Voices

The writers who are part of our Voices development group are identified mainly via our annual Open Call opportunity. They take part in an intensive programme over six months offering an insight into how the television industry works and featuring expert masterclasses, craft sessions, roundtables and discussions, providing participants with the core tools and knowledge to write for TV.

From 2023 we run six Voices sub-groups from the writers' local hubs - Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, North & Midlands, London, South. The development programme combines sessions with a local hub and pan-UK sessions which bring all the Voices together from across the UK. Local sessions may be run in person at one of the BBC's offices, while pan-UK sessions take place via video-conferencing.

Our Voices are encouraged to apply the learning to define and develop a new original series idea and work closely with the BBC Writers team to develop a professional series outline document (in which they retain all rights). Following the conclusion of the group they can choose whether to use this as the basis of an original spec 'calling card' script to take out to the industry and/or to submit to our next Open Call submission window, with the aim of gaining a place in our Scripted group. 

Latest News

Across the week of 30th June to 4th July we announced the names of the writers who took part in Voices 2025.

Our Voices make up a talented cohort of 70 emerging writers working with the BBC Writers team out of our six UK-wide hubs. The writers spent their six months immersed in an intensive programme designed to elevate their craft and connect them with the industry.

From January to June, the Voices writers engaged in workshops, masterclasses with acclaimed writers like Daragh Carville (The Bay), AA Dhand (Virdee), Tony Schumacher (The Responder) and Daniel Lawrence Taylor (Boarders), and gained valuable insights from agents, producers, BBC Drama Commissioning, Climate Spring, and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.

Throughout the programme, each writer developed a brand-new series idea to outline stage, supported editorially by the BBC Writers team. The energy, originality, and ambition they’ve brought to their work has been nothing short of inspiring.

It’s been a privilege to collaborate with these future series creators. We can’t wait to see where their stories go next, and we’re delighted to introduce them to you here. Please do take a moment to dive into their bios and get to know these exciting new Voices."

For further details on any of the Voices 25 writers, please feel free to contact the BBC Writers team at [email protected]

The 2026 Voices cohort will be selected during autumn 2025 and begin their programme at the end of the year. We'll announce their names in summer 2026.

Jess Loveland, Head of New Writing, BBC Writers & Drama Commissioning

Belfast Hub

London

Midlands and North of England

Scotland

South of England

Wales

Script Editing Support

Each year selected Voices writers gain script-editing support from trainee script editors via a collaboration with the National Film and Television School (NFTS) with the aim of developing their Voices projects to at least first draft script stage.

Twenty Voices writers were supported in 2022, fifteen in 2023, seventeen in 2024 and sixteen in 2025.

Hear from four of the Voices writers about their experience working with a Script Editor

Irshad Ashraf from Voices 2024 sums up his experience, including working with a Script Editor via the NFTS

Would you like to be part of a future Voices group?

The writers who are invited to take part in the Voices group are identified via our annual Open Call script submission opportunity. If you wish to be considered as part of a future Voices group you must first submit a script via our Open Call.

Find out full details of our Open Call opportunity

Contact us

If you have any questions about Voices please do not hesitate to contact us via email: