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Directing the 2nd Unit for BBC One's Press by Mike Bartlett

2018-09-05T10:00:00+00:00

So you’re standing on The Strand with Ben Chaplin surrounded by gawping pedestrians and you’re running out of time. You need to shoot your scene quickly but precisely – you’ve got Ben for the next hour before he’s needed elsewhere – so you tell him exactly what you need, the camera goes up on sticks, the team lines up the shot and your first AD shouts “action”. Ben does the scene flawlessly – but a pedestrian walks into shot. You call “cut”. You need to go again.

This is the “second unit”, a splinter crew from the main production team, and over the course of several months you’ll be working with actors like Ben, Charlotte Riley and Paapa Essiedu on moments, images and scenes that fit into the tapestry of BBC One’s Press, a flagship production about the modern media written by the estimable Mike Bartlett. You’ll also be shadowing superstar director Tom Vaughan throughout the production as he effortlessly brings Mike’s words to life through a thousand decisions a day, executed quickly and confidently. The last time Mike and Tom worked together they made Doctor Foster, a TV phenomenon. The pressure, it’s fair to say, is pretty high.

The scene is shot, high fives all round. Ben smiles, tells you he likes your hat and heads back to the main unit. Later, you’ll find yourself in an industrial estate after dark, directing a fleet of articulated trucks emblazoned with the logo of “The Herald”, one of the show’s fictional newspapers, as they make their way into the night. It’s like a moment from a Michael Bay film – thundering vehicles barreling past camera – and you realise you need more light for your overhead shot, filmed from a nearby hill. The lighting team springs into gear, runs downhill to set up more lights. Your AD shouts into a radio, and the lorries creep forward. One of the lorries is too slow off the mark – the convoy doesn’t look slick enough – so you call cut. You need to go again.

Over months you work on many moments like these. Lowloaders and dollies, swinging to a fifty. While Tom works tirelessly on scenes with the cast, you find yourself on an airstrip in the middle of nowhere directing a stunt for a pivotal moment in episode one with a coordinator who staged the fight scenes in the Star Wars movies. The stunt isn’t looking quite right – the police car needs to go faster. “Let’s go again” you say, and you pinch yourself, because it isn’t every day you’re working with people who trained Darth Maul how to swing a lightsaber and telling them you need another take. But then you remember you’re here for a reason – in this era of peak TV, there aren’t enough directors with the experience required to look after shows of this budget and scale. And so Directors UK and Skillset have set up a competitive scheme to give up-and-coming directors the experience of “high end” shows to help push their careers forward. You applied, interviewed, made the cut. You need to get the moment right. And so you go again.

That’s one reason you’re here. But the real reason everyone’s shivering on a remote airstrip at 9pm – is the excellence of the material. Press is an exhilarating, insightful piece of writing – whip-smart characters arguing about the challenges of journalism in an era of fake news, and the pressure to do the right thing in a world which values clickbait over commentary and entertainment over nuance – and everybody involved, from fearless producer Paul Gilbert and tireless line producer Kirsten Eller, rockstar production designer Paul Cross and unflappable First AD Kristian Dench to the runners Alicia and Emily hushing quiet in the wings of 3 Mills Studios, is working their hardest to bring Mike Bartlett’s words to life with the diligence, focus and attention to detail that his script demands.

When Press airs on BBC One on Thursday 6 September at 9pm I hope people enjoy the show for the nuance of Ben Chaplin and Charlotte Riley’s excellent performances, the sparkle of Mike Bartlett’s writing and the verve of Tom Vaughan’s powerhouse directing. But I also hope they’ll sit through the credits at the end and read every name – it’s a roll call of excellence. So many talented people giving their utmost for six hours of evening entertainment.

As for me? Fingers crossed, I’ll be directing my own high end show soon. Cut. Print. Let’s go again.

Nimer Rashed is a Director

Me, Mental Health & Daytime Drama Doctors

2018-05-04T13:20:00+00:00

Nasreen Ahmed, Script Editor - BBC Doctors introduces the forthcoming week of mental health themed episodes.

Doctors has always been proud to tackle difficult subjects, although naturally this can be a little challenging within the remit of daytime television and the expectations of the audience in terms of what is acceptable to view during the day. But over the last couple of years we have successfully tackled child grooming, homelessness and gang culture to name a few – all done tastefully for a daytime audience. We cover a wide range of issues – both medical and non-medical through our 'story of the day’ element within each episode. Doctors strives to explore real-life scenarios that people can relate to - situations that they may come across in their own day-to-day lives, offering advice and guidance on how to reach out for help.

Talking about mental health is something we have always done well at Doctors but this is the first time we have devoted a set of six consecutive episodes to air around Mental Health Awareness Week in May. A combination of hard-hitting stories aim to reflect many aspects of mental health and the impact on sufferers and their loved ones. We touch upon a number of things such as the strain mental health call outs can put on the emergency services as well as introducing an array of characters who each have their own story to tell. In addition, there are some ongoing strands including one about a receptionist doing voluntary work at an Old People’s Home, another about a much-loved GP experiencing severe anxiety and one showing a character struggling with his mother’s dementia. There is a special outreach bus that goes out at night to assist vulnerable people on the streets. And we feature a young man in foster care who may possibly be an undiagnosed case of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

This is a subject that is very close to my own heart. I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder a few years ago giving me first-hand experience of how difficult it can be to manage the situation and the importance of reaching out for support – both personal and professional. Inspired partly by my own journey, I wanted to storyline a strong set of episodes with our regular characters at the heart of them. I was particularly invested in the many stigmas about mental health within ethnic minorities. As a Muslim and someone who grew up within the wider Asian community, I have first-hand knowledge of how difficult it can be to encourage people to open up about mental health issues and reach out for the right support. So, one of our stories is about a young Asian man who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Through this character we explore the importance of reaching out for help and encouraging others to do the same. We highlight that this man and his condition is not ‘a problem’. It is more about looking at the wider community/family and their feelings.

We certainly aren’t intending to conquer all the myths and concerns around mental health by the end of our special week but if we can use our regular characters and our ‘world’ to help viewers understand a little better and reach out for any support that is out there and needed – then we will have achieved what we set out to do. In terms of future challenging stories on Doctors – we will continue to do what we have always done and tackle subjects of interest as and when the opportunity presents itself.

