...the island of Dreams

Happy be your Christmas!

2011-12-24T16:56:00.004Z

Happy Christmas everyone.

I hope you have a fabulous break and a prosperous 2012.

With love always,

Rob.

xxx

The Road to the Red Planet

2011-12-09T13:12:00.006Z

This update is late, sorry. I meant to do a 'What did I learn from NaNoWriMo' type post last week but time has rather got away from me. I will try and do something like that soon but in the meantime I'll just say that it was a really good exercise, got me in to a nice (if intense) routine and I'm happy to have met the traditional target. I hoped initially to write 60k words rather than 50k, and on learning of the Heartlands opportunity I amended this to trying to finish a week early, but due to a family emergency type situation I lost a few days and failed both of those self-imposed targets.

Although it was fun to write I can't see me ever going back to revise the book. It will require a lot of work to make it into a sellable, or even readable, manuscript and the potential for the market is teeny-tiny. Still, the exercise was the important thing. I didn't really set out to create something sellable, just to test myself. On the other hand I could see myself harvesting the plot for a feature script one day...

I definitely want to write another novel, whether I will leave that until next November or get underway sooner I don't know. Having shown myself that hey, I can do this! I think I would like to set a more demanding wordcount target for a fully prepared novel intended for publication.

No sooner had I wandered, dazed and confused, over the NaNoWriMo finish line I was thrown head first into revisiting a bottom(top?)-draw script which I felt was the most appropriate thing I had to enter into the BBC's excellent Heartlands opportunity. It's kind of funny really as I have never known quite what to do with that script but it seemed perfect for Heartlands, or that's my feeling. Fingers crossed they have a similar view at the Beeb. In any case I had a day or two to work that up and send it in. It was pretty rushed but hopefully I managed to make it shine. I genuinely like the script. Actually, while rereading it, I laughed out loud at a couple of lines. I hope that's a sign that the script is good and not a sign that I've lost all perspective on my own work!

The Heartlands shortlist will be announced on Tuesday. Good luck to all.

So now it's all about the Red Planet Prize again. This time I'm going to write something from scratch, specifically for Red Planet. In previous years I've sent in what I thought was my most suitable existing script (as you may remember they passed on what is still my favourite effort last time, sadface). I don't suppose it really makes any difference but I have some superstitious idea that it will infuse each word with extra special Red Planet-ness that will make it a winner, fingers crossed.

Obviously I won't say too much about the script, mainly because I'm not commited yet, I'm still kicking around a couple of ideas, but I'm very excited about writing a new script.

The Red Planet deadline is January 16th.

It's the Final Countdown

2011-11-25T09:30:00.003Z

Greetings Carbon-based units,

It doesn't look likely that I'll meet my self-imposed target of finishing the novel today. It's a bit of a cliché but real life has caught up with me in a sudden and upsetting way this week which meant that work ground to a halt Wednesday and Thursday.

I guess there's a chance that I might write the last 9,000 or so words tonight but as I will be away from home for at least part of the weekend it's far more likely that I will finish early next week. There is still plenty of time before the official deadline of November 30th, after all. I was hoping to be able to concentrate exclusively on my Heartlands entry all next week but I do have a couple of days booked off from the day job for that purpose so I'm sure I will still be able to catch up.

If this were a film then we'd be at the part where you keep cutting between the clicking countdown and our hero's herculean efforts to beat it...

In Memoriam Freddie Mercury

2011-11-24T21:32:00.008Z

So dear friends your love is gone
Only tears to dwell upon
I dare not say as the wind must blow
So a love is lost, a love is won
Go to sleep and dream again
Soon your hopes will rise and then
From all this gloom life can start anew
And there'll be no crying soon

Brian May

Freddie Mercury (5 September 1946 - 24th November 1991)

New Writing Talent Search: Heartlands

2011-11-18T14:35:00.005Z

BBC Writersroom have joined up with the nice folk who make Doctors to develop an exciting opportunity for Midlands-based writers.

Heartlands will provide an industry training and development opportunity for writers with some of the most experienced producers in the country. A shortlist will be invited to a masterclass day. Selected writers will then be chosen to take part in an intensive three-day mini-academy for Doctors, and/or
receive mentoring on their original script from an established writer.

On Monday evening I went along to the launch event at Birmingham Library Theatre.

Will Trotter (BBC Executive Producer, Drama Series) Peter Lloyd (Senior Producer, Doctors) and Paul Ashton (Development Producer, BBC Writersroom) were there to officially launch the search, to talk about BBC One drama, Doctors, and to answer questions.

The main focus of the Q&A was on Doctors, as you would expect, but Paul Ashton did cover the Writersroom unsolicited script process and speak a little about television drama, both in the region and nationally, in the current economic climate.

I came away feeling really excited about the opportunity, but also about Writersroom in general. I think in the past I've thought of Writersroom as a big impersonal mechanical process, but having heard Paul Ashton speaking about it I can see that it really isn't, and of course it wouldn't work if it was.

All in all a brilliant opportunity and I will definitely be entering. The deadline is 9am on December 2nd so no time to waste.

--------

The NaNoWriMo novel is still chuffing along. Had a very bad time of it last week, so much so that I ended up feeling that the week might have been more productive if I'd just headbutted a wall every night for five days while chanting “NA-NO-WRI-MO-NA-NO-WRI-MO”.

This week I finally seem to be settling back into the groove and I'm now relatively happy with how it's going. Again.

I've found myself recalling the anecdote about Douglas Adams being locked in a hotel suite until he finished So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish quite a lot lately. I think I've found some strength in his example this week and it's helped me pick myself up. I'm also rereading Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency as a small tribute to him and a treat for me.

Support has also been provided by that lovely Neil Gaiman, who linked to this on twitter and cheered me right up. There can't be all that many professions where the news that it doesn’t get any easier can be encouraging.

Something else that I've been reminded of - years ago James Moran mentioned in a blog post that while you might say you don't have time to write, you still find time to watch television every night, or read a book (I can't find the link sorry, so just go and read his Big Writing FAQ again instead). I feel like the living embodiment of this point, having hardly looked at a television or seen my ever supportive wife all month. On the other hand I've written about 26,000 words of prose. It's amazing what you can do when you try, eh?

Due to the Heartlands deadline, and with a heavy heart, I've decided to abandon my secret target word count of 65,000 words. My new ambition is to finish (hit 50k) by November 25th to give me a full week to work on my Heartlands entry. A full week, you scoff. Yes, a full week. Luckily I have just the draft zero script for this competition sitting in a draw. I've been meaning to do something with it for ages but now the opportunity has come knocking it's time to make it shine.

Exciting!

Set Course for the Red Planet!

2011-11-08T11:06:00.011Z

How curious, here was I just throwing together a post about my progress with NaNoWriMo so far and what I might do next month when BOOM! Scribosphere superstar guru Danny Stack throws down something more exciting to blog about.

Yes, it's that time again - Red Planet Prize 2011/2012

I'll let the man himself fill you in...

It's the best screenwriting competition in the world. Here's why:

- FREE to enter.

- A truly amazing prize: £5k, a script commission and an agent (if you don't already have one).

- Lots of opportunities and mentorship for the finalists.- Robert Thorogood, a finalist in the inaugural 2007 competition, developed his new BBC series 'Death in Paradise' via the Red Planet Prize.

- Many other finalists have launched their careers through the scheme and have worked, or are working, on other shows.

- Quite simply, it's a screenwriting competition by writers for writers.

Here's how it works:

- Submit the 1st ten pages of a 60-minute pilot or one-off 60-minute TV script. Any genre you want. A 100 word synopsis and a 16 word maximum logline is also required.

- If we like your first ten pages, we invite you to submit the entire script.

- A shortlist is compiled. A winner is chosen from an esteemed line-up of judges.

Full details and how to enter can be found on the website. And/or click here to read how and why the competition started.
THE DEADLINE IS 16TH JANUARY 2012.

Plenty of time to think of a new idea, polish the first ten pages to an inch of their life, AND have the entire script finished in case it gets chosen for the second round.

GET WRITING!

I'll be entering, of course, and so should you. It really is the best screenwriting competition out there.

---------

NaNoWriMo week one has gone pretty well. Hopefully you can see that wee progress bar filling up daily over on the right there. I'm now a quarter of the way to the 50,000 word official target, although I've actually set myself a more challenging target of 65,000 words. I've been pleased with the amount I've been producing. I do have concerns about the quality of the work but hey, that's what Draft Zero is all about.

Most of all I'm just pleased that I'm sitting at my desk every day and bashing out around 2,000 words. It's a long time since I've had a good spell like this and it really feels like a new start.

Even though I'm not accepting an award or anything, I'd like to thank my lovely wife (who is blogless but can usually be found on twitter) for all her support. She's always been enthusiastic about my writing but I'm sure I wouldn't have thrown myself into NaNoWriMo so wholeheartedly if it hadn't been for her encouragement.

I was only thinking this morning that come December, in the post NaNoWriMo glow, I might bash out a first draft on a feature idea I've had knocking around for a few months. Hear the sound of smashing window panes? Now I'll be working on a new TV script for the Red Planet prize - how exciting!

A Novel Idea

2011-10-10T21:04:00.007+01:00

Where was I?

Oh yeah. So three weeks tomorrow marks the beginning of NaNoWriMo.

I mentioned this back in May when I revealed that I would be writing a novel in November, though I had no idea what it would be about.

I've been kicking around ideas ever since then. I came up with three possibilities. One quite heavy idea, which seemed like it would be a complex, if rewarding, story to tell. One which was a lighter, more humorous supernatural/detective sort of affair. The final idea is basically my very own pulp novel - A genre mashing thriller with no purpose other than helping me to produce at least fifty thousand words and be a NaNoWriMo winner.

It may seem daft to set out to write something that you think is probably unsellable, but I feel I have the best chance of completing this exercise if it's a fun, relatively straight-forward piece. I can start getting clever and stretching my technique with my second novel, all I want right now is to finish book one.

I'm excited. I've been concentrating on scriptwriting for so long I can't really remember the last prose story I wrote. I feel pretty rusty.

Also, this hasn't been the most productive year for me and I want to use NaNoWriMo to kick start my routine so I can get back down to scripting with some energy.

I may also start blogging more often. I miss blogging and I miss the community of screenwriting blogs we had a few years ago. I love Twitter but it has definitely thrived at the expense of the ol' blog. It's a lot easier to chuck a couple of thoughts straight on to Twitter than it is to develop them into a full post. Even a rambling aimless one like this. Must try harder.

I hope to keep you posted throughout NaNoWriMo but it will depend how I get on. Otherwise you should be able to follow my progress here, if you have a mind to.

Cross a finger for me why dontcha?

Game of Thrones (No spoilers)

2011-06-24T16:02:00.012+01:00

I've just finished watching the last episode of Game of Thrones and I thought I'd share a few thoughts about the first series now that it's finished. I know a lot of people won't have had the chance to see it yet so I'm not going to spoil anything.

I should probably say first off that I've never read the books, so I came to it only as a mildy curious viewer. I may check out the first volume (on which this series is based, I believe) now. I'd be interested to hear what fans of the books thought of the adaptation.

There were a few complaints early on in the series that there was a lot of exposition. There was. There are a hell of a lot of characters in this story, and a rich and detailed world in which they live. What wasn't mentioned so much was how masterfully this exposition was slipped into the scripts.

OK, it's true. There are a lot of characters, and all of them come with their own back-stories and relationships with each other. There are several families with alliances and feuds dating back generations. Game of Thrones chucks you straight into this and doesn't hang around to wait for you to catch up, but then neither do Eastenders or Coronation Street and I don't hear anyone crying about that.

The characters and back-stories in Game of Thrones are no more complex than those found in Albert Square or Weatherfield. There are a lot more swords though.

This is a rich show with a fantastic cast and brilliant scripts. I loved every second of it and don't quite know what I'm going to do for a year while I wait for series two.

It seems rude to pick out a few members of the cast when the performances are so good across the board. I'm going to do it anyway though. Sorry.

Sean Bean is on great form as Ned Stark, head of the Stark family, loving parent and an honourable man. He gives Ned great integrity, and a lovely, quiet outrage at the political schemings of others.

Emilia Clarke, as Daenerys Targaryen, has one of the most engaging arcs of the series. Her situation changes considerably over time and Ms Clarke, in her first major screen role, plays the part beautifully. I think we'll be watching her on our screens for many years to come.

Iain Glen plays Ser Jorah Mormont, an exiled knight who is far from home, and gives him the stillness and poise of a man who could drop you where you stood before you knew what was happening.

I'll not be the first to say that Peter Dinklage is an absolute revelation as Tyrion Lannister, a boozing, womanising dwarf who relies on his wits to survive. Well, that and his family's money and reputation. A pleasure to watch and one of the show's greatest selling points.

Game of Thrones is also littered with distinguished supporting actors, the likes of Peter Vaughan, Julian Glover, Charles Dance, Jerome Flynn, Clive Mantle, Owen Teale, Roger Allam - well, you get the idea.

It's also got one of the best opening titles sequences I've seen for years.

I didn't mean to gush quite so much but if you are, somehow, still reading then I urge you to check out Game of Thrones should you get the chance. It's dynamite.

Feed The Birds

2011-05-25T19:12:00.006+01:00

Evenin' squires,

Waaaay back in the dim and distant past, last February, that splendid fellow Piers set up a new screenwriting forum, to serve as a sort of UK version of The Artful Writer and Wordplay.

