Ah the number for BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane 020 8743 8000.
That seems fair enough.
What the BBC want.... Page 3
That would be the one! I haven't rung it since April, but it sounds familiar.
Or why not text your scripts to Radio 5 Live on 85058? They seem genuinely interested in any old bollocks sent in by licence fee payers.
I'm working on a mock-u-mentary sitcom about a troubled Detective Inspector who is a part-time chef and A&E doctor, who wants to cast-off the shackles of his everyday existence to compete in a ballroom-dancing competition to win a lottery-style fortune, so that he can get the best advice on where to buy a house (whilst selling his antiques), before going onto his dream job of winning the star role in a Lloyd-Webber West-End adaptation of a Jane Austen novel (libretto by Andrew Davies). Oh, starring Nick Lyndhurst as "Plonker" Darcy, of course.
It's a "high-concept" project, by the way.
Cracking! -- The Sun
Bollocks of the highest order. -- AA Gill
Dan
In another article in Broadcast it says "The economic gloom has initiated a move away from the clever-clever and nihilistic pieces that have reared their heads in recent years, towards clownish and more heart-warming sitcoms that simply make audiences laugh"
So a return to good old-fashioned Fools And Horses types, and two fingers up at depressing fare like Nighty Night. Can't come quick enough for me.
Quote: Perry Nium @ October 4 2008, 2:36 PM BSTIn another article in Broadcast it says "The economic gloom has initiated a move away from the clever-clever and nihilistic pieces that have reared their heads in recent years, towards clownish and more heart-warming sitcoms that simply make audiences laugh"
So a return to good old-fashioned Fools And Horses types, and two fingers up at depressing fare like Nighty Night. Can't come quick enough for me.
Too right.
I don't really care if they're clever-clever or heartwarming. As long as they're funny.
Heartwarming is OK, but it can so easily tip over into sentimentality which really turns me off. Although it's the same the other way, "edgy" comedies can tip over into "shocking for the sake of it" which is just dull.
So once you have or have guessed a producers e-mail would you just ask them if you can send a script or would you attach it or what?
Quote: Tom G @ October 30 2008, 9:35 PM BSTSo once you have or have guessed a producers e-mail would you just ask them if you can send a script or would you attach it or what?
Ask them first, before attaching a script; there's a good chance they'll say yes.
Crawl to them as well. Producers like to hear praise for their past work.
Haven't half the BBC resigned over 'Sachsgate'? Just walk in and say "put this on. I'm the new boss"
I get the feeling the writersroom spend their time working out how they are going to reject most of the stuff. I recently sent them something and got a note saying they don't accept scripts for existing programmes. I knew that, which is why I didn't send them one!
I think I may write to a producer and ask if I can send him my script, instead.
Quote: Winterlight @ October 30 2008, 10:10 PM BSTCrawl to them as well. Producers like to hear praise for their past work.
Is it better to be business-like, or can you be a bit chummy with them?
Quote: Bad dog @ October 30 2008, 10:50 PM BSTI get the feeling the writersroom spend their time working out how they are going to reject most of the stuff.
Unfortunately that attitude isn't just confined to the Writer's Room, or tv in general. Everyone's looking for a reason to say no. The trick is to wear the bastards down and systematically remove every reason for them to say no. It can take forever and you need the patience of Jobe, whoever he is.
And then, just when you've got the perfect script and it ticks all the boxes in terms of being exactly what they're looking for, the person you've been dealing with will suddenly leave for another company and the bastard filling their job will hate your idea and suddenly you're back to square one. Or they'll say they love your new sitcom but you're not established-enough for them to take the risk. Or somebody else has just made something similar. Or blah-de-blah-de-blah.
And then when you're just on the very brink of giving it all up and going back to a future of pushing pens or factory work or whatever drudgery you were trying to get of in the first place, somebody just might throw you a lifeline and pull you back from the bottomless pit of pedestrian, humdrum despair, and give you a commission.
But that's unlikely. I think basically you have to be some sort of f**king idiot to want to write for tv. It's stressful and worrying and there's no security.
But, in answer to the thread, I think what the BBC (and the rest of tv comedy) basically want are idiots like us that ignore all of the above and just carry on what they love to do best, which is making people laugh.
Quote: Lee Henman @ October 31 2008, 12:17 AM BSTIt's stressful and worrying and there's no security.
What?!?!