Special mental health episodes of Doctors will air on BBC One at 1.45pm from the 8-15 May 2018

Nasreen Ahmed is Script Editor - BBC Doctors

Visit the Doctors website all next week to see new short films featuring the cast related to mental health:

Monday 7th May: Mental health problems by Suli Breaks (spoken word artist) performed by Ashley Rice
Tuesday 8th May: Just Because by Adam Stones (a local poet to Birmingham) performed by Ashley Rice
Wednesday 9th May: Waving not Drowning by Stevie Smith – read by Chris Walker
Thursday 10th May: An extract from Boy with a Top Knot by Sathnam Sanghera – read by Adrian Lewis Morgan
Friday 11th May: The Stress Bucket – a demonstration of how everyone can suffer from stress and breakdowns – by Sarah Moyle as Valerie
Monday 14th May It was Not Death by Emily Dickinson – read by Elisabeth Dermot Walsh
Tuesday 15th May Glitter – Laura Rollins (a poem written by an anxiety sufferer supplied through the charity Mind)

BBC One's Loves, Lies & Records in Leeds

2017-11-03T15:24:43+00:00

Ashley Jensen, Kenny Doughty and Rochenda Sandall (credit: credit Bob Peters)

On Wednesday night (1 November) at the Everyman cinema in Leeds, a full-house was treated to a preview of Love, Lies & Records, the new drama from BAFTA award-winning writer Kay Mellor.

Coming to BBC One on Thursday 16 November at 9pm, Love, Lies & Records stars Ashley Jensen as registrar Kate Dickenson who tries to juggle her personal life with the daily dramas of births, marriages and deaths and the impact they have on her. It also stars Adrian Bower, Kenny Doughty, Rebecca Front, Mark Stanley and Rochenda Sandall.

On Wednesday (1 November), excited audience members queued outside the Everyman before settling in to enjoy a preview of episode one. The audience included a number of local registrars who helped Kay and the cast with their research for the drama, which was set and shot in and around Leeds.

Tim Smith, Acting Head of Local and Regional programming for Yorkshire introduces the screening

Following the screening, BBC Radio 5 live presenter Anna Foster hosted a Q&A with Kay Mellor, Ashley Jensen, Adrian Bower, Mark Stanley, Rochenda Sandall and Kenny Doughty. During the panel session, Kay revealed her inspiration for the series, which came when she went to register the death of her mother. To research the series, Kay visited a number of register offices around the north of England, with many of the stories in the series being inspired by tales she heard during her research.

Ashley Jensen told the audience that despite her character being on screen so much, meaning she had many lines to learn, she found it quite easy because of the quality of Kay’s writing. She said: “Kay writes the way people speak, it’s so natural.”

Kay also discussed her writing methods and offered sage advice: “Never give up if you have a problem with what you’re writing, that’s how you end up with writer’s block. You must keep going.”

The audience gave Kay and the cast a rapturous applause, praising the opening episode and looking forward to seeing more.

Love, Lies & Records starts on BBC One on Thursday 16 November at 9pm

Read more on the Media Centre
Catch up with Kay Mellor’s Desert Island Discs

BBC One's The A Word screening in Kendal

2017-10-27T14:30:00+00:00

Last night (Thursday 27 October) BBC North hosted a preview screening of the first episode of series two of The A Word at Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal. Following the preview Mike Zeller, breakfast presenter from BBC Radio Cumbria hosted a Q&A with creator and writer Peter Bowker, Executive producer Marcus Wilson and actress Pooky Quesnel.

The Lake District location for the preview was chosen as the series was filmed across Cumbria. The screening played out to a full house, and excited fans of the show queued from 6pm to ensure their place in the audience.

In the first series of The A Word the Hughes family's youngest son is diagnosed with autism. They realise that if their son is ever going to communicate, they have to learn how to communicate themselves. It stars Christopher Eccleston, Mollie Wright, Morven Christie and Lee Ingleby, with Pooky Quesnel, Greg McHugh and Vinette Robinson.

At the Q and A after last night’s screening there was an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the audience who praised the show for its subject matter and portrayal of autism.

Writer/creator Peter Bowker revealed that this new series is set two years on from series one. He explained that he chose the Lakes as the setting for the drama because he wanted a beautiful landscape but also somewhere with risk. The family live in paradise but their autistic child is vulnerable. Nevertheless, Peter maintained that humour is important to the programme saying: “people are funny when their backs are against the wall”.

In writing series two, Peter said he wanted to avoid an 'autism problem of the week' format, so has expanded the story much more into the wider family.

The outside of the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal last night, lit up with the BBC blocks

Executive producer Marcus Wilson said they originally decided not to cast a child with autism because it would be unfair to ask someone on the spectrum to be in a fake world when they're so young. He went on to say “the BBC were brave to put a show about disability out at 9pm”.

Actress Pooky Quesnel revealed that she and co-star Christopher Ecclestone were at sixth form college together, but that the production team didn't know this and when they were cast opposite each other, Chris thought it was a set up.

Peter also said he was pleased the show has opened up tough subjects to conversation and that he thought it was a bold decision by the BBC to commission it.

Series two of The A Word starts on BBC One on Thursday 7 November at 9pm.

BBC Writersroom TV Drama Writers' Festival 2017

2017-06-09T15:00:00+00:00

Danny Brocklehurst in conversation with Charlotte Moore

The joyous annual event that is the BBC Writersroom TV Drama Writers' Festival took place on Thursday 8 June 2017 at Stratford Circus in East London. I had the pleasure of attending again this year, along with many other writers - the only criteria being they have to have a television broadcast credit.

The mood of these festivals is always upbeat which surprised me the first time I went to one: surely these writers are in competition with one another for a small amount of working opportunities? Well there’s no sense of that at all. This year there were lots of smiling faces, and I overheard more than one person say that this was 'my favourite writers' event and that there was ‘nothing else like it’. That high profile established writers generously give up their time to talk to emerging writers in an open and honest way is certainly a lovely thing.

As ever, this blog is a round-up of the sessions I attended – and the fact the good folk at the Writersroom lay on such a vast array of session is a double-edged sword in that I can’t be in two places at once. As ever, Chatham House Rules apply as the event is intended to be a safe space for writers to share thoughts, so particular comments may not be attributed to specific people.

The day kicked off with a welcome to this the 7th annual BBC Writersroom TV Writers’ Festival from Anne Edyvean the Head of the BBC Writersroom. She also highlighted the recent festivals in Scotland and Wales to mark the establishment of BBC Writersroom hubs in those regions. Then she handed over to writer Danny Brocklehurst who was chatting to Charlotte Moore, Director, BBC Content who explained she oversees all genres for TV and iPlayer.

The question of what the BBC was looking for in new writing terms came up. Moore asserted that: “It’s not about my particular taste… there’s an extraordinary range across the networks, that’s the joy of the BBC”. She went on to say: “We want a diversity of the broadest voices in the truest sense” and reassured writers that “as long as it’s good it isn’t even about viewing figures.”

For the next session I was torn between ‘Meet the Commissioners’ and ‘Children’s Drama: Writing for drama’s most changeable audience'. I eventually opted for the latter.