He called it Feed the Birds (no idea, ask him), and many of us twittering, blogging, screeching screenwriters signed up straight away and got electronic-chin-wagging. It was all very exciting.

Since then it's gotten a little quiet, so we thought we'd have a bit of a promotion and try and draw in some fresh blood.

As The Webmaster has said over at his gaff, it's a great place to ask questions, share knowledge and discuss writing (or not writing) with a community of like minded folk. Or to lark about when you should be getting on with some real work. You could even use it to make contacts and promote your work.

Why not check it out? I hope to see you there.

Feed The Birds

Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing

2011-05-16T20:21:00.009+01:00

Came across this article the other day. It's ten years old now but may be worth revisiting. Much wisdom from one of America's most prolific, and most adapted, writers of fiction...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle

from the New York Times, Writers on Writing Series.

By ELMORE LEONARD

These are rules I’ve picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I’m writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what’s taking place in the story. If you have a facility for language and imagery and the sound of your voice pleases you, invisibility is not what you are after, and you can skip the rules. Still, you might look them over.

1. Never open a book with weather. If it’s only to create atmosphere, and not a character’s reaction to the weather, you don’t want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead looking for people. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways to describe ice and snow than an Eskimo, you can do all the weather reporting you want.

2. Avoid prologues.

They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. But these are ordinarily found in nonfiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.

There is a prologue in John Steinbeck’s “Sweet Thursday,” but it’s O.K. because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says: “I like a lot of talk in a book and I don’t like to have nobody tell me what the guy that’s talking looks like. I want to figure out what he looks like from the way he talks. . . . figure out what the guy’s thinking from what he says. I like some description but not too much of that. . . . Sometimes I want a book to break loose with a bunch of hooptedoodle. . . . Spin up some pretty words maybe or sing a little song with language. That’s nice. But I wish it was set aside so I don’t have to read it. I don’t want hooptedoodle to get mixed up with the story.”

3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated,” and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” . . .

. . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs.”

5. Keep your exclamation points under control.

You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.

6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”

This rule doesn’t require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use “suddenly” tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apostrophes, you won’t be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavor of Wyoming voices in her book of short stories “Close Range.”

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

Which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” what do the “American and the girl with him” look like? “She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.” That’s the only reference to a physical description in the story, and yet we see the couple and know them by their tones of voice, with not one adverb in sight.

9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.

Unless you’re Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language or write landscapes in the style of Jim Harrison. But even if you’re good at it, you don’t want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.

And finally:

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

A rule that came to mind in 1983. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them. What the writer is doing, he’s writing, perpetrating hooptedoodle, perhaps taking another shot at the weather, or has gone into the character’s head, and the reader either knows what the guy’s thinking or doesn’t care. I’ll bet you don’t skip dialogue.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative. It’s my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing. (Joseph Conrad said something about words getting in the way of what you want to say.)

If I write in scenes and always from the point of view of a particular character—the one whose view best brings the scene to life—I’m able to concentrate on the voices of the characters telling you who they are and how they feel about what they see and what’s going on, and I’m nowhere in sight.

What Steinbeck did in “Sweet Thursday” was title his chapters as an indication, though obscure, of what they cover. “Whom the Gods Love They Drive Nuts” is one, “Lousy Wednesday” another. The third chapter is titled “Hooptedoodle 1” and the 38th chapter “Hooptedoodle 2” as warnings to the reader, as if Steinbeck is saying: “Here’s where you’ll see me taking flights of fancy with my writing, and it won’t get in the way of the story. Skip them if you want.”

“Sweet Thursday” came out in 1954, when I was just beginning to be published, and I’ve never forgotten that prologue.

Did I read the hooptedoodle chapters? Every word.

Elmore Leonard's Official Website

Stormhouse

2011-05-13T18:59:00.010+01:00

In 2002, the military captured and imprisoned a supernatural entity.

Directed by Dan Turner

Written by Jason Arnopp

Premieres at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2011

NaNoWriMo 2011

2011-05-11T14:53:00.008+01:00

So I'm writing a novel.

Not yet. In November. Don't ask me what it will be about, or for any details other than how long it will be and when it will be finished. It will be at least fifty thousand words and it will be finished by November 30th.

I have, like many others before me, decided to take advantage of NaNoWriMo, the annual event where thousands of people set out to write a novel in thirty days.

I've started to write a novel twice before (see left for my first effort, circa '92 (I still may go back to this one day (this will never happen))), but that was in the old days, before I knew about structure, and planning, and... writing a novel.

Having focused exclusively on scriptwriting for a good five years now I've been feeling like trying something different. I love the extra motivation provided by i)having an external deadline, ii) having a community of people on hand who are all trying to meet the same deadline, and iii) having quacked on to anyone who'll listen (or not) that you're going to have written a novel by the end of November.

My head is spinning with the possibilities as far as picking an actual story go. I have had an idea for a novel knocking around for some years, but I fear it may now seem a bit like a British Dexter, and I never know whether an association like that works for or against you. Could adapt one of my script ideas, but not every story wants to be a novel. Plus it would certainly be more fun to come up with something brand new just for this exercise. New is always better, after all.

Anyway, if you fancy a challenge or have nothing planned for November why not check out the NaNoWriMo website, you might decide to churn out a novel of your own. Otherwise please do feel free to bother, cajole or even support me as I produce my magnificent octopus. You can find my NaNoWriMo profile here, but there's not much going on just yet.

In the meantime, I'd better get planning, there's only one hundred and seventy-three days and four and a half hours to go till the starting gun.

Wicked.

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EDIT - This post restored from Scribomatic folowing the great Blogger outage of 12th May 2011.

Lis Sladen, 1948 - 2011

2011-04-20T12:02:00.014+01:00

I was just about to settle down to write for the evening when I saw Nicola Bryant's tweet flash up in a Tweet Deck notification. I stopped in my tracks, rereading it over and over again. Trying to make it make sense. Trying to understand.

For ten minutes I watched as the rest of Twitter did the same. Is it true? It's not true. Is this some cruel joke? When it was confirmed by DWM there could be no doubt, if there ever really had been any given the number, and the integrity, of the sources.

I sat in much the same position for hours. Reading tributes as they came in from all quarters. Seeing the breaking news banner on the BBC website. Hearing of the Newsnight piece. I didn't know Lis personally, I was just a fan, but I wonder how she would have felt at the scale of the reaction to the news of her horribly untimely passing. She didn't like a fuss, they say. We must all try to do better.

It's difficult to find a positive angle to this terribly sad news, but I guess we should realise how lucky we fans are that Russell T Davies, and the success of his vision of Doctor Who, allowed Sarah Jane to have so many new adventures on television over the last five years, and that yet another generation of children were able to fall in love with her.

I don't have anything to say that hasn't been put better by tens of fans already. She was the archetypal companion, she was an inspiration. She was Sarah Jane Smith, and I loved her.

Goodbye Lis. x

BBC News
Guardian
The Doctor Who News Page
Tom Baker's tribute
Sam Watts
Cathode Ray Tube
Keith Topping
Tony Lee
Last of the Famous International Fanboys
IO9

Outcasts

2011-02-27T19:48:00.009Z

Well. What a load of rubbish has been written about Outcasts, mostly by people who should know better.

The reality is that Outcasts is a thoughtful, entertaining and rewarding series which has been, perhaps, let down by a less than dynamic first episode.

Issues of pace have been covered in depth elsewhere but it is not an arresting first episode, and certainly not an episode that will hook a non-genre audience. If they wanted another Life on Mars then the opener needed to be much, much stronger.

As Den of Geek suggested we badly need to see more pilots being made. They test the programme concept and, I think, they make the production team focus a bit more on tightening up. They know what's at stake, I guess, as if the pilot doesn't get a good reception then it's game over (man!). I think Outcasts relied on people sticking with it beyond the first episode (whereas regrettably I doubt some people made it through the first episode). I don't think, as a writer, producer, leading television company, anyone-else-in-the-decision-making-chain, you can ever assume that the audience isn't going to turn over if you don't keep them interested, that's a basic rule (particularly well drummed/seared into writers).

I also think that the heavy ad campaign, primetime BBC1 slot and decision to show two episodes a week have worked against the programme, particularly as the Beeb then decided to move Outcasts to 10.45pm on Sunday nights after two weeks/four episodes. That's not really a vote of confidence in your product is it? If it was running on BBC3 they'd be crowing about how good the ratings are (the same bitterly ironic situation Survivors was in when it was cancelled)*.

The fact is that this is a well written, beautifully shot programme with excellent performances. Locations are stunning and are used to spectacular effect. Aside from some clunky exposition in episode one the dialogue has been good and the characters and relationships interesting. There are many threads being woven here, given time this could become a very rich, muti-layered show.

Of the cast Hermione Norris, Liam Cunningham (always a pleasure to watch), Ashley Walters and Daniel Mays are excellent, while the rest are very good. Only Eric Mabius and Jeanne Kietzmann have seemed a little passive to me, but hopefully will be given room to impress before the first series ends.

Anyway, the point of this waffling is to tell you that I'm really enjoying Outcasts, and I very much hope that the BBC accepts that there is an audience and allows it to continue.

And if you're not watching it because you've heard or read that it's crap, then give it a try yourself and make up your own mind.

**UPDATE** (1/3/11)

Dom likes Outcasts too, why not wander over and have a read?

*For illustration: in its second week Outcasts averaged 2.703 million viewers and a 10.8% audience share; Survivors, cancelled after its second series, had enjoyed an average of 3.81m viewers that year; while the third series of the stonkingly successful (and precious to this blog (and bloody hell how good is this series???)) Being Human opened (on BBC3) with 1.368 million viewers, a 5% audience share. The benefits of multichannel programming....

So this is Christmas!

2010-12-24T17:42:00.004Z

Merry Christmas to anyone who still passes through these pages. I hope you all have a lovely break and a tremendous New Year.

Here's a bonus Winterval scene from our local park here in Sedgley.

Happy Christmas!!!

xxx

Make Mine Marvel

2010-10-23T07:15:00.010+01:00

Greetings True Believers.

You may recall that I, along with some like-minded and awesome chums, am currently partway through watching every episode of Doctor Who in order. We've nearly reached our first regeneration (SQUEE!). Well because one ludicrous, humongous challenge is never enough I have decided to undertake another.

I've been reading a lot of comics recently. Mostly The Walking Dead and Transmetropolitan. I love comics but ever since I became obsessed with Batman at the age of about twelve my comic reading has been a bit aimless, well apart from the pursuit of Batman titles (which always leaves me grinding my teeth at yet another huge game-changing crossover event).

On a whim I started reading the Fantastic Four from the beginning, then found myself seeking out contemporaneous Marvel comics (e.g. Ant-Man and Thor) to get a sense of the moment, if you will. I like to look at things in context.

I idly wondered if there was some sort of guide to the publication order of Marvel comics. I googled it. It was a fateful googling. I discovered Travis Starnes' The Complete Marvel Reading Order. "Challenge accepted" I tweeted flippantly. I had decided to read the Marvel Universe continuity in publication order.

I'm going to reserve the right to skip titles if find I don't like them as I don't see the point in slavishly reading something I'm not enjoying. Actually I was going to skip Ant-man because I think he's a bit ridiculous, but it turns out I really like him because he's a bit ridiculous.

I'll generally skip anything not connected with the main timeline. Titles set before or after (e.g. the 2099 series) I'll skip. I've already made a couple of exceptions to this rule though; Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos and Conan.

At the time of writing I'm up to mid 1963 and finding it all very enjoyable. They are an interesting reflection of their time, prominently featuring Cold War concerns, radiation, communism, an obsession with transistors, magnetism and science in general. It's interesting to see how some attitudes have changed since the sixties too...

It's also interesting to see Stan "The Man" Lee and his colleagues refining their style as they launch new titles and the characters and books gradually become more sophisticated. I reckon there are some good lessons for writers here, and I may be posting about this some in the future.

If anyone cares to join in, or is already under way, feel free to say "Howdy!".

Excelsior!

x of the Best

2010-08-23T22:17:00.005+01:00

So I was hunting high and low for an awesome blog post I remembered reading and I suddenly thought, "Say," (I always think with Humphrey Bogart's voice*) "I oughta publish a list of swell blog posts."

This is it. It is in no particular order. Eat these posts and absorb their power.

EDIT: Greetings from the shining future world of 2011.

Screenwriter extraordinary James Moran has just posted a list which smashes this one to tiny blog pieces. I think there are some links below that don't appear in Uncle Jimbo's list, but you should still definitely check his out first!

James Moran - Free writing seminar blog post in a box

Thank you, people of the distant past. Edit ends.

Phill Barron - It's not fair

Danny Stack - Professional Screenwriter (This is a link to step 1 - read all ten.)

Lisa Holdsworth - Welcome To Real Writing

James Moran - The Big Writing FAQ (Uncle Jimbo's blog is solid gold reading for struggling writers, especially the early years.)

Michelle Lipton - The Path of the Freelance Writer

Jason Arnopp - Your script is not a lottery ticket

Piers Beckley - The other writing secrets

James Moran - Writer's Block, or "getting stuck"

Michelle Lipton - Structure

Jason Arnopp - Five lines henceforth banned from scripts (Especially the comments!)

Hope this list is of some use to someone. I'll add to it as and when I find/remember something cool. Any suggestions are welcome.

* I wish this were true. Instead I'm stuck with Marvin the Paranoid Android.

