Help Yourself

By: Natalie Johnson

Sitcom Mission 2012 finalist

Donna's life is at a crossroads - or is it an unmanned level crossing?

Her best friend, Elaine, has settled down and produced Daisy, a grubby child Donna is both terrified by and jealous of. Since becoming a mother, Elaine has become preoccupied and ungrateful, as evidenced by her reaction to Donna's helpful gift of Your Sociopathic Pre-schooler.

Donna's charming, enigmatic and ever-so-slightly-sinister boyfriend Rob is slowly working his way, seductively, through everyone she knows - regardless of their age, sex or breed. She'd get rid of him but he's so complicated and a genius, too. If he read Chicken Soup for the Soul, and streamlined his collection of mammal skeletons, he could be perfect.

It's all going to be fine in any case because Donna will stop at nothing to 'heal' the situation: she records her position on the 'pain-to-power' spectrum three times a day and she sleeps to the soundtrack of a 'brain reprogramming' CD that jumps a lot less often than it used to. Best of all, she's discovered Amanda, life coach to the great and not-so-good. Amanda's uncompromising and expensive advice and 'tough love' is almost always in Donna's best interests.

Credits

Cast		Character
Josie Martin	...	Donna
Georgina Morrell	...	Elaine
Thomas Judd	...	Rob
Jeanette Rourke	...	Fiona
Nicky Diss	...	Mary

Natalie Johnson

Natalie Johnson is a new media editor who is currently concentrating on the assembly of things: clothing, websites and most recently an iPhone game (www.spinnyhead.com). She can't quite figure out why.

Her first Sitcom Mission entry, Should Know Better, was set in the world of niche magazines and reached the semi-final stage in 2010. It focussed on the rivalry between the staff of a men's magazine and a women's magazine, both fighting for survival on a battleground where Wound Care Bulletin and Wool Record got all the celebrity exclusives. The incorporation of a projector and Powerpoint presentation into the script was a brave but foolish move which brought about a different outcome to every performance.

For Help Yourself she has kept the technology to a minimum. It is the story of one woman's aim to find The Answer when she completely incapable of recognising what The Question is. It was inspired when - during an extended stay in a dentist's waiting room - Natalie caught herself reading Paul McKenna's I Can Make You Happy without any sense of irony. It developed further after a staggeringly expensive encounter with a life coach.

It's not autobiographical though; no way.

Note

Performed in Heat 2, Semi Final 1