Sarah Muller the Head of Children's at Channel 5 chaired a panel that featured Nina Hahn from Nickelodeon, Hannah Rodger from Disney and writers Mark Oswin and Emma Reeves. The panel all agreed that there is no difference between adult and children’s drama – the requirements are the same in both for high quality and values. Then the question was raised: ‘What sort of stories can be told in Children’s drama?’ It was agreed that nothing’s really off limits, but there should be hope at the end of any story.

The subject of research came up again and again with would-be Children’s writers being encouraged to research their audience carefully and also the network they are approaching as each one has its own tone. It was also agreed that a driving storyline is vital, as is a watertight structure and comedic elements.

Panelists agreed that writing for Children’s is "not a good way to get into writing adult telly, it’s a good way to get into writing for Children’s" – it shouldn’t be a means to an end. But both writers said they never felt restricted or limited in this genre and that they could do everything they would in an adult drama (bar sex and violence) and that it was very satisfying work and a kind, nurturing environment for writers. That said, the panel ended with a warning – "children will turn off quicker than any other audience" so you’ll always get an honest response to your work.

Another tough decision followed: the 'Daytime Drama' or 'Comedy Drama' session? I chose Daytime and was delighted to see an all-female panel. The chair was producer Ceri Meyrick who was joined by writers Rachel Flowerday (The Moonstone), Jude Tindall (Father Brown), Sally Abbott (The Coroner) and Collette Kane (Moving On).

A conversation about the under-the-radar nature of Daytime drama ensued, with panelists asserting that you can do more in that ‘while the kids are at school’ slot than you might think. The audience were painted a picture of a simpler commissioning process thanks to a smaller chain of command. Although the budgets are smaller one panelist asserted that "it’s valuable having limitations" and all agreed that with less money you have to rely more on scripts being excellent so it is a very creative environment for writers. Daytime slots also free writers from an hour-long slot, but they said a 45-minute programme time offers its own challenges, demanding rigourous and tight pieces of storytelling.

Three spectacular panels were scheduled next making my decision making even more impossible: The choice was between: ‘How to pitch your show!’, ‘Continuing Drama’ and ‘Changing how our industry looks’. I reasoned that as I’d been to a talk on writing for medical drama a couple of years ago and blogged about it I could justify not going to that one, and the whole topic of last year’s festival was Unheard voices, so I went for ‘How to pitch your show!’

Writer Toby Whithouse chaired the session with writers Jed Mercurio and Danny Brocklehurst and Kudos’ Head of Development Sarah Stack. All agreed the key to a good verbal pitch is knowing what you want to say and saying it in a concise manner. But all warned that saying an idea out loud can expose an its weaknesses, so practice is the key – that way you should get a sense where you are being vague or over-complicating things. They said if you can sum up your show in three sentences then you know it’s a strong pitch.

One panelist thought that a big problem for writers starting out is the fact that they are ‘pitching by proxy’ – so to a producer who would in turn pitch on their behalf to the decision-maker. That way an idea could be compromised. Hence the need for a clear, concise, three sentence pitch that is easy to get a handle on. The question of whether comparisons to other shows should be made in a pitch was raised. The panel agreed this can be useful to give a sense of tone, which is such an intangible thing. But the downfall is that you could be asked how your show is different from any shows you reference. The advice? Reference other art forms like novels and films instead of other telly shows.

After your pitch meeting you should supply a short pitch document with a fuller sense of what you’ve talked about. Panelists urged writers to avoid the tendency to make this too long. And when asked whether pictures could be included they agreed if it was helpful in getting a sense of the show then it would be fine but not to consider this too much – better to concentrate on the words.

A question was asked about how many pitches to have ready in case your main one falls flat. Not too many seemed the consensus – perhaps one but if you have too many it might look like you aren’t sure about which projects you are most interested in.

Toby’s final piece of advice was to go into any meeting prepared – even if you think it’s an informal chat.

My last session choice was ‘Film: So you want to write a feature?’ where BBC Writersroom’s Rachelle Constant talked to BBC Films’ Beth Pattinson. Beth introduced BBC Films as the film-making arm of the BBC – all the films go to the cinema first before later making their way to a BBC channel. Making 8-10 features a year the very small team develops up to 70 a year. They don’t fully finance any one film but work in collaboration with other companies to get films made. They have a remit to support the British Film industry. Rose Garnett has recently joined as the new head of BBC Films after the departure of Christine Langham.

Projects should be submitted by agents or producers, and sent to the Development Coordinator in the first instance. Then submissions are read, discussed internally and people can expect a response in a couple of months. Ideally the form of the approach will be a script, and writers were warned that very few projects are taken on by the small team, so many great projects are rejected. They always have to ask the question ‘will audiences go out to see this film at the cinema?’ As that is the unique challenge of film. Beth said BBC Films tries to promote British filmmakers and often the team will have a first time director or writer, but that person will always have a track-record in another medium.

In terms of themes being sought, a British focus seems key, and a lot of this is about the filmmakers and what they want to say. In addition, contemporary material is of interest and occasionally the team produce children’s films.

The final session was the Keynote: ‘The Scandi Invasion’ with Tony Wood from Buccaneer Media talking to writer and creator of The Bridge and Marcella Hans Rosenfeldt.

It was agreed that key elements of Scandi Drama are violence and/ or a dark tone, though Hans said “I don’t even know what Scand Noir is,” claiming most shows from Scandinavia are labelled as such without any set criteria.

Hans started out in continuing drama in Sweden before working on dark crime dramas, perhaps a natural progression because, as Tony pointed out many Soap lines involve crime stories.

Hans talked about the way shows are written in Sweden – he didn’t find too many differences between the Swedish and the British process. For The Bridge he did not have a writers' room in the American sense but all the writers who would be writing on the show were involved in a very collaborative and detailed storylining process at the show’s inception. Writers penned three drafts of an episode and then Hans took over honing all the scripts across the series.

How did this translate when working in England on Marcella? Tony who was Hans’ producer on the project said the water-tight plotting led to extremely compelling scripts. Tony also noticed there were less words on the pages of Hans’ scripts than a traditional English one, and felt this elicited heighted, engaging performances on-screen.

Hans talked again and again about how he aimed to make scripts as readable as possible. For him this means less discursive staging directions on the page and getting straight to the tightly-plotting story. This is surely good advice for any writer and a good note to end the festival on.

As I couldn’t get to everything so please do feel free to share your experiences of particular sessions in the comment section below.

You can find out more about BBC Writersroom at the website.

Behind the scenes at the NTAs

2017-01-31T09:35:03+00:00

On Wednesday 25 January the National Television Awards 2017, which are voted for by the public, were presented at a ceremony at the O2 in Greenwich. BBC One's Call The Midwife won the award for Best Period Drama, beating stiff competition from Poldark, Victoria, Peaky Blinders and Stranger Things. Actor Jack Ashton who plays Tom Hereward in Call The Midwife gives us an insight into what it is like to accept an NTA and what happens afterwards.