Return to the Red Planet

2010-08-06T12:28:00.004+01:00

I knew it would be hard to work while looking after a tiny baby but there is a difference between knowing it and living it. It is impossible to prioritise anything over time with your child, especially when you have a full time day job too.

In my incredible naivety I actually thought the third week of my paternity leave might be used for some intense writing. Ambitious for a first time parent, eh?

Gradually though, the new addition to the family has settled into a routine now he's three and a bit months old (of course, now he's teething that routine could be screwed but there are no guarantees in life and if there were we would grow bored even more quickly than we already do).

An invaluable tool in helping me get back to work has been the Red Planet Prize competition. This is easily the best competition for writers in the UK. I haven't entered since the first comp in 2007 (and they took a year off) so I was determined not to let this one pass. It didn't hurt that before JR was born I had completed a first draft on a TV pilot that I though might be a good fit for Kudos even before I knew they were involved with Red Planet '10.

So I had a couple of months to get back into the swing of things; going over my concept for the potential series, the script as a whole and most especially the first ten pages. I need to do some more work on the rest of the script, just in case I'm one of the lucky ones, but I'm keen to crack on with some new projects. I feel good. Re-invigorated even. Mega thanks to Red Planet, Kudos and the mighty Danny Stack for helping me get back into the zone.

I love this script. It's a reworking of some ideas (and a couple of characters) I used in short stories years ago. I think it would be perfect Saturday night fodder and I think it's probably the best script I've written. Which is all very nice but will the readers share my enthusiasm? Will the concept excite a potential audience? Is there enough of a hook in the first ten pages? Is it a big, steaming pile of pooh?

I guess this is where I start to find out...

*crosses fingers*

Rewatchability

2010-07-21T19:20:00.001+01:00

Last week that young fella Adaddinsane did a spiffy post about films he likes to watch over and over again. It was a good post, and now it's a meme. Here's the gen;

Rules: 1. Provide a non-exhaustive list of films you'll happily watch again and again; 2. There is no rule 2. 3. Reprint the rules. 4. Tag three other peeps.

So here are mine. Well, some of them...

Withnail & I

L'appartement

Dog Soldiers

Hell Drivers

The Ice Storm

Time Bandits

Fargo

The Big Lebowski

The Lady Vanishes

Dracula (1958)

John Carpenter's The Thing

Die Hard

Dawn of the Dead

Prick Up Your Ears

Deathtrap

The Fugitive

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

The Dark Knight

Key Largo

The Ladykillers

Star Trek II

American Graffiti

The Apartment

Rio Bravo

The Thrill of it all

Fright Night

Evil Dead 2

Mr Mom

As a bonus here are a couple of films I will never sit through again...

Blown Away

The Godfather part 3

Now to pass it on. I tag Laurence, Mr Fox and the man, the legend, "Straight talkin'" Phill Barron (mainly because he called me a bastard last time I tagged him. Tee hee!).

Sherlock Holmes

2010-07-20T22:35:00.003+01:00

I have always loved Sherlock Holmes.

I couldn't tell you when I first encountered Holmes. I think I had a Read-it-yourself book of The Hound of the Baskervilles as a boy. I also remember an animated version of the same tale. I don't think it was until the centenary of the publication of A Study in Scarlet that I actually read any Conan Doyle though. There was a lush Radio Times cover and an Omnibus or Late Show special, and I started reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes while lounging about the house in my dressing gown. Needless to say I was hooked straight off and still re-read the stories repeatedly today.

Film-wise I remember enjoying Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce seasons over and over again on the BBC (6pm on BBC2 if memory serves). It never seemed strange to me that Holmes and Watson should be battling the Nazis. I have since discovered their radio shows online, which are quite fun, especially for the sponsors adverts (you can also find The Shadow and many more old radio shows on the same site).

Basil Rathbone was generally regarded as the greatest Holmes of all for many years. There were others; Peter Cushing, a huge Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, played the detective in the 1959 Hammer version of The Hound of the Baskervilles and again for the BBC in the late sixties. Christopher Plummer did a great job in Murder by Decree, among other actors, but Rathbone was generally accepted to be the best.

Until 1984.

Jeremy Brett played Sherlock Holmes on ITV from 1984 until 1994, when Brett's poor health prevented him continuing in the role.

I'll show my hand right now and confess that he eclipses all other Sherlocks for me. His sudden theatrics, his nanosecond half smiles, that fantastic voice; Jeremy Brett is Sherlock Holmes stepping straight off of the end of Conan Doyle's pen. He inhabits the role perfectly and it is a brave actor that steps through the door to 221b Baker street in his wake.

Which brings us to Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes from last year with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson.

There was a lot of stuffy scepticism about this "modern" Holmes before it came out but I must admit that I liked the trailer at first sight and was cautiously optimistic. I really enjoyed the film.

It's true that the emphasis is rather more on the action than the detection but I think it captures the spirit of the stories well, and especially the character of Watson and the relationship between the two friends. I could have done without Irene Adler, who seemed present only to tick a box and deprive Watson of some screen time, but otherwise I enjoyed the film immensely.

I look forward to the sequel with much anticipation. However shall I pass the time?

Only by enjoying Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's take on Sherlock Holmes in a twenty-first century setting. I'm very bloody excited about Sherlock, which starts on Sunday night (BBC1/BBCHD 9pm). It's hard to imagine two writers better equipped to bring Holmes back to the small screen for the first time in years. Moffat has already demonstrated that he can bring nineteenth century classics into the modern day with Jekyll (still my very favourite example of his work (any chance of that second series Steven? Pretty please.)).

Benedict Cumberbatch certainly looks the part and while I'm less certain of Martin Freeman as Watson I'm happy to trust Moffat and Gatiss. Even though this programme seems to have been in production for ever I know almost nothing about the plots (not even if they intend to adapt any of Conan Doyle's stories) or guest stars. Very exciting.

The early reactions are positively glowing, and the trailer certainly looks good. The game is on!

UPDATE: Steven Moffat on Sherlock Holmes in the Radio Times:

When I was a little Beano-reading Doctor Who fan – about nine or ten – I was desperate to know more about Sherlock Holmes. It was a name I’d heard. I knew he was some kind of policeman, I knew he had a funny hat, and I knew he was in a film called The Hound of the Baskervilles, which once came on the telly and got me sent to bed because it was too frightening. I remember lying upstairs that night, too excited to sleep – because I could hear the baying of a terrible hound, and the rapid-fire voice of a policeman who fought monsters. I needed to find out more, because I knew already this was my kind of hero: if Doctor Who had been a detective, clearly he’d have been Sherlock Holmes.

BBC's Sherlock site

The Sherlock Holmes Museum

The Singular Society of the Baker Street Dozen

The Equinoctial Gales

Gah, my eyes! UPDATED

2010-07-19T11:30:00.009+01:00

I don't like to blog about blogging but...

I recently saw someone on Twitter say something to the effect of "Gee whizz, I hate when blogs have white writing on a black background, that really makes my eyeballs ache. :("

So obviously I thought, "OMG!!! That's exactly what my blog looks like!!! :(((((" So I resolved to take action. Of course when I went to look at changing the design of the blog I discovered those nice new blogger templates and woo - you can change the width of columns and - oh hey you can have three columns now, wow!

By the time I was done I had a lovely new look blog with, yes that's right, white writing on a black background.

It's not that I didn't try other looks. I tried kind of a notepaper type background and some blue print. I even thought, "hey I'll handwrite a new blog header on notepaper, it'll look coool :)" (even though I'm immodestly proud of my long-standing island of Dreams header), but when it came down to it the old girl just didn't look right to me. I mean you can't get more high contrast than black and white, right?

In the interests of democracy I thought I'd solicit some opinions, so what do you think? I mean, that's if anybody reads the actual blog rather than just the feed on google reader? If you have a thought then let me know. I've put a poll in the sidebar (on the left, at the top, above my stupid face) and you get a vote - Keep the look as is or change it to something less eye-straining. You only have until the end of the month to vote though, m'kay?

'Course, if you do want it changed I'd appreciate suggestions via comments please. Likewise if you have any other feelings about content let me know. Maybe you miss my reviews and occasional ill-conceived rants about television, or want to hear about my adventures in parenthood, or maybe you just wish I'd shut my damn neck.

***UPDATE (7th August, 2010)***

Many thanks to all who voted in the poll. The results were 75% in favour of keeping the old white on black colour scheme. So obviously I decided to change it. Rather than being purely down to my contrary nature this was because:

a) I had come up with a cool idea for a new banner.

b) I grudgingly admitted to myself that if anyone was finding it hard to read the blog, even only 25% of visitors, then the best course of action was probably to make it easier on the eye.

c) I do have quite a contrary nature.

The Fear

2010-07-17T16:04:00.012+01:00

Things that scared me as a child...

The face in my toilet

Yes, it's a funny one this. I mean, there wasn't really a face in my toilet. It was just a few bumps in the finish of the porcelain at the bottom of my childhood WC. With a little imagination they could be thought to resemble a face, and I was unlucky enough to have a lot of imagination. At some point I got the idea (possibly from my dear old Nan) that it was the face of the devil, so I suppose I'm lucky it didn't put a permanent end to my toilet using days really.

Worzel Gummidge

'Nuff said, surely?

The Children of Green Knowe

I have several frightening memories of The Children of Green Knowe but by far the most paralysing is of a statue of St Christopher carrying a stone child through a river during the night. It still sends a shiver down my spine. I've not seen the programme since and would really like to revisit it.

Blake's 7 series 4 episode 6: Headhunter

The memory that really chills me is of the robot, Muller, pursuing our anti-heroes through a corridor while carrying his head under his arm. Hell's teeth but that scared me, and put me off Blake's 7 for years. Of course, when I came to rewatch the episode years later I found it wasn't all that scary after all. Here's a clip -

A recurring nightmare

Each time the scene would be different. Eh, you splutter, how can it be a recurring nightmare then? Well because each time it would be accompanied by a horrifying, throbbing droning noise and a perspective that zoomed in and out on the action while never really focusing on what was happening. The events of the dream weren't what scared me. It was the way the nightmare was, if you like, shot. I would wake up in quite a state.

Imagine my surprise when, years later, I watched Irreversible and saw the precise same methods used in the opening sequence. I think Gaspar Noe may have had the same nightmare.

Hands coming from under the bed

I think this is probably a common one. I was always convinced that something was under the bed, waiting to grab my ankle as I climbed into bed. Why I thought it couldn't creep out and get me in the night while I slept I don't know. This same fear preoccupied me when using the stairs in my house. I would run up the stairs like a mad thing in case a clammy hand reach between the balusters and grab my leg, then I would leap onto the bed so that no ankle grabbers got a grip. Every night. Sheesh. I should have been well fit.

So these are some of the things that scared me as a boy. I guess it would be odd if I didn't ponder what scares me now?

Being a rubbish father, or husband. Anything at all bad happening to my family. Our new government. Never getting anywhere as a writer, or worse yet feeling like I never fulfilled my potential.

It's important for writers to recognise what scares them, and what the root of their fear is. Not just horror writers either, fear and irrational reactions are a strong motivation for characters as well as for people.

Doctor Who

2010-03-21T10:32:00.003Z

Getting very bloody excited now...

A Proclamation

2010-02-20T16:35:00.008Z

Although I’ve mentioned this elsewhere already I haven’t really properly announced it. I don't want to make a big fuss but as it’s likely to come up quite a lot in the future – and for the rest of my life - it’s time I made some sort of proclamation...

My lovely wife and I are expecting our first child in a little over seven weeks. We're very excited and so far all is very well indeed with Mother and child. The baby can certainly kick and seems to enjoy listening to us reading Thomas the Tank Engine and The Gruffalo. There has also been some indication that our imminent child favours the works of Rage Against the Machine and Radiohead. Should fit in just fine then.

Here are some pics...

The Silent House

2010-02-19T08:33:00.014Z

I recently received an email from Gustavo Rojo, the Uruguayan actor and producer (and star of The Valley of Gwangi, a favourite film of mine as a kid (seriously - Cowboys and Dinosaurs - what's not to love???)). This was very unexpected. At first I thought he was going to ask me to take a couple of million quid off his hands to help him out, but no. This wasn't spam, this was NEWS!

He was writing to tell me all about a new horror film coming out soon called La Casa Muda, or The Silent House. Now, I wouldn't normally turn the blog over to someone I don't really know but I figure three things; a) this film looks pretty interesting, b) it's nice to be picked out as someone who might spread word of mouth about a new horror film, and c) who knows, maybe Mr Rojo might like to take a look at my horror feature script and think about producing it next? This business is all about networking, after all.

So without further ado, here is some product placement about The Silent House...

-----------------------

The film is directed by Gustavo Hernandez, photographed by Pedro Luque (renown for his worldwide success in “Ataque de Pánico”) and produced by Gustavo Rojo, at an amazingly low budget which amounts to U$ 6000. “The silent house” digs deeply into the unexplored subject of psychological terror, and the story runs through a terrifying story through a single continuous shot. This makes the film unique in the audiovisual market since it was filmed with a SLR digital, to be more precise, a Canon EOS 5D Mark. The film is therefore the first one in Latin America and the second one in the world to have been filmed by a photograph camera. This makes it the first film of horror in the world to have been filmed with this particular narrative language.

To be filmed in one single shot implies that the sequence is filmed in one go, without cuts, and the camera movements need a prior careful and meticulous planning which leads the viewer to share each one of the experiences of the character.

