing Scrambled, my 'daft book for daft boys'. Thanks to the lovely Firefly Press in Cardiff it was published in 2016. I'd written a feature film adaptation which I submitted to the BBC Writersroom last January, and after an interview in London I became part of the BBC Wales Welsh Voices group. Led by the exceptional Helen Perry, Welsh Voices is like a literary Dirty Dozen for the meow meow generation, making the world a better place by discussing narrative structure, eating biscuits and getting into fights with commissioners from Radio 4. And eating biscuits.
Through the group I was able to collaborate with the writer of the BAFTA Cymru winning film The Library Suicides, Fflur Dafydd. Apart from introducing me to lime flavoured jaffa cakes, she encouraged me to redraft ideas that weren’t quite working (or as they say in the media, if my jokes weren't 'licking the dartboard').
Through this, Helen asked if I'd like to be involved with The Tourist Trap, a show that BBC Wales were developing. I was vetted via the medium of Skype by Glasgow-based producers Rab Christie and Gavin Smith from The Comedy Unit, and I was fortunate enough to be invited to visit the company's base in Scotland before production moved to Wales. It was a great opportunity to read the latest version of Sian Harries, Tudur Owen and Gareth Gwynn's (very funny) material, to start writing my own ideas, and to try haggis flavoured crisps (lush).
It is said that the world of comedy is tough - standing before a room full of people, most of whom aren't listening, whilst others heckle loudly and throw crisps and bottles. Luckily I'm a teacher so I've been dealing with this on a daily basis for the last twenty years. So far though, everyone I've encountered has been great. I met producer Nick Goding and director Keri Collins, and it was interesting talking about the logistics of filming. The cost per laugh ratio is very important, which may explain why they ditched my piece featuring a space shuttle landing in Abercynon.
The main bit of advice I’d give to someone embarking on a similar process is to enjoy the process of writing to order, which is something I’d never done before. One of the briefs was to write something for props that might be lying around in an office. I didn’t think I was getting anywhere with it to start with, but once I’d started trying out a few ideas things fell into place and I had material I was happy with.
I got a bit excited being on set and seeing a shooting schedule which featured my idea about one of Barack Obama's socks. I'll be landed if any of my ideas reach the small screen, but even if they don't it's been an excellent experience, and I'm really grateful to BBC Writersroom, Welsh Voices and The Comedy Unit for giving me the opportunity. Diolch yn fawr.
Watch on Tuesday nights on BBC One Wales or watch the whole series now on BBC iPlayer