Jack grips the award for Best Period Drama at the NTAs 2017, surrounded by cast and crew

Well, what a surreal night it was. I remember after I received my invite, speaking to a friend on the phone about going and them saying “just be prepared, it’s a long one, and theres no booze until after!’

Firstly, nothing prepares you for the gladiatorial set up at the O2, it’s a vast place but it’s grandeur is enhanced by the way they seat the ticket buying public around the outside (and up into the gods) and the nominees/celebs/production companies on the ground in the middle. Walking in you are hit with a wall of noise and there are people it seems everywhere including directly above your head.

Anyway, we were sat at the very front (a good sign I thought until I spotted all others in our category also on the same row) which meant we had great seats to watch Dermot and Sir Tom absolutely smash the opening number.

And so onto our win! It genuinely was surprising to win our category against such stiff and popular competition. I was clearly that surprised that I went into common sense rejection mode and decided as I was sat nearest the stage i’d get on up there and not hang around, which meant when I actually arrived at the top of the stairs I had to change direction as I certainly wasn’t going to accept the award and do the speech! So I headed over to the safety of Dermot O’leary and shook his hand instead.

This external content is available at its source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9q609z3_3g&app=desktop

After your win you are ushered into the vortex of the O2’s tunnels and you go from room to room, from mini stage to mini stage, to talk to various press about the show and how you feel about your award, but there’s now booze! Which obviously helps you to find more inventive ways of answering the same question over and over again.

We also bumped into the legend that is Mary Berry, and she’s a fan of the show! Which means everything. What a lovely lady she is. I got a selfie of course.

Jack's selfie with Mary Berry who had just been crowned Best TV Judge at the NTAs 2017

The media circus takes so long that you don’t really get a chance to go back into the awards which is a shame, but they have these brilliant students who are all dressed to impress and they sit in your vacant seats so the ceremony always looks well attended.

Anyway at some point the awards end and the now fairly thirsty crowd gets to go bonkers on the dance floor surrounded by free food and refreshment, and this is the part where stories are made,

Thank you to everyone who voted for us so we could enjoy a memorable night and we are very proud that Call the Midwife got some of the Kudos it richly deserves.

Jack Ashton is an actor and plays Tom Hereward in Call The Midwife.

Series 6 of Call The Midwife is broadcast on Sundays on BBC One and availbale to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Listen to Jack Ashton speaking to Lucy Tegg about his Bristolian roots on BBC Radio Bristol.
Other BBC wins at the National Television Awards 2017:

Best Drama - Casualty

Serial Drama Performance - Lacey Turner, Eastenders

Best Comedy - Mrs Brown's Boys

Best TV Judge - Mary Berry, Great British Bake Off

Special Recognition Award - Graham Norton

Best Drama Performance - Sarah Lancashire, Happy Valley

Best Talent Show - Strictly Come Dancing

BBC Writersroom launches in Scotland

2017-01-20T11:51:23+00:00

Angela Galvin, Development Producer for BBC Writersroom Scotland

Today BBC Writersroom officially launches their BBC Scotland office. Development Producer Angela Galvin explains why this is great news for Scotland-based writers and a few of the upcoming plans and events.

The 20th of January 2017 is a date that has been playing on loop in my mind for many months. And no, it’s not because a certain reality star becomes the 45th US President on that day but because of something much closer to home. It’s the day BBC Writersroom Scotland launches.

Now, I know our small event won’t compare to the all singing…well maybe not singing …all dancing shindig happening across the sea but I think it is a BIG deal. Why? Well, I have to come clean and admit I have a vested interest. I’m the Development Producer tasked with the exciting job of setting up the new Scottish base for the BBC Writersroom, alongside my colleague Audrey McFadden, the Development Co-ordinator for Scotland. But it should be even more important to any writer or person working in the creative industries across Scotland. Again, why?

Well if you are reading this blog you know how brilliant the BBC Writersroom is. On our website we have scripts, blogs, vlogs, tips and tricks of the trade - everything you need to help you get down to the difficult task of writing when a blank page is giving you a hard stare. Writersroom Scotland’s aim is also to champion new and experienced writing talent. We want to support and develop writers so that they can go and create brilliant stories for the audience. And, it’s not a pipe dream. Look at the amazing TV, radio and digital content coming out of the UK today. Our programmes are winning awards right, left and centre, they are championed as the best there is and are sought after and replicated by broadcasters around the world. But, at the heart of many of these projects are UK writers. Writers that started writing just like you and that is where we come in.

Writersroom Scotland will feed into all the pan-UK Writersroom schemes but will also create bespoke opportunities for writers from or living within Scotland. The Continuing Drama Scheme will now include River City and will place several writers and directors at the heart of production. We will have talent searches including BBC Three’s The Break which will see series three shot at the River City Dumbarton site in winter 2017. We will have the annual Scottish Writers’ Festival in April 2017 which was attended by over 200 participants last year. It will have sessions from key writers working in TV and film and master-classes on developing and creating narrative content. There will be residential events for writers where they have the time and space to develop ideas alongside industry professionals and the Scottish writers group will have bi-monthly events and access to a writing space at BBC Scotland. I could go on and on but I’ve been given a word count.

Watch this space…

This blog originally appeared on the BBC Writersroom website, where, all next week they'll be featuring Scottish productions and scripts to celebrate the great work being done in Scotland and to highlight some of the opportunities for writers.

Making The Worst Witch for CBBC

2017-01-12T13:00:00+00:00

Marcus Wilson, executive producer of The Worst Witch, which is based on a series of books and starts this week on CBBC, shares the programme's story from page to screen.

Tell us who you are and what you do

I’m Marcus Wilson, executive producer of The Worst Witch. My job is to work on the editorial development and execution of the show, working with the fantastic production team, led by producer Lucy Martin, to develop scripts, cast the show and be involved in the post production.

What do you love about the books?

The books were written 40 years ago, yet you pick them up now and they are still as exciting to read as they were then. They’re timeless tales for children to read, focussing around friendship, school life and growing up, things that kids will always be able to relate to.

What resonated for you?

Jill [Murphy, author of the original series of books] draws the character of Mildred Hubble, the eponymous Worst Witch, so well that it instantly transports you back to ‘Big School’. She is skillful at uncovering buried emotions that took me back to those touchstones of childhood. When you present that to a new audience they read it and realise they can identify with it.

When you’re dramatizing something you love for television, how you do make sure you’re not making a programme which is your version of the book?