Laura ( Florencia Colucci) and her father ( Gustavo Alonso) settle down in a cottage which seems to be off the beaten track in order to update it since its owner ( Abel Tripaldi) will soon put the house on sale. They will spend the night there in order to start the repairs the following morning. Everything seems to go on smoothly until Laura hears a sound that comes from outside and gets louder and louder in the upper floor of the house. Wilson goes up to see what is going on while she remains downstairs on her own waiting for her father to come down. The plot is based on a true story that happened some time ago in a small village in Uruguay. “La Casa Muda” focuses on the last seventy eight minutes, second by second, when Laura intends to leave the house which hides an obscure secret and she hopes to leave unharmed.

REAL FEAR IN REAL TIME, this is the most remarkable underlying feature of the film which will not go unnoticed by all those who may be willing to experience this different and disturbing filming experience.

A few days after the Spanish Teaser Trailer was released, executives from some of the most important production company of Hollywood have shown interest in seeing it once it is finished and acquire the rights. The film is still at audio post production, and is expected to be finished in march. "The silent house"teaser trailer with Engish subtitles has come. Perhaps we may see the remake soon!!!

Tumble Log

2010-01-08T17:13:00.008Z

I had intended to do the traditional New Year/Old Year review-type-thingamybob this week but I'm afraid it'll have to be left till the end of the month, which is sort of a tradition too.

The reason for the delay is that I'm reduced to typing with one paw following a bit of a boo boo on the way home from the day job earlier this week. Whilst walking home from the bus stop, a mere five minutes from my own front door, I lost my footing on the snow/ice/frozen slush and took a right old tumble. My left hand heroically took the weight of my body and saved my face from a close encounter with someone's front wall. This was at the expense of my elbow though, which protested with a bit of POP!

By the next morning my elbow had swollen to a couple of times it's usual size and a day trip to A&E was required. It was very busy, mostly due to other weather related injuries, but we were in and out in a mere four hours. Sincere thanks to the NHS!

The final score? A radial head fracture of the type seen to the left. Ouch. Now I have to wear a stupid collar and cuff thing for about two weeks until I get some kind of range of movement back. Apparently I can hope to get full normal use of my arm (turning door handles and other tricky stuff) in about six to eight weeks.

Bugger.

And I'd booked next week off for some intensive writing. Still, at least my injury sounds a bit like the name of one of my favourite bands!

Bugger.

I mean, I'll try and get some work done, but typing one-handed is bone (if you'll pardon the almost-pun). I mean I'm no touch typist (although touch typing is on my must-learn list) but I do go at a fair old rate. Even writing this blog post one-handed is pretty trying.

Bugger.

Still, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. And I still have my eyes so I can read some scripts and catch up on some good films and telly and call it all research. Tragically, I can't really use my Xbox 360 controller at the moment so will be unable to waste whole days in the Capital Wastelands, Arkham Asylum or on Sera.

There we are anyway. No point crying about it. I'll let you know how I'm getting on once I'm two-handed again. Hope you're all having a good 2010 so far, and getting some enjoyment out of our freakish weather, just make bloody sure you're careful when you're out and about in it!

On the box

2010-01-02T23:29:00.018Z

Hello! Hello! Hello! Where was I? Oh yes, I've been watching stuff again...

The Day of the Triffids

I'm a big fan of John Wyndham, and of the 1981 adaptation of Day of the Triffids (currently £3.99 on play - If you don't have it already it'll be the best four quid you ever spend!). I've mentioned this before, as well as pointing out that it might be more interesting to film The Kraken Wakes rather than adapting Triffids again. Despite all this I was still excited to see how the new version would go.

I have to say that I thought the first half was a little slow, and I think the programme was somewhat self-consciously trying to avoid looking like a retread either of the '81 version, or more recent post-apocalyptic fare such as Survivors or 28 Days Later. Even so there was some good stuff in there, it just took too long for the story to get going. Part two on the other hand was pacey, atmospheric and exciting. There were some lovely sequences, for example Bill hunting the male Triffid, Jo's escape from London and the finale. Of the cast I thought Brian Cox (of course), and Eddie Izzard were excellent, the two children also were very good.

I still feel it was a somewhat redundant remake (but then Turn of the Screw was on the day after it so I guess it's the season (this is about the eleventh time this has been adapted for the screen!)) but given the decent ratings perhaps we can expect another Wyndham adaptation next year. I vote The Kraken Wakes or The Chrysalids!

True Blood

This is another show, like Medium, which I was aware of but had made some weird subconscious assumptions about and decided probably wasn't for me. However even I, belligerent as I am, can only ignore so many people telling me I should watch something.

Based on the series of books by Charlaine Harris, True Blood is brought to you by Alan Ball, the creator of Six Feet Under (another series I've never watched despite many recommendations).

True Blood is excellent fun. It's an HBO show so you can expect some cussing, some fooling about and some general naughtiness. It's also packed, and I do mean packed, with interesting and rounded characters. Actually the town of Bon Temps sometimes puts me in mind of Twin Peaks, or Cicely, Alaska due to the local colour. Putting the main characters to one side there's the inept local police, the Cajun roadworker, the agrophobic vampire, the shell-shocked Iraq veteran... The list goes on.

These people would be interesting even if they weren't littered with vampires, psychics, murderers and... well, no spoilers here. Suffice to say I recommend it. We've just finished watching series one on 4HD, and are now hoping they're going to run on into series two.

Collision

It's a bit late in the day to talk about this now (yes I did start this post a while ago) but what a great bit of telly this was. I'm coming around to this consecutive night thing, especially after Torchie this year, and this certainly kept us interested all week. Lots of lovely performances, especially from Douglas Henshaw and Lucy Griffiths, and a lovely look at how peoples lives can turn upside down for the most trivial of reasons.

The final moments, where time was reversed and we saw what might have been but for an errant wasp, were absolutely inspired and will ensure that Collision lives long in my memory. Excellent television, well done ITV.

Misfits

No, not the seminal horror rockers (although I do recomend their Famous Monsters album), I mean the E4 TV series. A very British, very modern, very clever take on how super powers might actually work in the real world. I'm far from the first to say this but Heroes could have learned a lot from this E4 show. A second series has been commissioned (hoorah!) so that gives you time to catch up on series one if you missed it.

So that's what I've been watching recently. Now we're into early 2010 there's a shedload of good telly coming our way, so here's a taster of some of the stuff I'm really looking forward to...

Being Human series 2 begins on January 10th

The final series of Lost begins on February 2nd

24 Day 8 premieres on January 17th

Survivors series 2 starts on Tuesday 12th January

Chuck is back on US tv on January 10th for it's third series

Law & Order: UK returns to ITV on January 11th

And of course, sometime in the spring...

Nadolig Llawen!

2009-12-24T18:13:00.005Z

Merry Christmas everyone, and the very best of New Years!

with love always,

Rob.

Edward Woodward, 1930 - 2009

2009-11-16T12:42:00.006Z

Edward Woodward, star of The Wicker Man, Callan, The Equalizer and Common as Muck, to name but a few, has died at the age of 79.

I feel terribly sad at the loss of someone who has been a screen presence throughout my life, and has left such a fantastic body of work behind them.

BBC item

Wikipedia

IMDB

Edgar Wright on Edward Woodward

Post-weekend update

2009-11-16T08:42:00.001Z

The best laid plans, eh?

The weekend went well. I failed to complete the first draft of The Preservationists but will do so in the next few days. The reason for non-completion? Mainly that weekends are perhaps not the best time to lock yourself away in your writey den. I knew that certain jobs would need doing, and that was fine, but Sunday afternoon became a casualty of necessary maintenance on the garden, and whilst it's true that I could have stayed up and worked into the small hours I was happy enough that I can finish it this week not to bother.

Friday saw 13 pages written, a respectable start.
Saturday was another 13 page day.
Sunday saw only five pages written.

So that's about 31 pages written of a likely 60.

I'm out laughing at Eddie Izzard on Tuesday night so I'm unlikely to get any work done then but the rest of the week looks good. If I were a betting man I'd bet on wrapping on Wednesday night.

I'll keep you posted.

Catch up TV

2009-11-12T05:00:00.002Z

I've been watching stuff and I thought I'd share...

Medium - You know, it's funny. I was always aware of Medium. I knew it existed. I knew it starred the lovely Patricia Arquette. Somehow I never bothered watching it though. I think I may have made some assumptions about the nature of the format and/or the quality of the show, based on what I don't know. Anyway the twittering of Mr and Mrs James Moran inspired me to take a look at the first episode. The first episode inspired me to watch the second episode. The second episode - well you get the idea. Medium is excellent and I'm happy to tell you why... The relationship between the main characters is totally believable, they are very real, rounded, flawed characters. Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber portray a couple who don't always see eye to eye but love each other deeply, and usually find a compromise together. There is a variety in the stories that I didn't expect. Most of all though I enjoy the interaction between the characters, and those unexpected shocks they slip in sometimes. It's a great series and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Burn Notice - I had heard murmers about this series but hadn't seen any until I stumbled upon a Burn Notice marathon on the USA channel while Emma and I were in New York in the summer (meant to post about that but never got around to it - Best. Holiday. Ever. New York is now my second favourite city). It's a brilliant show. Anything featuring Bruce Campbell is always going to be worth a look, but the premise, the tone and the performance of star Jeffrey Donovan make this excellent viewing. Think Hustle with a dash of Bond and a broad streak of humour. I haven't actually seen that much of Burn Notice yet, but now Lost is out of the way (probably) I plan on catching up.

Spooks - They're back. I love a bit of Spooks and I think the partnership between Ros and Lucas is about the best team the show has had. Hoping this series can match up to last years engrossing story arc.

FM - Caught up on this thanks to Virgin Media's ITV player. Just brilliant. Great cast, great scripts, great show. The only downside was the pop star cameos - appearances are OK but actually having them play a song while the characters watch is BORING! Hoping a second series will be forthcoming.

Lost - After eighteen months and 103 episodes I am finally up to date with what I have come to think of as probably the best and most consistent series of all time. Now I'm resisting the urge to try and watch it all over again before the sixth and final series starts next year. So far so good...

Something I've NOT been watching though is Survivors - Where is series 2..? I could have sworn it started the same time as Spooks last year. OK, I know I was vocal about my issues with the first series but I still liked it (it's post apocalyptic - I can't really help myself!). Besides the last couple of episodes were much stronger - the final episode in particular was riveting, and surprising! Add to this the fact that the second series was filmed in my fourth favourite city - Birmingham - and colour me excited. Bring on the further adventures of Tom Price! Still don't understand *that* credit though...

Come back soon for more stuff what I've been watching!

Time May Change Me

2009-11-11T17:37:00.011Z

I think my calendar is broken. It's telling me November but that can't possibly be right can it? Hmm. Seems my phone is broken too. And my laptop. And my watch. Oh hang on, I don't wear a watch...

Hello and welcome to a new update on my blog.

Despite the acceleration of 2009 (I suspect we may have skipped September altogether) the year continues to go well. I am almost completely treatmented up and ready to write the first draft of my new script. It's intended as a pilot and has the working title of "The Preservationists", in fact I like that title so much it may stick. I've booked Friday off and my intention is to write like a bastard for three days before collapsing onto the sofa on Sunday night with a glass of wine to have my pants scared off by The Waters of Mars. If all goes well this project will be the long awaited (by no one in particular apart from me) follow up to BBC writersroom's request to see my next work.

Once the first draft of The Preservationists is completed I'm going to forget all about it for a month or so while I do a full rewrite on my horror feature, The Quiet Night Inn. That should take us up to December when I'll have a tinker with The Preservationists before resurrecting a long dormant feature film script and starting it from scratch over Christmas. I'll probably be after some power of three action around then too, so let me know if you're interested - I'll return the favour naturally.

Exciting stuff which will take me up to the new year - hopefully with three decent scripts and a fair bit of momentum. In the new year I have some new projects to start, including a strong idea for another horror feature (something more... urban this time), a sitcom and various other half formed ideas. Most of all I want to start with a clear desk. Hence the frantic work in the next couple of months.

"So how come you're so enthusiastic about your work again?" You're probably not asking. I'm glad you asked. It's because there's something I haven't told you, dear reader. A couple of months ago I left my employer of some ten years for a job that allows me more flexibility, a shorter commute, and some hope of having the energy to work when I come home of an evening. I was sad to leave the old firm, they've been good to me and I will always be fond of them, but there are changes on the way and it was a prudent move. Happily my new job has been a terrific success. I'm home much earlier in the evening and writing most evenings.

I'm feeling positive about the future for a lot of reasons, but particularly because I've worked on my writing more, and harder, for the last few months than for a long time. There have been a lot of changes over the last couple of years; leaving Cardiff, Emma becoming a teacher, buying a house, and so on. My change in jobs feels like the last piece slotting into place. Finally I can commit all my energies to making it as a screenwriter.

As long as nothing else comes along and demands all my attention...

A warning to others...

2009-10-17T16:57:00.009+01:00

This is a desktop Henry the Hoover.

This is a Dyson.

One of these is useful for getting the dust, dead skin cells and bits of chilli heatwave doritos out from between your laptop keys. One is not.

Use the wrong one and your laptop will end up looking like this;

Although to be honest there isn't really any point going through the tightly wound knots of dust, human hair and spiders-which-fell-prey-to-your-wife looking for the 'k' key as the retainer will be lost forever. And the sellotape look is so not chic. Save yourself the trouble and buy one of these;

Better yet, don't use a dyson to hoover your laptop keyboard.

