Category: Thoughts on Screenwriting

Hi There, In praise of TV drama series – The Pitt & Blue Lights. In the last decade or more, traditional long-running precinct-based, procedural TV

PLOT AND STORY Distinguishing between story and plot is tricky. ‘Plot’ is the events that enable and dramatize your story. The story is the show.

C4 SCREENWRITING COURSE – NOTES ON READING Hi There, After Karen Featherstone’s excellent feedback last fortnight, here are some of the notes I made while

THAT CHRIS MATTHEWS MOMENT I was reminded of this because England are currently playing a cricket test match vs Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane.

THIS IS A TRUE STORY Except, in the case of The Salt Path it turns out it may not be. I have read and enjoyed

Hi There, On Wednesday afternoon I was lucky enough to go to a matinee preview at the National Theatre of the revival of LONDON ROAD.

DRAMATIC IRONY by Tom Hanham HELP! I don’t have much time. I’m being held hostage and Philip Shelley is forcing me to write a newsletter,

Hi There, This fortnight, some reader feedback from the excellent MATT MCNALLY, who covered 280 of your script entries for the 2025 Channel 4 screenwriting

Hi There, This fortnight, some of the notes I made as I was reading script submissions for the 2025 Channel 4 screenwriting course. None of

  Yes, it’s a cheery one. At the risk of being extremely depressing, I have been thinking, for various reasons, about death quite a lot