Good question! It’s a very personal book for Jill because she is basically telling the story of her school life (through the prism of Mildred Hubble’s adventures at Cackle’s Academy for Witches). What you have to do as a programme maker is take your response to it as a reader then distill the spirit of that experience. What did I love about reading these books? How can I share that with viewers? And how do I that in such a way that it suits a visual rather than a print medium? You’re having to identify the universal themes in the book and then find a way of bringing the story up to date. It’s about catching the heart and the spirit of it.

Are you seeking a consensus or is there a kind of alchemy going on?

I think it’s a bit of both. The books are the starting point. You never want to do anything that would run against the spirit of the book. But in the series for example we made a decision to take the viewer from the real world into the witching world – that’s why we start the series in the home of the central character, somewhere before the books begin. We thought that was really important that everyone understood how the two worlds sat side by side. That was a big change we made early on in order to maintain the accessibility for the audience. But there’s a reason these books have been a success for 40 years and, as a producer, you have to remember that you mess with that at your peril.

It’s billed as a family show. Why is that important?

We didn’t want to make a show that was aimed at a narrow audience, we want the programmes to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. But harking back to my own childhood, I think that if you’ve got a show which appeals to as many different people as possible then lots of people can take different things away from it. We want to create a show that can be enjoyed by this audience in years to come. So, there are storylines for the kids, there’s physical humour, there’s also a great adult cast playing their own storylines in response to the kids.

I think it’s really important we don’t lose sight of the primary audience – the kids. The moment you start talking down to the most intelligent part of the audience you’ve lost. Douglas Adams – writer of Hitchhiker’s Guide and script editor on Doctor Who at one point – once said, “You’ve got to make it simple enough for the adults and complicated enough for the kids.” I think that’s still the case now. My experience of things I’ve loved as a kid is the stuff I’ve revisited as an adult. We want to make a show that the family can share and enjoy together, that works on many levels to appeal to a wide audience, and stand up to repeat viewings as our audience grows up with the show.

Marcus Wilson is executive producer for CBBC's The Worst Witch

The Worst Witch starts on CBBC on Wednesday 11 January and is available to view on-demand on iPlayer

Recreating the Brontës' world in To Walk Invisible

2016-12-23T10:00:00+00:00

Sally Wainwright's new drama To Walk Invisible takes a new look at the Brontë family, three remarkable women who came from obscurity to produce some of the greatest novels in the English language. Charley Stone spoke to production designer Grant Montgomery to discover how the Brontës' world was recreated for the series.

Three strong Yorkshire women, living in a remote place with a brother who goes off the rails… sounds like the plot for a Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Last Tango In Halifax) drama, right? Correct: To Walk Invisible is her story of the Brontë sisters, and their rise from obscurity to become the renowned authors of works such as Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

I recognised Haworth parsonage, the Brontës’ home, right from the opening scenes, having visited there many years ago. But how do you get permission to shoot a film over several weeks in what is now a working museum? Well, you don’t. Instead, the interior of the house was recreated in a studio in Manchester, but the famous exterior and surroundings were built on a car park about half a mile outside Haworth – on a fake hill!

“The parsonage is on a hill, and it had a very particular gradient, so we had to build some of the hill on a huge scaffold rig,” explains production designer Grant Montgomery.

“There’s a shot at the start of the film, where Charlotte Brontë is going up to the house, and she’s going past the graveyard, and all the flagstones are wet – that’s all fake. It’s real flagstones that we put down, but it’s not a real location – it’s an MDF skin over a scaffold rig, with a house on top.”

Exterior set sketch

Exterior set build

Exterior set once built

Not just the house, but the graveyard and the side of the church, as it would have been during the Brontës' lives, together with another house and barn which no longer exist, were all created on the makeshift hill.

“The walls are plaster walls painted to look like stone – and you’ll notice there are no trees, because the trees were planted after the Brontës, when the Reverend Wade took over the parsonage after Patrick Brontë died. We shot down a bit of actual Haworth street, but we changed all the shops back to the exact shops that were there at the time.”

The shop fronts for To Walk Invisible

Grant explained how they had 12 weeks to research and prep everything before filming began, and how every detail had to match the house as it was when the Brontës were living there.

“Because it’s such an iconic literary shrine, you have to get all of that detail right. It was in Sally’s script, that it was the parsonage without the Wade extension, so you couldn’t really do it any other way but to actually go and build it from scratch. For example, the size of the hallway is wider in our film, because Charlotte made her bedroom and the parlour larger after the death of Anne.”

“Sally wanted that authenticity. We built the piano in the front room that Emily played, because it’s a very distinctive piano. We recreated all the books that were on the bookshelves, and all the pictures on the wall, and all the flagstones in the hallway were measured exactly from the original parsonage, and even the handrail.

“But Sally wanted it to feel like it was a house that people actually lived in, so there are scratches and bashes on the woodwork. And I wanted the audience to feel that it was real, as real as we could make it.”

Watching the film, I did feel totally immersed in the Brontës’ world, and it gave me new insight into their inspiration.

“Being at the set build when snow would come through, rain would come through – because you’re really high up, amongst the moors, which gives it an incredible look. And you began to understand why they wrote what they wrote, remembering descriptions of them all sitting in the parlour, when they could hear the wind howl outside the house, and you suddenly realise they were right at the top of Haworth, looking right out onto the moor. So why wouldn’t they be writing things like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre?”

Set panorama as the build is in progress

Set panorama when the set is complete

“Sally’s written a great script, I loved reading it. I kept re-reading it while I was making it and thoroughly enjoying it. It was a great journey to take. It was a privilege, I really mean that - it was an extraordinary piece of work to do. I’d always wanted to film a Brontë story - I think they’re an amazing family - and I kept thinking ‘I really want to meet them!’. I just hope everyone enjoys it.”

To Walk Invisible is on BBC One at 9pm on Thursday 29 December

Writer Barry Devlin on BBC One’s My Mother and Other Strangers

2016-11-08T10:23:34+00:00

A new BBC One Drama My Mother and Other Strangers, starts on Sunday 13 November. Set in Northern Ireland during World War Two, it follows the fortunes of the Coyne family and their neighbours as they struggle to maintain a normal life after a huge United States Army Air Force (USAAF) airfield, with 4,000 service men and women, lands in the middle of their rural parish. Writer Barry Devlin blogs about his background and how he came to create the drama.

I was born after the Second World War in the parish of Ardboe, a flat alluvial region on the western shore of Lough Neagh: the nearest high ground was Slieve Gallion 20 miles away: fishing for eels was the livelihood of 60% of the parish.

Ardboe was unremarkable except for two things. It had one of the finest Celtic crosses to be found anywhere in Ireland, dating from the ninth century and it had a vast airbase slap bang in its middle, dating from 1942.