The Precious

2009-09-28T08:00:00.001+01:00

YES! I have finally started work on my long gestating family drama series. Fingers crossed for the Robin Hood slot. Actually there's not a hope in hell of it being made. It would cost a fortune and no one would invest in an expensive series by an untested writer. It's just meant to show what I can do. It's great fun to outline anyway, and hopefully that will come across to readers. Planning to have the first pass on the pilot script complete by the end of October.

I've been working on one feature script all year, in between changing jobs and other scary/exciting real life stuff, so it feels good to put that aside and work on something new. One skill I seem to totally lack is the ability to juggle numerous projects at the same time. I have to crack that. The revised target for this year is to hit January with three new specs, feels like I'm on course for the first time in ages. Very exciting.

There seems to have been some grumbling recently from writers who want to get into TV but don't want to write for Doctors, or Casualty or the soaps. There's nothing wrong with those shows you know. Chances are, unless you're incredibly fortunate, you'll have to write for something along those lines before anyone decides to film your magnificent octopus so don't get too precious. No one is too good for Casualty or the serial dramas, and those shows are going to look pretty damn good on your cv. Here are some gob-smackingly excellent writers who started out on these shows;

Tony Warren (Corrie)
Jack Rosenthall (Corrie)
Paul Abbott (Corrie)
Frank Cottrell Boyce (Corrie)
Paul Cornell (Corrie, Casualty)
Matt Jones (Corrie)
Gerry Davis (Corrie)
Barbara Machin (Emmerdale Farm)
Tony McHale (Eastenders)
Catherine Tregenna (Eastenders, Casualty)
Ashley Pharoah (Casualty)
Keith Temple (Casualty)
And some fella called Tony Jordan (Boon, Eldorado, Minder, Eastenders).

If it was good enough for them (and many more) then it's well good enough for me.

Tell, don't show

2009-09-27T11:16:00.012+01:00

Watching The Blair Witch Project and The Haunting in the same week has highlighted to me that the two films, though very different in execution, use the same techniques to render the viewer terrified.

In neither film do you ever see anything truly supernatural or horrific. The tension and scares come from hearing the history of Hill House, or the urban myths of Burkittsville as locals recall stories concerning the history of the town.

Even when the forces of evil strike you still see nothing. The presence of evil is demonstrated purely through the terrifying sound effects and reactions of the cast, building on what you have learned from the films characters.

So sometimes it does pay to tell, not show.

Can You Save Her?

2009-09-25T08:51:00.011+01:00

TV's James Moran and the previously mentioned Monsieur Daniel Turner have a new project coming at the end of October, just in time for Halloween.

It's a web series called Girl Number 9 which will be available internationally from here at 9pm GMT on October 30th.

The press release says...

Vincent Boylan (Joe Absolom) has just been arrested, suspected of being behind the brutal murder of seven girls, but the team only have a limited time to get a confession. If they can't make him talk, he could slip through their fingers. Detective Matheson (Gareth David-Lloyd), who is leading the investigation, is sent in to try and get some answers. But things soon take a horrifying turn for the worse, as Matheson and his boss Lyndon (Tracy-Ann Oberman) find out that all is not as it seems. The mystery deepens as everyone is drawn into Boylan's sick mind games, and each twist-packed episode ends on a tantalising cliffhanger, making every instalment a must-see.

Sounds exciting, n'est pas? There is a Facebook page and if you're on Twitter (aren't we all?) you can follow the characters right up until the first episode becomes available. How modern!

Those Twitter links are...

Girl Number 9

@Lyndon

@Dunbar

@Weinberg

@Boylan

Free screenwriting podcasts‏

2009-09-23T18:14:00.003+01:00

Hello you.

The Mighty Adrian Mead has filmed a series of awesome free podcasts for The Scottish Book Trust about building a career as a professional screenwriter. The intro to the series is now available here.

If you get something out of the podcasts why not download Adrian's excellent book, Making It As A Screenwriter. All money from the book goes to the UK charity Childline. I've recommended it before, as have many others.

That is all.

Legen - wait for it - dary!

2009-09-04T17:31:00.009+01:00

Starting today at 7.30pm E4 will be showing How I Met Your Mother. I'm a huge fan of this show and if you give it a look you'll see why. Reading about it will probably just make you think it's another Friends-type comedy, which I guess it is... but it's also so much more.

The series is about this chap in the year 2030 telling his children how he met their mother. Each episode is a flashback to his youth and a particular incident in his ongoing (up to four seasons now) saga of romance and friendship. Here are three of the reasons why I love How I Met Your Mother...

It never tells stories in chronological order. There is always at least some jumping back and forth in time. A bit like Coupling used to do.
The scripts are funny and clever, and touching without making you puke.
Legendary womaniser Barney Stinson may well be one of the funniest characters on television. Not for nothing does NPH keep getting nominated for Emmys. Check out Barney's Blog.

Anyway, give it a look if you can. I discovered it while channel hopping when it was running on Trouble (a channel that doesn't seem to exist any more). I don't think I ever would have watched it otherwise. True story.

E4 will be showing How I Met Your Mother every weekday at 7.30pm (a little early if you ask me) so it may be one for your PVR to collect.

Now SUIT UP!

Wikipedia
The Official CBS site (Beware SPOILERS!)
E4

Splendid

2009-08-21T17:25:00.004+01:00

It's here! It's here! The official trailer for the Splendid pilot (crafted by Messrs Turner, Beckley & Arnopp (sounds like a firm of Solicitors)) is here!

Go now, and learn why badgers don't dance. Then join the facebook group to get further updates. Then tell all your friends to watch the trailer too. Splendid.

Basterds

2009-08-18T10:33:00.005+01:00

I'm getting very excited about Inglourious Basterds, the new film from Quentin Tarantino, which opens in cinemas from tomorrow.

Here is the man himself selecting his twenty favourite films released since he became a director. It's great to see him still as enthusiastic about films as he was way back when he made Reservoir Dogs.

Inglourious Basterds official site
Everything Tarantino
The Quentin Tarantino Archives

In cinemas now

2009-08-18T10:05:00.006+01:00

Go and see these films (if you haven't already)...

Moon

Mesrine: Killer Instinct
Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One

I was lucky enough to catch both Mesrine films in a double bill at The Electric, what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Porcine Influenza

2009-07-29T20:55:00.007+01:00

Swine flu then. Knocked me out for two weeks. Two weeks where I couldn't do much more than sit on the sofa gazing at the goggle box, sometimes raising the strength to use my Xbox controller. It was actually less fun than it sounds but it did give me a chance to watch a hell of a lot of films.

Had a bit of a John Carpenter retrospective, re-watching They Live and Assault on Precinct 13 and (incredibly) watching The Fog for the first time. Followed those up with some New York films, The Warriors and the original Taking of Pelham One Two Three. The Warriors is so stylish, so exciting, just a great film. Pelham One Two Three blew us away though. The characters were so real, and so quickly established. I loved that everyone looked like real people, no beautiful Hollywood faces. Why don't films look like that any more? And that ending! They're running trailers for the remake on TV that make me want to weep!

Finished the third draft of The Quiet Night Inn on Monday night (Tuesday morning) so that's good. Quite a lot of little changes made and a lot of pages cut. Course now I've had a brilliant idea which involves a massive change to the script so draft four starts as soon as I get my strength back.

Unfortunately returning to work after two weeks off is taking it's toll at the moment. I'm a zombie by five pm every day. Not in a cool way though. There's also some quite major real life stuff going on which I'll be able to mention soon. It's not directly related to my writing but will have a big impact on it, in a positive way I mean! More news soon.

Feeling very motivated at the moment, probably due to a combination of watching loads of films, revisiting James Moran's blog from the very beginning, and just being excited about what I'm working on again. Nice.

Zombies, children and snow

2009-07-24T10:38:00.011+01:00

Saw The Children a couple of weeks ago and thought it was absolutely stunning; atmospheric, creepy and not at all afraid to deliver on it's promises. Written and directed by Tom Shankland, The Children is about two families spending Christmas together who find their children begin to behave oddly.The cast are uniformly excellent (even the children) but special mention to Hannah Tointon as the rebellious teenaged daughter who is the first to see something is afoot. Tense and genuinely scary, The Children is the best new horror film I've seen for some years.

Rotten Tomatoes
Eat My Brains
IMDB
Official Site

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Speaking of awesome horror films...

Dead Snow is finally getting a limited release in cinemas before hitting DVD's (and blu-rays, see how inclusive I am) in August. It's also being shown during FrightFest this year. Dead Snow concerns a group of young friends on vacation who run into trouble with a platoon of Nazi Zombies. This film isn't going to win any oscars but has an infectious enthusiasm and will please fans of the genre. This is really a love letter to Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, and horror films in general from Tommy Wirkola. It also features snow and zombies, two of my favourite things.

Rotten Tomatoes
Official site
Eat My Brains
IMDB

Torchwood and stuff

2009-07-23T18:51:00.014+01:00

Well they caught me out there. I always watch Torchie and I've enjoyed every episode on some level but I would never have called myself a Torchwood fan as such. It's a good, fun show. It's a bit daft. It's a romp. That's about the level of thought involved on my part.

So where the fuck did Children of Earth come from?! There was I all ready for five nights of gallivanting and rude jokes. What do I get instead? Probably the most impressive and affecting drama event British television has seen for decades. Make no mistake this was landmark event sf happening on six million screens every night for a week. I don't know if I'm happier about the TW production team beating the shit out of Britain with such a hard hitting and devastating story or with the British public for sticking with it all week (it's ratings were not only excellent but consistent!).

Of course then the Torchwood 'fans' had to go and leave a nasty taste in every one's mouth by having a pop at TV's James Moran, hardest working screenwriting blogger in the world. Apparently they have an issue with something that happened in the story. Twats. I didn't like it when Apollo Creed died in Rocky IV but I didn't get in Stallone's face about it. Grow up. James Moran appears to have been a victim of his own availability, and the result is that we regular readers of his blog are the one's who will now miss out while the Woodies all piss off to argue amongst themselves or burn RTD in effigy. Arseholes.

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If you haven't seen any of Getting On (Wednesdays, BBC4) it's well worth checking it out on the I-player. It's a very, very funny sitcom written by and starring Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlon and Vicki Pepperdine and directed by Peter Capaldi. The BBC describe it as a "darkly comic drama series about life on an NHS geriatric ward", which is accurate.

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Last recommendation for today is Chuck (Mondays, Virgin 1). This is a great series about a young chap who works in the equivalent to a Curry's store and finds himself drawn into the world of international spies. It's great fun watching Chuck balance the demands of the NSA and CIA against those of his employers and his big sister. It also benefits from co-starring Adam Baldwin of Firefly fame who is hilarious as a hard-as-nails NSA hitman posing as a shop assistant. Check it out.

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Wow. Two posts in one day, you lucky dabs. I was also going to tell you about space flu and the rewrite from Hell but I think I'll hold back for the weekend...

Flickchart

2009-07-23T11:22:00.006+01:00

Flickchart is really much more fun than it ought to be. The idea is that Flickchart shows you two films and you choose which you prefer. On the basis of your selections Flickchart then starts building a list of your favourite films. The more selections you make, the more accurate your list becomes, in my experience anyway.

There are a lot of films missing at the moment as the site is still pretty new. In particular non US films are currently under represented (which explains why Hell Drivers in uncharacteristically absent from my favourites).

You're also able to look at charts reflecting the choices of all flickchart users. You can view the best films of all time, or even select genre's, directors, decades etc.

I recommend you check it out, better clear an hour or so though as it's fiendishly addictive! More than the charts, or the rankings, I just love being presented with films that I'd forgotten existed (for example Megaforce or Sssssss).

Michael Jackson, 1958 - 2009

2009-06-26T10:03:00.003+01:00

Specialist Subject: The Bleeding Obvious

2009-05-13T20:18:00.007+01:00

Spotted two items of interest to writers on television recently...

Fawlty Towers Reopened

Last weekend there was a terrific new documentary about Fawlty Towers on (what used to be called) UK Gold. Knowing cable I'm sure there will be opportunities to catch this again if you missed it. It's well worth keeping an eye out as there were a lot of insights into the genesis of the programme, and how John Cleese and Connie Booth wrote it.

Says (not) UK Gold...

To help celebrate its 30th anniversary, G.O.L.D. is throwing open the doors of TV's most famous hotel once more after a lengthy absence.

New and exclusive, Fawlty Towers: Re-opened gathers cast and crew together to retrace the history of the sitcom from a rarely seen insider point of view. The one-off special leaves no English Riviera stone unturned in its search for trivia and nuggets of information from the Fawlty Towers guestbook, together with in-depth interviews with John Cleese, Andrew Sachs and Prunella Scales, as well as Connie Booth talking about her memories from the show for the first time in 30 years. Just don't mention the war.

Meanwhile, on ITV3...

There's a series called Beyond a Joke looking at how the British sitcom has reflected society over the years, with insights from the writers and actors (plus some irrelevant pundits). You can catch up on this with ITV's catch up telly widget here.

Breaking into the film and TV industry

2009-04-27T21:22:00.005+01:00

In case you haven't already heard about this elsewhere; Adrian Mead has a new course coming up in London in July. Adrian is the author of 'Making it as a Screenwriter', which I mentioned only last week, and his courses have a reputation for being incredibly useful AND inspirational. I may even stray down to the big city myself for this one.

Here's some more info straight from the man himself...

Breaking into the film and TV industry

How are you going to get your break and advance your career as a screenwriter or filmmaker in the midst of an economic downturn?

