LAST WEEKEND
…was a packed one. I arrived in London on Friday afternoon (after fighting my way through traffic). I love London but that f***ing traffic. My wife and I went to see a preview of END at the Dorfman National Theatre. I’d seen both BEGINNING and MIDDLE, I particularly loved BEGINNING. This is a trilogy of two-handed relationship plays by the excellent David Eldridge, and END did not disappoint. As the title may suggest, this is a very sad play. But it’s not depressing, rather it’s uplifting. Both the writing and the acting (Saskia Reeves and Clive Owen) are outstanding. What I love about the writing is the simplicity of the premise and the emotional commitment of the writing. It’s brave, honest and relatable. From the very beginning it was clear this was going to be emotionally intense. From early in the play I found tears rolling down my cheeks. The women next to me was even more of a mess than me and I could hear someone behind me snottily breathing, sniffing back the tears, every so often. I booked late and I didn’t sit with my wife. She was almost directly opposite me on the other side of the auditorium and so many moments in the play made me look towards her and reflect on the 47 years we have been together.
Then on Saturday and Sunday I was running (for the 3rd time this year) my two day screenwriting course. At the start of the course I always say to the writers, ‘If you get nothing else from the weekend, make the most of meeting and sharing stories with the other 19 writers in the room’. I do my best to force everyone to interact, to give each other feedback and support each other in the tasks I give them, We go to the pub at the end of each day and I was happy to see on the Sunday that a large group were in the closed Birkbeck College café lunching together, talking, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Writing is such a solitary business and it’s so important to keep building your network of writing friends – to give you support, feedback and encouragement, to tell you about opportunities and to have a supportive whinge with when things are going less well.
One of the writers on the course, Rosa Curran, wrote this –
‘‘I think I was most struck by the kind, encouraging and supportive atmosphere in the room last weekend. This positive and collaborative ethos has reinforced my conviction that being able to access such an environment, however occasionally, is a very important part of pursuing my writing journey, whether or not I ever get to do so in a professional manner. I feel enriched by the vast diversity of the ideas and stories told over the weekend. We are made so much stronger by the opportunity to share our different experiences.’
For me, meeting 20 new writers is so enjoyable. There was such a range of different personalities and voices in the room and the main highlight for me is hearing each of these writers talk about the ideas they are writing about or intend to write about (so many brilliant ideas). But it’s also hearing their own personal stories (most of which is in the pub afterwards!).
We had four guest speakers – two writer alumni from the C4 screenwriting course – Lydia Yeoman and Thara Popoola. And literary agents Frances Arnold and Rose Arnold from the excellent Rochelle Stevens literary agency.
There was a strange non-course moment from the weekend – on Sunday at 9am on my way in I stopped off at Costa by Goodge Street station. It’s a very small shop. As I entered, I was the only customer but there a was a guy lying then sitting on the floor, seemingly off his head. The two young girls behind the counter were doing their best to ignore him. As I was waiting for my coffee another guy in a big coat and a rucksack came in, walked over to the fridge, chose several items, put them in his pockets and calmly walked back out. As he left, I said to the girl giving me my coffee, ‘You know that guy just took stuff from the fridge?’ She shrugged philosophically. The way this all played out, it felt like a regular part of their routine – and I don’t blame them at all for not confronting either guy – as two young girls facing up to two burly men. This scenario begged bigger questions about capitalism, the gig economy and the huge homelessness issue in London – the sort of things we could (and should?) be writing about.
CHANNEL 4 SCREENWRITING COURSE UPDATE
We received 30+% more scripts this year than last but are aiming to finish the script reading in this coming week (the week of Nov 24th), then to hold interviews in the week of Dec 1st and then I will email everyone with the outcomes in the week of Dec 8th. The reading period has been intense with the vast number of scripts we have read – but also a joy and an education. Thank you for your patience because this is of necessity a long, slow process for which there are no shortcuts.
FORTHCOMING COURSES
CREATIVITY FOR SCRIPTWRITERS – London Saturday January 31st 2026
Course guest – playwright, novelist, screenwriter and political activist ANDERS LUSTGARTEN. A day of creative exercises to supercharge your creativity and add to your bank of inspiring ideas.
https://script-consultant.co.uk/creativity-for-scriptwriters/
ONE DAY INTRODUCTION TO SCREENWRITING – London Saturday February 14th 2026
Guest speakers – script editor KATE LEYS and writer NATHANIEL PRICE. Both a celebration of and an introduction to the craft of screenwriting.
https://script-consultant.co.uk/one-day-introduction-to-screenwriting/
And finally – a recommendation – writer Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s excellent substack – An Honest Day In The Life Of A Writer – interviews with dramatic writers about their process. And one of the most recent, #34 – is with END playwright David Eldridge –
The next newsletter will be on Friday December 5th,
Best wishes and Happy Writing
Phil
Philip Shelley
Friday November 22nd 2025