USAAF Station 238 – Cluntoe airfield - was a Combat Crew Replacement Centre which trained B17 and B 24 pilots to fly in the cloudy skies over Europe. It was a big base with more than 4,000 servicemen stationed within its perimeter. The Americans left in late 1944 but the RAF took over and No 2 Flying Training Centre stayed there until 1955.

That’s the version of Cluntoe that I remember vividly. The way home from school ran along the perimeter of the airfield and the planes took off and landed directly overhead.

It was impossible not to be excited by how low they flew, so close that every panel and oil streak and stencil mark was visible, so close that the faces of the instructors and the (sometimes whey- faced) students could be clearly seen.

To this day I can still remember the fluttery burble of the Gypsy engines of the Prentices and the vivid rasp of the radial engined Harvards (the ones with the hole in the nose, as the local boys called them).

Even more unforgettable were the heart-stopping moments when the Harvard engines cut out at the top of a loop directly above and it seemed like they might never start… and then the reassuring chainsaw buzz as they headed off across the lough.

Those are my memories.

But there were other memories in play: the recollections of my mother and father and of the local men and women who vividly remembered the Yanks: even my oldest two sisters, Anne and Marie had been taken for a quick taxi in a bomber on VE day and sent home laden with goodies by the jubilant airmen.

It was these stories – and the sense of loss that permeated them at the way the parish had been divided and the community at its centre had been uprooted and moved - that started me thinking about a series set in the period when the airfield was at its busiest.

I imagined a family facing two ways: outwards, towards the airfield and its exciting but hugely intrusive new life: and inwards towards the parish which had remained the same in essence for hundreds of years.

My father owned a pub and I remember the RAF officers who came to drink there, sometimes bringing their wives: the locals drank there too and sometimes - packing bottles for my father - I caught a glimpse of the incongruity of two sets of lives in a juxtaposition desired by neither and often heightened by the ongoing matter of the Six Counties and Irish nationhood.

So I made Michael Coyne a publican/farmer. My mother was a teacher and so I made Rose Coyne a teacher. I knew the body language, as it were, of both occupations backwards, so writing their diurnal tasks was easy: second nature.

At the same time I took care to distance my creations from these people whom I knew so well.

Rose Coyne is English: wilful and volatile and exotic: a blow in, a stranger. She is a creature entirely of my imagination.

Michael is closer to my father in that he is a local hero. But my father’s moral compass was even stronger than Michael’s: he did what was right whatever people thought about its wisdom or utility.

There was no Emma. I had six sisters but none of them is a bit like the geeky ingénue of the series.

If anyone is close to a person who really existed, it’s probably Francis: geeky, priggish, wanting to be loved and usually a yard or two off the pace. Now, what small boy does that remind me of..?

My Mother and Other Strangers, starts at 9pm on Sunday 13 November on BBC One.

Barry Devlin is writer, My Mother and Other Strangers

Read the press pack on the Media Centre

BBC One's The Moonstone - part of #LovetoRead

2016-10-27T12:45:44+00:00

Executive Producer John Yorke blogs about the journey from page to screen as a five-part drama series based on the detective novel by Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone, comes to BBC One as part of the #LovetoRead season.

When I sat down with scriptwriters Rachel Flowerday and Sasha Hails to find a novel to adapt for the BBC Love to Read season, our focus was always going to be choosing a story that had really captivated us.

Not just a literary classic that deserved a new life on screen, but also a genuine page-turner that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up; an extraordinary and compulsive piece of storytelling that stays with you over the years. Rachel had read The Moonstone 20 years ago, and it was still the first idea in her mind when we started discussing potential adaptations.

Of course there’s something else very special about The Moonstone. Crime stories are a staple of fiction all over the world – it’s hard to imagine our television schedules, or bookshelves, without them. But before 1868, the English detective novel just didn’t exist. Then Wilkie Collins wrote The Moonstone – and an entire genre was born.

In Franklin Blake, the gentleman detective first drew breath; in Sergeant Cuff, we first saw the world-weary professional investigator; The Verinders’ Yorkshire home is the prototype for every country house mystery ever written… Sherlock Holmes, Golden Age murder mysteries, Raymond Chandler, PD James, Patricia Cornwell and TV shows from Midsomer Murders to CSI all owe their debt to Collins’ groundbreaking work.

It’s not ‘just’ a crime story, however. In parallel, The Moonstone is a powerful romance: Collins hit on the brilliant conceit of tying the fate of the missing diamond to Franklin’s quest to win the heart of Rachel Verinder, the woman he loves. It matters desperately that the diamond’s been stolen – not because it is valuable, but because the shadow of the theft hangs over the Verinder family, and destroys their trust and former happiness. And alongside the love story, The Moonstone is also an astonishingly modern commentary on Colonialism, the English class system, religion and the position of women in society.

The theft of the Moonstone – the crime that incites the novel’s action – actually happens twice; it’s stolen from our heroine, Rachel Verinder, but long before that, as the prologue relates, it was stolen by her uncle from its home in India. The diamond is a symbol of all Colonial plunder – and we’re left in no doubt that Wilkie Collins stands with the dispossessed.

So the choice of novel was the easy part… Next we faced the challenge of translating the novel’s groundbreaking epistolary form – where a series of fallible narrators write their testimony about the build-up to, and aftermath of, the theft of the priceless Moonstone – to the screen.

Rather than opt for a linear retelling of the story, we decided to reflect The Moonstone’s narrative structure by having Franklin interview the key characters. One serendipitous result of this was that it pulled some of the revelations into the present day of the novel. We see Franklin find out about some events in Rachel’s life as they happen, and react strongly to that – which makes him much more active as a hero. Hopefully our audience will be on the edge of their seats as they wait, with Franklin, to discover the fate of the Moonstone – and his heart…

We faced tricky production issues too, from grumpy horses and bouncy dogs that just didn’t want to ‘sleep’, to beach locations that had changed beyond recognition between recce and shoot, to safety issues with rising tides. The prologue to the novel takes place in India 50 years previously, but we didn’t have the substantial budget needed to recreate that set-piece location – so we came up with a creative solution to represent the story in a manner that felt true to the era and tone, using a Victorian paper theatre and a little girl telling a story that’s been handed down through the generations…

The sequence where one character retrieves a box from deep within the quicksand of the Shivering Sands was also a real test. Without giving away spoilers, the incoming tide, a narrowing beach, and loss of daylight meant our actors, and director Lisa Mulcahy, had to rise to an immense challenge… as did the writers, who rewrote the sequence to use the conditions we were now faced with on the day.

There’s much in the novel, though, where we didn’t need to change a word. Writers Rachel and Sasha found working with Collins’ amazing characterisation a gift – many of the key scenes are constructed entirely from original dialogue – and he’s a consummate storyteller.