The idea for a day about career building came from a spate of calls I've had recently from new writers and filmmakers who were ready to give up trying to build a career. Despite gaining qualifications, reading numerous websites and sending out scripts nothing had changed for them.

My answer was simple and brutal, "If you haven't achieved what you want yet, then you aren't really putting all that knowledge into action. Knowing isn't doing."

Think back to January. You were all fired up about breaking into the film and TV industry, "This has to be the year when I make it happen!"

So, how has it gone? What have you achieved so far? Be honest, didn't you make that same speech last January, maybe even the year before that? So why are you trapped in your own version of Groundhog Day?

In order to find the answer you first need to recognize a huge and fundamental truth.

Knowing isn't doing

Knowledge doesn't change things. Action does.

Already some of you will have been lining up your excuses, "The film and TV industry has changed massively in the last six months. I don't know where to start now. I mean, what's the point in trying to break into an industry besieged by cancellations and budget cuts?"

In fact you couldn't be more wrong. This is a great time to be a new writer or filmmaker trying to get your break. Seriously. If you know where to look there are numerous new opportunities available to you because of the economic downturn. Yet most of you will miss them as you continue employing a half-hearted, outdated and now redundant approach to advancing your career.

Take action and join me at THE SCREENWRITER'S CAREER GUIDE to discover what you need to do in order to break into the film and TV industry today.

This will be a day jam packed with the very latest career building opportunities for screenwriters and filmmakers. No screenwriting theory, just a clear guide to the shape of the Film and TV industry as it is now and how it is likely to develop.

The once standard approach you used even three months ago is now redundant. Everything has changed. You need to do the same or get left behind. These are exciting times filled with opportunities for new writers and filmmakers who know where to look and are ready to adapt and collaborate. THE SCREENWRITER'S CAREER GUIDE will teach you how to take action that will build contacts, find money and build a career.

Adrian

THE SCREENWRITER'S CAREER GUIDE will be presented by Adrian Mead. If you have attended one of Adrian’s classes before you know to expect the most up to date information from a working professional.

We work hard at creating a fun and friendly atmosphere and this will be an excellent opportunity to forge links with fellow creatives and extend your network of contacts. This event is sure to sell out early and here's what participants of Adrian’s previous classes have said -

I found the course absolutely invaluable. Adrian avoided the well trodden ground of screenwriting theory and instead concentrated on how to actually get finished manuscripts into the hands of producers and agents.

Stuart

Adrian delivered the lab in a charismatic and professional manner. Giving clarity and focus to the sometime daunting task of making it as a writer.

Monica

The course was amazing. I gained a real insight into the industry and now feel enthused to pursue my goals with vigour and boldness!

Megan

When and Where
The next course will be held on 4 July 2009 at a central London location.
The course fee is £ 70 + VAT (EARLY BIRD UNTIL 15 MAY). The fee includes all materials and light refreshments.

To book go to http://www.initialize-films.co.uk/ and check out THE SCREENWRITER'S CAREER GUIDE.

Testimonials
You can view testimonials for Adrian's sell out classes and acclaimed e-book MAKING IT AS A SCREENWRITER at http://www.meadkerr.com/

In the confusing forest of screenwriting books here is a sturdy oak: simple, honest and true. Highly recommended.

Ashley Pharoah
Screenwriter and Producer
Co Creator of Life On Mars, Ashes To Ashes

William Goldman on the Southbank Show Tonight!!

2009-04-26T11:53:00.004+01:00

Apologies if everyone knows this already but...

Tonight's South Bank Show is on William Goldman, screenwriter extraordinary and author of Adventures in the Screen Trade and Which Lie Did I Tell? (amongst others).

Says RT...

When you see tonight's programme is about the screenwriter William Goldman, you may wonder if he has a film coming out. He hasn't. This is a free-standing, plug-free South Bank Show that simply revels in Goldman's insights (he's famous for saying that in Hollywood, "Nobody knows anything") and allows him to cast an eye back over a career that includes Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Marathon Man and Misery. It's a joy to watch some of his great scenes - the knife-fight challenge in Butch Cassidy, the hobbling scene in Misery - and hear Goldman's comments, as well as contributions from screenplay guru Robert McKee and Hugh Grant. We hear how Steve McQueen nearly played Sundance, but his agent and Paul Newman's couldn't agree on who would get top billing. And we get Goldman's perspective on directing ("the brutal labour of it") and stars ("very frightened people"). But strangely, neither he nor Melvyn Bragg ever mentions The Princess Bride.

I guess it'll be on the ITV eyeviewer type thingy after the fact. Personally I'm gonna tell my swanky V+ box to record it because I'm sooo high tech.

The Skinny

2009-04-19T11:53:00.016+01:00

I n The Loop

Caught this at the Electric on Friday and was very pleased with it. I heartily recommend the film, and no prior knowledge of The Thick of It is required.

Newswipe

I think this is half way through it's run now but as I always seem to promote Charlie Brooker's television exploits why break the habit now? Here he uses his razor sharp wit to cut right through the media flim-flam and get at the guts of how the News works. If you haven't been watching you can catch up here, for now at least...

Primeval

They're back, and they're making some brave changes to the set up. I'm a big fan of the show and series three continues to deliver. If you like Saturday night family drama then check it out.

Law & Order: UK

This has been fantastic, and has lost none of the pace or tone of the original in the transatlantic shift. I think we're in a mid-series break at the moment but you can see previous episodes here. Episode seven from the sixth of April has been the best of the bunch so far. I understand they made thirteen episodes for series one so hopefully it will be back soon. It can be strong stuff though, so be warned.

Waiting for Godot

My favourite Beckett, well it's everyone's favourite I suppose. Caught this in Malvern in March and was a bit blown away. The production hits London April 30th, you could do far worse than get yourself a ticket.

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I finally got around to buying Adrian Mead's Making It As A Screenwriter last month. Embarrassingly I hadn't bought it because I no longer have a paypal account (don't like or trust paypal after nearly getting badly burned a few years ago). I decided to open a new account just to get the book only to discover you didn't actually need one. D'oh!

Anyway if you haven't got it (and I'm pretty sure you have) then you really ought to snap it up. It's a bargain at £7.79 and the dosh goes to Childline.

I used to buy a lot of books about screenwriting but stopped because they all had more or less the same amount of useful advice in them. Also most were written by people whose names you never see on a screen, large or small, which says something, eh?

Mead's book is different. It's relevant, filled with example documents and clear, simple advice, it's witty and motivational. If you're serious about screenwriting this is the tool you need most urgently, click here to buy it.

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I've been having a go on Trigger Street at last. Response to my script has been encouraging, and there has been some very useful notes. Towards the end of the month I'll compile a list of points raised and get ready for a rewrite next month.

I didn't realise quite how the credit system works, which is my own fault, but it turns out it's quite a lot of work to get credits so that your script get's reviews. It is if you're going to put your full energy into reviewing someone's submission anyway (which is only fair if you're going to expect the same in return). I now know that it takes me a good hour or more to read a script (more if I'm not enjoying it), and probably the same again to write up some notes. That's two hours per script, and for me it's coming out of writing time (unless I pick up a netbook or something, then I can do it on the train). That's quite a drain on your time, though worth it for the feedback.

I don't think I'll be putting all my energies into TS. It's fairly rare for me to work on a feature anyway and they have no forum for television scripts. It has been very useful with this specific script, if you're after unbiased feedback I recommend it. Doing a lot of recommending today!

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Heartfelt congratulations to Jason, Dave, Oli and William for securing positions on the Red Planet workshop with Tony Jordan. Congrats also to Mark Wilkinson, the winner of Red Planet 2009.

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You may have noticed I'm updating this site less often. This is only because I'm being much stricter with myself as regards usage of time. All my energy is being put into writing at the moment.

When I sit in my nice shiny chair in my (Lamont Cranston-style) Sanctum I sit here to write, not to blog. Blogging isn't working, so it has to come second. In fact it's further down than that because it comes after planning too. Ahh, poor blogging.

Also a lot of this blog used to be television reviews, and me spouting off about telly in general. In fact that was initially how I intended to use it, I started blogging about my writing only when I saw others were doing it (No sheep jokes puh-leeease!). Since I read Making it as a Screenwriter I'm somehow less keen to do this. I should be building bridges here. It's not like I'd go into work at the day job and email the MD to tell him his latest idea is shit, is it? I don't want to piss him off.

I'll still update as and when I can, and trust me - if I have news I'll be here like a flash. In the mean time though, I'll see you when I see you.

Getting Saturday nights

2009-02-16T07:20:00.013Z

I didn't like the look of Demons, the recent ITV series. I don't know if it was Mackenzie Crook's bird mask, the synopsis that made the show sound like it had been made ten years ago (probably after someone watched a bit too much Buffy) and slipped through a time hole, the idea of getting a Brit to play an American (I mean in this day and age!), or the fact that Phil Glenister appeared to be wearing his Gene Hunt costume.

Whatever it was I thought, "This looks dire, I'll give it a miss and if the reviews are good I'll catch up." It's a lazy technique but it's served me well before, and I don't have time to catch up on the shows that ARE worth watching never mind soiling my eyes with stuff I know I'm going to hate. I might as well watch The One Show, or paint drying, if there is a difference.

The reviews weren't good. They were scathing.

OK. So I made a good call. Go me! No down side. Except...

They were really scathing. So scathing that I hear they've postponed the third series of Primeval so people can forget about Demons first. You know, because the idiots that watch ITV programmes might not be able to tell the difference between two different TV shows. Or something.

This is proper, card carrying, hitting your own head with a mallet, nuts. Primeval is great. It's imaginative, original, exciting, varied, fresh, but most importantly of all it's the only Doctor Who stand in so far that actually gets Saturday Night/Family drama.

When I was a kid Saturday night TV was all about Doctor Who, Robin of Sherwood, The Tripods, The A team, Knight Rider, Manimal, Automan, etc., etc. Where is the variety now? It's no good just cloning shows about legendary characters or ripping off successful series from the nineties! We need some actual ideas.

Let's think about this for a second. Since Doctor Who did what they said couldn't be done and proved that British society hadn't slipped so far into some Anthony Burgess vision of the future that the whole family couldn't watch television together on a Saturday night without Graham Norton, Cilla Black, Noel Edmonds or Dale Winton staring dead-eyed back out at them there have been several further attempts at Saturday Night Family Drama.

Robin Hood. OK on the one hand this was the first effort, thrown into production as soon as Saturday night was resuscitated. On the other hand it was made by the BBC who might be expected to get it? In fairness I didn't mind Robin Hood. Most people though seemed to be a bit hung up on the non-period costumes and language but I liked it's Xena-ish tone and thought it was good enough fun. It's no substitute for Who though. The third series has been so long coming now that I wonder if anyone will even notice when they follow up killing Marion off by having Robin leave the show.

Primeval. We'll come back to this.

Merlin. Putting aside my previously mentioned issues with the retelling of the Merlin story (or rebooting of Arthurian legend), Merlin worries me for a number of reasons. It's another BBC effort. It's another period set show. It's another myth/legend poured onto our screens for family viewing. It's Robin Hood 2 isn't it? It's 'Here's what we learned from making Robin Hood by the BBC: We took out the anachronistic costumes'. Bit lazy isn't it? Isn't there any more imagination than this planning our TV schedules? What next? Beowulf? William Tell? Jack the Giant Killer? People in forests with swords volume 3?

Demons. I can't really comment on this as I didn't watch it. The fact that it appears to have failed says enough though. Clearly it didn't get Saturday nights.

What has Primeval got that these other shows haven't? I'll tell you. It mixes the every day with the fantastic. It has a different setting every week. It has a strong sense of humour. It doesn't take itself too seriously. Remind you of anything else?

But what this post is really about though is this; There are massive opportunities for people who do get it to create fresh, exciting family drama for Saturday nights. Just thinking of BBC1 and ITV there are 104 potential slots per year. At present only a fraction are occupied. The powers that be may not know this yet but if they get enough fresh, exciting ideas for family drama from talented new writers maybe they'll look at one and say, 'Hey, the eight million or so people who watch Doctor Who every Saturday night would watch this!"

Whatever you do don't tell any other writers though or they'll all be at it. Must dash, I've a family drama script to finish. You'd love it, it's period set...

Snow is falling

2009-02-08T16:44:00.004Z

Here's the view from the sanctum right now. That's fresh snow falling in case you can't tell. Just when I'd started thinking we were in the clear!

Did you mean: rob stidler?

2009-02-08T11:47:00.013Z

Search terms, we do love them don't we. Here's some of the burning issues that bring those with a thirst for knowledge to the Island...

overrated noel clarke - Not by me, I think he's great.

Did Leon Jackson see ghostface pictures in the xfactor - Please don't come here again.

I don't know nuffing about no skellingtons - Ah, a Hot Fuzz enthusiast.

how do i stop my door getting jammed when it's damp? - Don't live in Worcester.

steps to follow to survive in an island - Step one, climb out of island...

sicknote facebook - What? Do you need a sicknote if you're not going to sign in or something?

this user has no friends yet - Oh thanks Google, thanks a lot.

richard sharpe jokes - Someone writing an after dinner speech at the Bernard Cornwell Appreciation society annual dinner?

he's not my lover he's my boyfriend - Oooooooooooooookay.

In reality most people come here because they're searching for the Red Planet prize, Springfields lyrics or Charters and Caldicot. But none of those are that amusing.

