I for one know that my writing has improved immeasurably, I’ve had a wholly unique and rewarding experience that no one can take away from me and I’ve made friends whom I will champion for the rest of my career.
Our aim is to work with and develop writers at all stages of their careers towards BBC broadcast. Our main development schemes for early career writers are Scripted, which runs for 12 months and our six Voices groups which run for six months from our hubs across the UK. The writers in these groups are identified via our Open Call opportunity and from recommendation and talent scouting.
Our new 8-week location-specific Write Across programme has its own dedicated application window. Up to 2024, Write Across has been rolled out in Liverpool and Birmingham and the Black Country.
Our Writers' Access Group for deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent writers runs for 18 months and has its own application window, which is open every 2 years.
We also run Pilot which offers mentoring and a script commission with BBC Studios or an independent production company, allowing more experienced writers the chance to develop their first original authored script for television. Again, Pilot has its own specific application window, which is open every 2 years.
In addition we run targeted opportunities for shows like CBBC's Class Dismissed, The Break on BBC Three, Fright Shorts in Northern Ireland, or specials, for example a series of 6 monologues celebrating the power of music for BBC Music Day.
Previous Groups
Residential Workshops
Pre-2019 we ran writer development residentials from our bases in London, Salford, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast.
These residentials were usually initiated by a BBC Commissioning or Production department approaching us and asking us to facilitate the development of ideas and pitches for a genre or strand, for example a potential new returning Radio Drama series. The writers who were invited were writers who we had already identified through our work or who were recommended by the team we were collaborating with on the residential.
Find out more about some of our past residentials from writers who took part below.
More about our Residentials
Writing Narrative Radio Comedy
In summer 2013 Paula Hines joined a group of nine female comedy writers to develop and pitch new radio comedy ideas. The residential also included craft sessions from visiting writers, producers and execs.
Pitching ideas for a Radio Drama
Nicholas McInerny describes a 2014 residential workshop in the Kent countryside with the aim of developing and pitching a returnable Radio 4 Series
Developing and pitching ideas to Drama North
Leo Richardson was invited to attend a BBC Writers residential at a new venue in Lancashire in autumn 2015. He explains what happened next.
Unloching funny women
This November 2016 Scottish residential included advice from guest speaker, Fleabag writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
CBBC Writers' Retreat
This CBBC Drama residential took place in the beautiful surroundings of Riber Hall in May 2017. Marissa Lestrade describes what happened and her experiences of developing original children's series ideas over three days.
Children's Digital Residential
Raisah Ahmed is a screenwriter and director who came on our October 2017 residential by the shores of Loch Long to develop ideas for the BBC's updated 'Stay Safe' project - which promotes online safety for kids in a digital world.
CBeebies Residential
In November 2018 we took a group of eight writers off to the beautiful Derbyshire countryside for a residential with the focus on writing for the CBeebies pre-school audience. Joanne Lau reports back...
Shows & Writers
Original shows that have come through our work developing, supporting and promoting writers include:
- TV dramas: Lost Boys and Fairies, The Break, The Fades (BAFTA winning) , In the Flesh, 32 Brinkburn Street, From Darkness
- TV comedies: The Smoking Room (BAFTA winning), Eyes Down, I’m With Stupid, The Visit, Boy Meets Girl
- CBBC dramas: MI High, Spirit Warriors, Wolfblood, Worst Year of My Life ... Again!
- Radio Drama series: Pilgrim, On Mardle Fen, Have Your Cake, HighLites, Atching Tan
- Radio Comedy series: Pick Ups, Boyle’s Law, In and Out of the Kitchen, Clayton Grange
- Films Wish 143 (Oscar nominated), Turning (BAFTA nominated)
Writers have also gone to write for a huge range of existing shows and strands across the BBC and other broadcasters.
Developing relationships
BBC Writers' job is to find, and develop a relationship with talented writers
Our success is gauged not only by writers going on to be commissioned and produced, but also by the strength of our continuing relationship with them. Here are a handful of the writers who we developed in our early days, and with whom we continue to have a strong relationship.
Jack Thorne
Jack Thorne first came to the BBC through our Sparks radio scheme and has written award-winning work for BBC Radio. He was introduced to BBC Drama, eventually leading to his original series The Fades on BBC Three. He has also written This is England '88, Glue, Don't Take My Baby, Kiri, National Treasure and adapted His Dark Materials for BBC One. He was on the writer committee for our TV Drama Writer's Festival in 2013.
Watch an interview with Jack Thorne
Find out more about Jack's work here
Sarah Phelps
Sarah Phelps came on our first Sparks radio drama scheme in 1999 and went on to write Afternoon, Friday and Woman's Hour plays for Radio 4, then 42 episodes of Westway on the World Service. Sarah also came on a CBBC Comedy Drama scheme and had an original idea commissioned. She then became a core writer for EastEnders. Her original First World War drama The Crimson Field was broadcast on BBC One in 2014. Recent successes include her adaptations of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy and Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, both for BBC One.
Find out more about Sarah's work here.
Alice Nutter
Alice Nutter - previously singer in the band Chumbawamba - was first developed through our partnership with West Yorkshire Playhouse. She wrote for BBC Radio, has since written on numerous TV dramas for the BBC and was on the writer committee for our TV Drama Writer's Festival.
Find out more about Alice's work here.
Brian Dooley
Brian Dooley sent in his sitcom The Smoking Room, which ran for two series on BBC THREE and won Brian a BAFTA. He also came on our Comedy-Drama scheme for established writers and has since written for Being Human.
Find out more about Brian's work here.