Like Charles Dickens, Collins was writing for publication in installments, so he knew just how to hook an audience in. His mantra for writing was ‘make them laugh, make them cry, make them wait’ – and it certainly holds true for The Moonstone. Brilliant comic characterisations such as house-steward Gabriel Betteredge, and Evangelical spinster Miss Clack, are juxtaposed with heart-breaking tragedy in housemaid Rosanna’s story arc.

It’s an emotional rollercoaster with numerous twists and turns along the way – and we can’t wait to introduce a new audience to the jewel that is The Moonstone.

The Moonstone is on BBC One from Monday 31 October.

This blog originally appeared on the #LovetoRead website.

From the Valley to Ordinary Lies

2016-10-18T11:30:00+00:00

James King as Chester Monk in Pobol y Cwm

Tonight at 9pm, young actor James King stars in the first episode of a new series of BBC One drama Ordinary Lies; but he started in the Valley - Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) to be precise – the Welsh soap made by BBC Wales for S4C.

Pobol y Cwm is the longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, and has been on screen for nine years longer than EastEnders.

James is just one of a select number of famous names who’ve walked the streets of the fictional village of Cwmderi, home to Pobol y Cwm. After four decades on the small screen it’s no surprise that the series has nurtured a whole host of up-and-coming actors with some becoming international names.

Iwan Rheon as Macs White in Pobol y Cwm

Any Games of Thrones fan will recognise Iwan Rheon as the twisted Ramsay Bolton. Rheon credits his stint playing Macs White in Pobol y Cwm - which he says challenged him as a young actor - with helping him achieve roles like Simon Bellamy in the E4 series Misfits before going on to star in the global HBO hit.

Ioan Gruffudd as Gareth Wyn Harries in Pobol y Cwm

Ioan Gruffudd, who attended the same Welsh-medium school in Cardiff as Rheon, is also a household name. Ioan started his career as a schoolboy playing Gareth Wyn Harries in the soap before moving on to appear in Hornblower, Titanic and the Fantastic Four films.

There’s also Alexandra Roach, who went from playing wayward teenager Elin Owen in the series to starring as a young Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, to Meryl Streep's mature Thatcher. She also played Becky in Channel 4 thriller Utopia.

Ordinary Lies series two starts tonight (Tuesday 18 October) on BBC One.

BBC Writersroom’s Writing Doctor Who

2016-10-03T12:00:00+00:00

BBC Writersroom's Writing Doctor Who event

BBC Writersroom hosted the #WritingDoctorWho event on Friday 30 September. This was an opportunity to discover “the journey from initial story idea to shooting script and beyond”, an event attended by would-be show-writers eager to hear lead-writer and executive producer, Steven Moffat, and the show’s script editor, Nick Lambon talk about the writing for the programme.

The first question was about the ownership of a programme like Doctor Who – with so many stakeholders and such scrutiny on it Gavin asked: “To what extent is it yours?” "There is no one overlord,” replied Steven swiftly, adding that the only hierarchy was, “the hierarchy of the best idea.”

Next, Gavin asked about what goes on in a ‘first meeting’ ahead of a new series. Both said it was the script team (not writers) who all got together in a room to talk about the last season, and what had and hadn’t worked. Nick said that this year (2016) was an easier task to plan the season because of the arrival of a new companion for the Doctor. Thinking about her and what stories would work best to illuminate her character was the main focus of discussions.

On the subject of story arcs that stretch over the season versus individual episode plots Steven said, “It’s a weird thing with Doctor Who, but the reality is that the story of the week is king. At the same time you want to create a feeling that it is all building to something”, that something being an end-of-season climax.

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The next all-important question came: “When do you decide which writers you want to bring on board?”

Nick fielded the question about how which writers are brought on board for the series. "We start by discussing which writers we want to bring back or writers Steven wants to work with, or writers we’ve met. They need to be a good fit for the show”.

"The unique thing about Doctor Who is that there’s no typical process," said Steven, commenting on the scripting process. "A good Doctor Who script is a world unto itself.” Nick said often with the first draft of a script from a writer new to the series, “people get very excited and throw every idea at it. As a Script Executive you have to be diplomatic, but you want to make what they’re writing even better.”

Steven offered his philosophy on giving script notes – which I found incredibly refreshing: “You will make more improvements by praising the good than by criticising the bad. Praise is not sugaring the pill. It is more important to grow the good than shrink the bad. There are many ways to miss a target – but only one way to hit it. Find the great about a script and get more of that.”

More insights followed when Steven shared some of his own script-writing process. Moffat revealed how he always writes "strictly in scene order", writes and delivers a script in three parts, ensuring that each ends with a cliff-hanger, adhering to a kind of traditional three-act structure. "With the first draft you hand in, you must have two thoughts: it’s perfect - and I’m prepared to change it all”.

Next, Gavin asked about the mysteries of the 'tone meeting'. “What are they and why does everyone hate them?” Both explained that all the heads of department meet seven weeks before filming, how everyone goes through the script to make sure concepts and ideas are on the same page to achieve tone and technical elements. Necessary as they are, it seems the reason they are not popular is their length - it seems they can go on for rather a long time."

And what of the infamous read-through? Nick said this was a vital stage in the process. “You can read a script 100 times to yourself," said Nick, "but only when you hear actors say the lines can you understand what does and doesn’t work. After the read-through there is invariably another draft of the script in response to what’s been discovered.”

The production of a shooting script follows soon after, in which anything where anything which didn't immediately translate when being performed gets amended - that's the point in time when the so-called 'pink pages' with extra scenes and other material can be added.

What about short-form content? Gavin pointed to the Night of the Doctor (a special mini-episode made as part of the programme’s 50th anniversary celebrations) as a good example. What advice did Steven have for writers attempting short form work? "There’s no guarantee that it’s easier. As Richard Curtis said 'sorry it’s so long I didn’t have time to make it shorter'.Effectively, what he's saying is, whatever the length the job’s the same – to tell a good story.”

Moffat pre-empted three often asked questions when Gavin invited questions from the audience. “No, there are no plans for a Doctor Who/Sherlock cross-over. As there is no new Doctor planned in the near future we don’t know if it would be a woman next time. And, my favourite Doctor is Doctor Who.”

One question came on the subject of pitching. Steven was interesting on the subject. He said that to be skilled at pitching can be a poison chalice. If you pitch something as a writer you’ve made a promise, but to his mind a writer should be able to change their mind. So, he suggests lose, open pitches that don’t give away the whole plot.

Steven was also asked about how they tackle more adult themes in a programme with younger viewers. He had this to say,

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The final question was from Gavin who asked both Moffat and Lambon what would stand out from their experiences on Doctor Who in 10 years time.

"It’s absolutely mad, relentless," replied Nick, "so I hope in 10 years time I’ll have a chance to look back and consider everything we did and say ‘wow’.” And Steven had this to say: “it was the best and most brilliant and surprising job I could ever have done.”