------------------------

On a more serious note this week was pretty disastrous writing wise. Lost a lot of time getting to and from work in the snow. This is really my own fault for a)living so far from where I work and b)living in Sedgley, which is placed upon an atmospheric rift which exaggerates whatever weather the rest of the country is having (If you see a light mist we get a pea souper, bit of drizzle? We get the monsoon. I'd complain but you know I love it really, it's so atmospheric!).

My boss is also off for a couple of weeks so work is a little more trying than usual, I did bear this in mind when planning this months writing work but forgot to account for the worst snow in eighteen years. Schoolboy error.

Luckily all I wanted to do was work up two TV treatments to try and decide what I'm going to write next month, so I can spare one lost week.

Hoping for some feedback on my most recent script next week. I'm also considering sticking it up on Trigger Street but a little foolishly paranoid about copyright stuff.

OK, that's all for now.

Being Human again

2009-02-02T20:40:00.008Z

Remember when I (amongst many others) was going on and on about the Being Human pilot and how bloody great it was?

Well it's back and it's on BBC3 on Sunday nights, the second episode was on last night and if you haven't been watching it you should be. Don't worry though, I'm not going to get all in your face about it just as long as you go now and catch up via the old eyeballer here. Do so now and we'll say no more about it.

I'll probably be banging on about it more some other time when I haven't had to walk through snow for forty minutes to get home from the local train station. In the mean time if you don't want to take my word why not see what Frank makes of it over at Cathode Ray Tube?

The Rules (Part 1 of ?)

2009-01-31T09:28:00.008Z

Writing hard through January has taught me a couple of lessons about myself and how I write.

Do your prep. Preppy! Preppy! Prep! This is pretty obvious but sometimes I just can't wait to get started. I'll think to myself "I'll work it out as I go." This is stupid and will only end in me hitting a brick wall and abandoning ship (mix your metaphors much?). I have a couple of projects I really can't face going back to because I hit the ejector seat mid-flight. More planning would have fixed this. I don't mean working out whether your characters are Elvis or Beatles men and what flavour Fruit Corner they like after dinner, but it does mean knowing where the story is going, and having some waypoints to work through, even if all that changes once you're writing.

Plan for as long as you like, draft to a deadline. No more open ended writing first drafts for me, once I'm ready to start I need to eat breathe and sleep that script until the draft is complete. In the past I've stepped away from a script because of a problem, or for no real reason, but once I've lost that enthusiasm there's no guaranteeing I'll get it back. Plus it's all very well having written notes to refresh your memory but what about all the stuff you don't write down? The things that just occur to you while your writing and get filed away for rewrites? I know the human brain remembers everything but accessing it can be an issue, best to press on. A month should be enough for a first draft of anything.

Work hard but take breaks. Even if you only do the dishes (one of my favourite working out issues jobs), feed the cat or make a cup of tea. It might be hard work to force yourself to sit at your desk sometimes but it can be just as important to get up and move around.

It's basic stuff but putting it down in black and white feels good. I think I need to lay down some laws for myself and these are the first. I need to come up with something about distractions but we'll come back to that.

On another note the following image has helped me out a lot this month, I can't remember where I got it but I wanted to share it with you...

Happy New Year!

2009-01-30T18:02:00.005Z

You see what I did there? Oh yeah, everyone can talk about New Years and resolutions at the start of January. Me? I like to hold back for the start of February so I get every one's attention.

Actually I don't. I just did it this year because I didn't want to think about what was rubbish last year and what was going to be different this year then crash and burn. So I've had a nice shiny month of writing, and thinking about what I'm going to write next month, and how this year is going to be the first of the the rest of my writing career.

I just finished my first draft script of the year, which I only started on the twelfth of Jan (that's like light speed for me).

So now I feel like I can confront the shit that was 2008 and expound upon the mighty bedrock that is to be 2009. Let's get it on then and look at what I asked for last year...

I didn't have a blog last year so I can't use it to gauge this years achievements. Unfortunately I'd say a lot of the things on this list would have been on it last year too. On the other hand I passed my driving test, changed my career and moved to the Midlands so it wasn't a total loss. Here is what we want from 2008

Write daily, establish a routine.
Complete a clutch of scripts in time for SFW '08 in Cheltenham.
Make some contacts/promote myself more.
(Finally) send a follow up script to Writers Room.
Enter Red Planet '08.
Send a steady stream of spec scripts to 2000AD.
Most importantly - get something published or produced somewhere.
At least one bog update per week - and on a broader range of subjects.
Maybe a little fiction on the blog now and again?
Low Carb diet and plenty of regular exercise.
Possibly create a new website.
Buy a house.
Have a proper holiday (like abroad and everything!).
Organise time so Emma and I have more 'quality' time together.
Watch plenty of good telly, films and theatre.
Read constantly.
Build a Linux machine.
Get more enjoyment from small pleasures.
It's not that much really, eh? In the scheme of things. Just laying the bedrock for a productive writing career.

My greatest problem is not completing projects and if I can't beat that Devil in 2008 then I might as well quit. Yes, you can hold me to that.

Oh God it's even worse than I thought. Especially as it starts with a disclaimer/excuse. I was going to start this one by mentioning buying a house but we'll brush over that...

Write daily, establish a routine - I failed terribly with this last year. I continued to work in fits and spurts, mostly binge writing. This will feature in the list for this year, and to my credit I can tick this for January so I've started well.

Complete a clutch of scripts in time for SFW '08 in Cheltenham - Yeah right. I completed one script last year which I then went off immediately. And I didn't go to SWF.

Make some contacts/promote myself more - Kind of ironically I did less of this than I had the previous year.

Enter Red Planet '08 - Nope. (Finally) send a follow up script to Writers Room - Still no.

Send a steady stream of spec scripts to 2000AD - No, not one.

Most importantly - get something published or produced somewhere - Or not.

At least one blog update per week - and on a broader range of subjects - Negative.

Maybe a little fiction on the blog now and again? - What you mean like this list? Would have to write some first.

Low Carb diet and plenty of regular exercise - Actually yeah, I've done a bit of both of these. Unfortunately they don't really help with the writing.

Possibly create a new website - No, didn't need to. Might be something I look at later this year though.

Buy a house - Yes. Back of the net.

Have a proper holiday (like abroad and everything!) - Again, yes.

Organise time so Emma and I have more 'quality' time together - Another yes, mostly (I think Emma would agree).

Watch plenty of good telly, films and theatre - Actually I did well here too.

Read constantly - Not constantly, still a binge reader, read quite a lot though.

Build a Linux machine - No, and this is to be discouraged. No diversifying, I'm a writer, I don't have time for hobbies.

Get more enjoyment from small pleasures - See previous answer, or just dry up and fuck off.

It's not that much really, eh? In the scheme of things. Just laying the bedrock for a productive writing career. My greatest problem is not completing projects and if I can't beat that Devil in 2008 then I might as well quit. Yes, you can hold me to that. - And this just in... No, you can't hold me to that. Turns out it was a typo. Ha.

So there you have it. As far as writing goes 2008 was bad, but four little weeks into 2009 and it all feels so much better.

I do feel that I've spent the last couple of years putting myself in a good position, in terms of work and at home, to concentrate more energy on my writing career. I'm putting that to the test by devoting the first half of this year to producing spec scripts.

As I mentioned I already have a rough draft one for a feature to show for January's effort, next month I plan (between rewrites) to develop two new ideas I have for drama series with a view to writing an episode in March, I'll worry about April when we get to March, if that isn't getting a little too confusing.

Anyway, the objectives for 2009;

Continue current routine for writing daily (more or less daily anyway, I do usually have Friday nights off).
Produce a nice fresh bunch of spec scripts of various genres/formats by June.
Participate in the scribosphere more fully, I've been a bit of a lurker recently (for which I apologise).
From July onwards I intend to look at promoting my work more, start entering some competitions again, and basically get down to the proper hard part of writing - getting someone to do something with your work.
On a similar theme, Make some contacts/promote myself more - NETWORK
Yes, this year the Writers Room follow up is going in, even though they've probably forgotten who I am by now!
It's another carry on, more books, TV, films and theatre. It's all about the words.

I've always taken pride in maintaining a professional attitude in the day job and working as hard and as well as I can. It's time to apply that to my writing and to make it stick. If I can't do that then I really might as well... no, I'm not going down that road again.

The good news is that so far I'm very pleased with 2009, which gives it a head start on last year already.

Ricardo Montalbán, 1920 - 2009

2009-01-15T07:33:00.003Z

Khan Noonien Singh, Last of the genetic Supermen.

Wikipedia

Patrick McGoohan, 1928 - 2009

2009-01-14T19:22:00.008Z

Perhaps oddly it is not his awesome turn as Number Six in The Prisoner with which I most strongly associate Patrick McGoohan. In fact as a self confessed genre nut it's unusual that of all his roles, as he strode through cult film and television during a fifty year career, the performances I most cherished were in two relatively mainstream pictures, both of which have sat comfortably in my top ten favourite films of all time for some years.

Hell Drivers (1957)

Ice Station Zebra (1968)

The world seems a weaker and smaller place for the loss of this magnificent actor and great intellect.

The Guardian

BBC News

IO9

IMDB

The 7.10 to Euston

2009-01-13T08:19:00.001Z

I had resolved not to post until the end of the month but find myself on the train with very little to do. If only I had an Asus! On the plus side I do have access to email and therefore you! No pretty pictures today though sorry.

Haven't posted a proper update in about a month so what the hell have I been doing? Well...

As work (the bill paying kind) tends to gear up going into Christmas I expected not to get much writing done. In fact I wrote December off altogether and concentrated instead on catching up on some reading and viewing.

Christmas was lovely. Our first in our new house, our first where we didn't have to dash up/down the motorway on Christmas eve, our first with Nyssa. Of course it was all over a little quick, even with my generous five days off. Before you know it the decorations are coming down and you're wondering why you spend so much longer preparing for Christmas than enjoying it...

New Years aren't really our thing so it was a quiet one. Particularly quiet as Emma went to bed poorly which left Nyssa and I to see in 2009 on our own. We celebrated via GTA IV (actually I thought the code crunchers might have put some fireworks in for New Year visitors to Liberty City but I was disappointed, perhaps in GTA V!).

I do have some resolutions, and a follow up to last years, but it was a scibosphere resolution frenzy at the start of the month so I'll save mine until the end. Just to be different.

That's enough for now. I'll post properly towards the end of January. Must go as the man is coming for my ticket so I'm afraid I'll have to trap him in a private cabin, strangle him with his tie and haul him out of the window as we pass through a tunnel. Even I can't really be expected to blog as I murder.

"Oh my ticket? Yes certainly, I think I put it over here..."

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Back soon

2009-01-08T22:38:00.004Z

Busy at the moment but back soon. Here's a funny from bLaugh in the meantime...

Merry Christmas everyone

2008-12-24T12:57:00.001Z

Merry Christmas everyone, and the best of New Years!

xxx

Oliver Postgate, 1925-2008

2008-12-09T20:47:00.004Z

BBC Item

Wikipedia

Oliver Postgate's website

"Created and written by Adrian Hodges"

2008-12-08T20:24:00.021Z

OK, so I would have posted about Survivors sooner but I accidentally deleted the most insightful and witty review the world had ever seen from my 'handheld' a couple of weeks ago and so had to start from scratch. Hard to make the words go together a second time so here's something slightly less witty but much less mean.

I'm a big fan of the original Survivors, you might have guessed that after my droning on about it for the last year or so since the new version was announced. I was pretty excited about the remake as I think it's that rarity - a story that deserves, demands even, to be retold. If you ask me the apocalypse is more relevant today than it was thirty years ago and I doubt society has ever been closer to it's inevitable collapse.

A couple of years ago, before I'd heard of a Survivors remake, I started writing a post apocalyptic drama pilot about a rag tag group of mismatched people bonding together in the face of barbarism, disease and the threat of their own lack of practical skills. I was halfway though it before I realised it was really just a retread of Survivors.

Maybe that's what irritates me so much about Adrian Hodges unimaginative take on Survivors (apart from the questionable 'Created and Written by' credit he seems to have given himself*). It's such a great premise for a series and so full of potential for new tales yet this reinterpretation retreads very closely the ground covered by the original. Whole sequences (I'm thinking particularly of the sequence where Abby succumbs to but eventually survives the virus) seem to be filmed straight from the original script. I suppose I'd read to much into it being described as a re-imagining of the original.

As has been pointed out in previous comments on this very page the new show is populated exclusively by young and beautiful people, shunning the ordinary folk of the original while crowing about it's multiculturalism.

Our band of beautiful survivors came together very quickly, which just about worked for this viewer, but I can't help feeling that was more due to only having six episodes commissioned than for the benefit of the story.

'Shit,' cries Mr Hodges, 'we can't spread them all meeting out over three episodes guys. They all need to have bonded by page 82. Plus let's just have them already set up in a house when episode two starts - no time for all that travelling the countryside guff'.

We heard so much about how 'slow' the original was and how 'pacey' and 'updated' the 2008 version would be. Truth is the storytelling in the remake is just rushed, not pacey.

Once established (off screen) in their new home the survivors seem to take no steps to protect themselves, despite encountering a series of armed and unfriendly people they gad about shopping and chasing chickens without any apparent thought of arming themselves or indeed any sign of a plan for the future. Stark contrast to the original where the group is drawn together by Abby's determination to survive and designs for doing so. By the third episode there seems to be little feeling of danger or jeopardy. There has been much talk of farming and relearning old skills but zero evidence of it actually happening.

