BBC and Directors UK announce the third year of the Continuing Drama Directors’ Training Scheme

Following the success of this collaboration in 2015 and 2016, this year will see nine drama directors mentored on some of BBC Studios’ continuing drama series. In previous years this has included Doctors, EastEnders, River City, Holby City and Casualty.

As part of their training, each director will observe and participate in the entire production process of an episode of a show, from pre to post production, and will ultimately take the helm for one full episode to gain a directing credit. The scheme also offers the possibility of employment after training, as there is an ambition for the series to hire directors within nine months for a full directorial commission if the director has shown that they can meet the standards required.

The award-winning day time series, Doctors will be the first series to take submissions for the scheme. Applications will open on Monday 18 September and the deadline is October 16 2017.

The scheme is inviting applications from directors who have a genuine interest in Doctors and are passionate about developing their skills in continuing drama. Candidates are expected to demonstrate a solid knowledge of the drama, and it is open to anyone who meets the requirements of the scheme.

The selection panel will include Anne Edyvean, Head of BBC Writersroom; Simon Nelson, Development Producer, BBC Writersroom; and a team of experienced continuing drama TV directors along with BBC Executive Producers from Doctors.

The Continuing Drama New Directors’ Training Scheme is funded by BBC Drama and Directors UK and is run by BBC Writersroom. Applications from BAME and female directors are encouraged as the industry recognises that both are currently under-represented within film and TV directing generally.

Applications for other continuing drama series in the scheme will be rolled out in 2018.

More information about the scheme, full requirements and application details are available at the BBC website. Deadline for applications is October 16 2017.

The BBC Drama and Directors UK Continuing Drama Directors’ Training Scheme launched in 2015, since then 21 directors have been selected to take part in the scheme across a number of BBC continuing drama programmes, including Eastenders, Doctors, River City, Holby City & Casualty. Many directors who have taken part in the scheme have gone on to work on the series.

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