Find out more about BBC Writersroom

BBC TV Drama Writers’ Programme 2017: Submit now

2016-09-28T09:25:14+00:00

Good news for writers: if you have a production credit (a drama, at least 30 mins in duration) to your name you can apply for the BBC TV Drama Writers’ Programme 2017, a year-long initiative which will see eight writers selected to write an original series or serial script for BBC One, BBC Two or BBC Three Online.

Who?

You can have written for theatre, television, radio or film but must not already be in development (beyond treatment stage) with BBC Television Drama. This is not a scheme for new, untested writers or those with significant original television drama credits. It is an opportunity for writers with striking and unusual stories to tell, to take part in a bespoke scheme with input from top television writers and BBC editorial and production staff, as well as a dedicated Script Editor and Exec Producer. Writers from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

How?

You need to submit a CV highlighting produced credit or credits (at least 30 minutes in duration), an original drama script (which could be stage, radio, film or TV - produced or unproduced) and up to one side of A4 outlining a potential series or serial idea for BBC One, BBC Two or BBC Three Online. The script you submit must be at least 50 pages in length and a minimum of 30 mins in duration.

Then what?

There are eight places and the team will shortlist 20 writers for the scheme. Those 20 will discuss their pitches with the BBC Writersroom Team and Drama Execs representing all of the drama hubs, nations and regions. Writers will then be selected based on these interviews, the quality of the writer’s work and the viability of their pitch.

If you are one of the chosen eight…

Writers who are selected to participate in the Programme will be expected to write three drafts of a script, with dedicated Script Editor and Executive support. In addition, there will be a series of screenwriting lectures, workshops and events throughout the course culminating in a reading and presentation of extracts from the writers’ scripts.

Writers will be paid a minimum script fee as agreed by the WGGB/PMA and the BBC on a favoured nations basis (currently £11,520 for 60 minutes). Expenses will also be paid.

When?

Submissions are now being accepted and the applications deadline is midnight, Monday, 10th October, 2016. Applications are by the BBC Writersroom e-Submissions System only.

Find out more and apply at the BBC Writersroom website.

Hospital visit: Behind the scenes of Casualty

2016-09-21T15:30:00+00:00

Casualty is a stalwart of Saturday night TV and it has been a big year for the cast and crew, celebrating their 1000th episode, and 30 years since the drama first aired. Dramas based around the medical profession weren't new in 1986 when the first series was broadcast, the BBC had already produced Dr. Finlay's Casebook, Angels, The District Nurse and A Very Peculiar Practice to mention a few, and others have followed including Doctors which started in 2000, and Cardiac Arrest andBodies - both penned by Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty) but Casualty has outlasted them all.

The programme has always had social conscience. Growing up, Casualty was the first show to introduce me to words like anorexia, homophobia, and euthanasia and although it was fictional, it made me think, not only about the real lives of those who worked in hospitals, but also the real lives of patients, everyday people who sometimes needed more than to just be plastered up and sent home.

Still can't stand hospitals though.

The morning after the night before, the night before being the screening of the 30th anniversary episode of Casualty, I was lucky enough to be shown around the set of the long running BBC One hospital drama:

We all know Casualty is set in Holby, a fictitious city in Wyvern, South West England, yes? Good.

When the show first started filming took place in London and Bristol and continued to do so until series 26. Since 2011 the show has been filmed in a purpose built set in Roath Lock, Cardiff (pictured above) which is also home to Doctor Who, Class and Welsh language continuing drama Pobol Y Cym.

The view of the hospital patients see on arrival. Authentically weather beaten and unnervingly realistic, encompassing both the fear one gets when you or a loved one is in a bad enough state to go to A&E and the reassuring relief that you’re in the best place to be looked after.

The exterior of Holby City Emergency Department where patients and staff come to smoke (we’re looking at you Dr Zoe Hanna).

Looking a lot better than in it did by the end of the 30th anniversary show, those of you who haven’t seen the episode yet definitely don’t watch the behind the scenes video about how the team pulled off such an amazing stunt, with minimal CGI. If you have seen the episode, definitely do. Two words. Gaffer tape.

Not quite the apprentice glass table, this humble boardroom is where none of the staff want to end up, as they are generally on the wrong side of a suspension from work if they’re in here.

More often than not however, staff leave of their own accord, with the show recently saying goodbye to some much loved regulars:

Often with a send off in the pub across the road:

It being a morning tour, both myself and my colleague Ceri, who was kindly showing me around, decided against popping into The Hope and instead made our way to the ED's reception:

Tempting though it was to take a peek in the confidential patient files, we instead went up the staircase, where Charlie Fairhead had his stand off with Jacob Masters in the anniversary episode, to the second floor.

Where we found the Geraint Morris ward

When the set was rebuilt in Cardiff, this ward was created to honour the original producer of Casualty, Geraint Morris. When Ian Bleasedale (Josh Griffiths) accepted the BAFTA for best continuing drama in 2007 on behalf of the cast and crew, he dedicated the award to the much loved co-creator of the show who died in 1997.

Injuries and scenes of surgery require huge attention to detail and fake blood and body parts, some of which are stacked up in these slightly macabre shelves. The show relies on the expertise of medical advisers like Pete Salt who makes sure what we see on screen looks authentic. In the Q & A the night before, Cathy Shipton (Duffy) had said that the original cast spent time in a real hospital shadowing staff to try to get an understanding of what they do, Ceri assures me that this still happens with new cast members when they join the team.

Much of the medical equipment and props used in the show are donated from former hospitals. Other items have to be bought in, and others are made on site for specific episodes.

Dick Jones is in charge of the medical props on the Casualty set, you can find out more about what he does on the BBC iWonder website.

On our way through the corridors between dressing rooms and sets we bumped in to producer Gail Evans, closely guarding the script for the Christmas episodes that were being filmed that day in August.

The filming schedule for some of the 43 episodes of series 31 stretches long into the corridor. The 12 hour days start 7am, with the production crew on set and actors in make up. Cast and crew work hard and to a tight time frame.

Having spent a couple of days in amongst the show's environment, it became very clear that everyone in the team was very supportive of each other and had the utmost respect for the hospital staff they portray.

As Derek Thompson who plays Charlie Fairhead put it "There is only one star of Casualty, and that's the NHS".

Jen Macro is Digital Content Producer for the About the BBC Website.

Series 31 of Casualty continues Saturday nights on BBC One.
Catch up on previous episodes on BBC iPlayer, including the feature length 30th Anniversary episode 'Too Old for This Shift' which is available until Monday 27 September.
Find out about the programme on the Casualty website.
Read Jen Macro's blog 'Casualty turns 30 with feature length episode'.