The apocalypse has been a slight inconvenience mainly manifesting in an inability to text. This lack of danger is exacerbated by the viewers occasional visits to a secret and isolated scientific base where people wear lab coats and talk about the virus and it being 'time to begin'. Yawn. Perhaps this problem is caused by the programme makers seeming intent to focus on the 'hope' aspect of the story in an effort to avoid the show being depressing or weighty. Chirpy post-apocalyptic dramas are, in my experience, quite rare - and I struggle to see this as a bad thing.

Another irritation in the opening episode is the casting of lovely Freema Agyeman as Jenny, a character who survived the entire run of the original series, only to kill her off in the opening episode. That caught us off guard didn't it? Except the character replacing Jenny isn't particularly different to her and a new viewer wouldn't care anyway. It feels as if the production team are saying 'Ha! Anything goes in our Survivors.' The reality though is that it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if Jenny survives or if Anya survives. The change is purely superficial.

Public reaction to the show seemed to start well, although ratings have declined with each episode. Internet chatter and press reviews seemed to take issue with another post apocalyptic drama (perhaps not helped by the very recent, and very good, Dead Set on Channel 4). Perhaps in these days of 28 Day/Weeks Later, Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Fallout 3 and Wall-E there's only so many dead Earth's the public can take (not a sentiment I share). They'll be gutted to hear there's another TV version of Day of the Triffids on the way then.**

None of which is to say that I'm not enjoying it...

Maybe it's just the apocalypse slut in me but I kind of like it. I like the new characters, I like the multiculturalism. I think Paterson Joseph has managed to channel Ian McCulloch's standoffish (to the point of having a personality disorder) Greg Preston. Julie Graham (wincingly awful in the dire, dire, dire Bonekickers) brings much determination and passion to Abby Grant, even if she can't really compare to Caroline Seymour. Phillip Rhys is fun as the disenfranchised yuppie, completely out of his depth in the brave new world.

Cream of the new crop however is Max Beesley's Tom Price. A very differnt proposition to Talfryn Thomas's sometimes comical itinerant sleeper villain. The 21st Century Tom Price is a mercurial sociopath who seems happy to stand fast with his codependants for now, though it seems inevitable that blood will spill sooner or later - but whose will it be? His interaction with the other survivors is one of the highlights of the series so far.

If it wasn't for that 'Created and Written by' tag I'd probably be wholeheartedly endorsing Survivors 2008. As it stands I'm sticking with it in spite of it's lack of originality, it's arrogance and it's oddly neutered and unthreatening quiet Earth...

*How can something be 'Created and written by' one person AND ALSO 'Based upon the novel by' another person..? Discuss.
**And not gutted for the very good reasons that a)they can't hope to improve upon the 1981 version and b) there is so much more to Wyndham than the bloody Triffids. Why not film The Kraken Wakes for Gods sake!

Unnamed Blog Update

2008-12-06T17:04:00.008Z

I've been a bad blogger. Not bad as in murdered your parents and fashioned their faces into underpants but bad as in not really been updating the old blogerooney as much as I ought. In the spirit of a bit of catching up then, here's some of the nonsense what's been filling my head the last few months...

As I was recently saying over at the old Fractal Hall T2 never really delivered on the promise of the original Terminator film for me. I mean it's got some good moments, and Linda Hamilton does a fantastic job of turning the Sarah Connor of the first film on her head. I just couldn't be arsed with the cutesy 'I'm your best friend' version of the Terminator especially in the relentless-killing-machine-knee-capping-people-because-killing-is-bad scene. Call me a sourpuss but there it is. As it goes I was never a fan of ET or the Goonies either.

Anyway, I had zero interest in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which is as much interest as I'd had in Terminator 3 or the upcoming McWhatever sequels) but I happened to catch some of the opening episode on Virgin and thought it looked worth a look. I'm now starting on the second series and I must say it's really good.

It's a perfect sequel to both the original films story of the future resistance and the story of Sarah and John from T2. Lena Headey is excellent as the terribly damaged but relentlessly determined title character and Thomas Dekker (formerly of fast disappearing up it's own backside - Heroes) is sympathetic as teenage John Connor, who is almost a prisoner of his own destiny, whilst sometimes showing the steel of the impossibly heroic future John Connor we have heard so much about. Also Summer Glau of Firefly fame gets to beat the crap out of big burly blokes on a weekly basis - which has got to be worth a look surely?

Fringe is great. It's often referred to as a kind of X Files clone but there's much more to it than that. While it owes plenty to Mulder & Scully (you know, mysterious strangers, magic torches (as seen on CSI) and all that FBI baggage) it's an awful lot more fun that that show was even at it's peak. Most of the audiences enjoyment of the show comes from the relationships between the principal characters.

These three characters are drawn together by the things they see and quickly seem to bond almost in spite of themselves. Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), is an FBI agent drawn into a world of mysterious phenomena and niche science when her partner (in all senses) falls victim to a particularly unpleasant virus. The only person who can help them is Dr Walter Bishop (John Noble), an experimental scientist and grade A genius who has spent the last sixteen years in a mental institute. The third character is Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), Walter's brilliant and estranged son who is required to sign Walter out of the sanatorium.

Quite aside from weird science and hidden conspiracies Fringe is worth watching for the amusing and sometimes questionable antics of Walter Bishop, frequently reminiscent of televisions favourite Time Lord.

Right that's it for now but be warned, I'll be back soon to talk about Apparitions, Survivors and (as Look-In used to say) much, much more...

Screenwipe Writer Special

2008-12-02T18:33:00.005Z

Stop what you're doing and listen to me! ...with your eyes...

Thanks to my Electronic Programme Guide I've just noticed that this evenings Screenwipe
promises to be a Writers Special...

Charlie Brooker takes an irreverent look at all aspects of life on the small screen, including capsule reviews of the week's highs and lows.

In a writers' special, Brooker is joined by some of the best in the business to talk about how you make a TV programme actually happen. The people and pens behind Doctor Who, Father Ted, Peep Show, Life on Mars, Shameless and many more lead us through the joys and pitfalls of writing, with the added benefit of some of the best bits from the programmes.

More reason than usual to check tonight's edition out then. Remember it'll be be iplayable for a week after broadcast.

Congratulations...

2008-11-27T08:17:00.011Z

...to the plethora of Scribodromers who are through to the next stage of the Red Planet competition. In keeping with my unproductive year (two half complete scripts and just embarking on a third) I didn't enter this year, to give everyone else a chance obviously, but these guys did. And then they got shortlisted.

Jason, Michelle, William, Laurence, David, and Oli - Well done and good luck to all (we don't have any favourites here on the island (apart from you obviously, but don't tell the others)). How exciting to have so many scripter/bloggers selected - here's hoping one of you goes all the way.

Congrats also to anyone I haven't mentioned who got through.

Right, back to the day job now...

Coming soon...

2008-11-20T07:00:00.004Z

Hello.

Yes, it's me. Remember me? Remember all those great times we had? Well I'm back. Well not back exactly but nearly back, in the sense that I will soon be posting with details of what I've been up to recently and lots of ill-informed opinions about telly and writing and writing telly and stuff.

In the meantime I just wanted to highlight a couple of things happening on a tellybox near you at the moment...

Thing 1: Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe returned to BBC4 on Tuesday night. If you missed it be sure to check out the BBC Eye-voyuer for a digital rerun at your convenience.

B: Set your video, put your friends off of visiting and get excited because the remake of 'Survivors' starts on Sunday at 9pm. It has an excellent pedigree and promises to be a major television event so don't miss out. I'll be checking up on you remember...

That's all for now, you may go about your business.

You know why...

2008-10-29T23:43:00.002Z

The Big Picture

2008-09-29T22:15:00.006+01:00

Oh do I feel like a doofus. What a gulla-bull...

I've been working on this script for months. And months (it's not been the best year grindstone wise). I've been forging away and checking back to my little breakdown of what happens when, looking up at my notice board to get the big picture.

'Big picture' my jacksie.

I was writing away just now and I thought, OK, I've got to the mid point. I reckon I can blast on to the end of act two tonight (since I'm in pretty good spirits). Then I thought, 62 pages - wow. That's a long way in for a mid point on a fifty minute drama.

So I had a look at some other people's scripts for similar length slots.

What do you know, they're all around sixty-two pages. That's nice but there's a lot of stuff I'll cut, this is a rough draft after all. Although, there's a lot of notes I've made about things I want to expand on or add in during the redraft, this is a rough draft after all.

Then it hit me like a train, in a moment of complete clarity, an epiphany you might say: my scene breakdown is for two episodes, not one.

Of course I doubted myself. I said 'You're just saying that so you can tell yourself it's finished.'

'No I'm not,' I replied defensively.

'Yes, you are,' I insisted, 'I'm you, and I know how fed up of this first draft you are.'

'Still no actually,' I answered cockily, 'look at the structure, it's three acts. You're breakdown is six acts.'

'Shit,' I said, 'it's finished and I've got episode two planned already.' Then I gave myself a high five.

I badly needed an epiphany on this one and there it is. I'm happy. The draft is finished. Now I can legitimately go back and tidy it and stick bits in, draw stuff out and generally beat it into shape (which I was fighting the urge to do already), and I've got episode two ready to draft if I like what shape it turns out to be.

That's a nice big bucket of awesome.

Le Morte d'Arthur

2008-09-23T20:42:00.007+01:00

iPlayered Merlin last night, out of curiosity.

There's a lot to like, some nice performances from the glut of young actors that have been jammed into it. It's a great cast altogether. The music seemed a bit sub-John Williams to me but was effective none the less. The locations and sets were nice but seemed very clean for the dark ages, much like the characters themselves - all young, clean and beautiful, not so much of the Dark Ages-chic.

The relationship between Arthur and Merlin was especially engaging, the two actors well conveyed an instant and amusing rivalry which was a high point of the episode for me. The other highlight was the lovely sequence where Eve Myles made everyone fall asleep with her song before trying to stick it to Arthur.

It's always hard to judge a first episode, there is such a lot to establish in fifty minutes when setting up a returning drama, and this was more successful than many (stand up Bonekickers!); so it's probably best to watch another episode or two before getting medieval on Merlin's arse.

The issue I have on a personal level is this; if you're going to make a series about a kingdom where magic is banned and a powerful young wizard has to hide his powers while finding his destiny entwined with a despised rival why bother forcing Arthurian legends into the story for no good reason? Better surely to call it the Kingdom of Zog and have a clear conscience. If anyone tells you you're ripping off King Arthur just ask them if they've seen Star Wars, or read Lord of the Rings, or... well, you get the idea I'm sure.

Of course, this could all just be because I still hope to see Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles given the full BBC drama department treatment. Guess we can rule that out for another decade. Mind you, it'll give me time to work up a treatment...

Pornography

2008-09-20T12:08:00.008+01:00

Went to the Birmingham Rep to check out Simon Stephens Pornography last night. It's a play made up of a series of monologues which look at the events of July 2005 between London being selected for the Olympic games 2012 and the bombings of July 7th.

Although first produced over a year ago the play has never been performed in the UK before. Seems no one wanted to touch it as it was perceived as being so controversial. The play also gives the director a little more of a clean slate than they might be used to as the dialogue is intended to be mixed around and intercut however the company wish.

This production has been raved about in the press and the cast were nominated for a best Ensemble award in The Stage Edinburgh Festival awards; of a fantastic cast Frances Ashman and Sheila Reid stood out in particular. The staging of the production was imaginative and arresting whilst utilising the simplest of sets and minimal effects.

A very thought provoking piece, it's only a shame that it has taken so long to be staged in the country it has most resonance with. It is to be hoped a London run will be imminent, although there are sadly no plans to perform this production there at present.

Links...

Birmingham Rep
Guardian interview with Simon Stephens
Telegraph interview with Simon Stephens

...the island of Dreams

Happy be your Christmas!

The Road to the Red Planet

It's the Final Countdown

In Memoriam Freddie Mercury

New Writing Talent Search: Heartlands

Set Course for the Red Planet!

A Novel Idea

Game of Thrones (No spoilers)

Feed The Birds

Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing

Stormhouse

NaNoWriMo 2011

Lis Sladen, 1948 - 2011

Outcasts

So this is Christmas!

Make Mine Marvel

x of the Best

Return to the Red Planet

Rewatchability

Sherlock Holmes

Gah, my eyes! *UPDATED*

The Fear

Doctor Who

A Proclamation

The Silent House

Tumble Log

On the box

Nadolig Llawen!

Edward Woodward, 1930 - 2009

Post-weekend update

Catch up TV

Time May Change Me

A warning to others...

The Precious

Tell, don't show

Can You Save Her?

Free screenwriting podcasts‏

Legen - wait for it - dary!

Splendid

Basterds

In cinemas now

Porcine Influenza

Zombies, children and snow

Torchwood and stuff

Flickchart

Michael Jackson, 1958 - 2009

Specialist Subject: The Bleeding Obvious

Breaking into the film and TV industry

William Goldman on the Southbank Show Tonight!!

The Skinny

Getting Saturday nights

Snow is falling

Did you mean: rob stidler?

Being Human again

The Rules (Part 1 of ?)

Happy New Year!

Ricardo Montalbán, 1920 - 2009

Patrick McGoohan, 1928 - 2009

The 7.10 to Euston

Back soon

Merry Christmas everyone

Oliver Postgate, 1925-2008

"Created and written by Adrian Hodges"

Unnamed Blog Update

Screenwipe Writer Special

Congratulations...

Coming soon...

You know why...

The Big Picture

Le Morte d'Arthur

Pornography

Gah, my eyes! UPDATED