Category: THE WRITERS ROOM
On the Ray up
Maya Sondhi has gone from starring in police dramas to writing her own. She gives DQ the lowdown on her first original series, ITV’s DI Ray, which focuses on a detective struggling with her identity.
Strange but Canoe
Unforgotten writer Chris Lang was tasked with dramatising the unbelievable true story of a man who faked his own death for ITV true crime drama The Thief, His Wife & the Canoe. He tells DQ how he brought this stranger-than-fiction tale to the small screen.
Diving deeper
As Das Boot returns for a third season, writers Tony Saint, Colin Teevan and Judith Angerbauer tell DQ how the U-boat war drama starts to explore new perspectives of the Second World War on the home front and at sea.
Making it in Hollywood
Kelly Edwards, a former television executive turned writer, looks back on her experiences on both sides of the business to offer some advice to aspiring screenwriters.
The art of Dodger
Husband-and-wife writing team Rhys Thomas and Lucy Montgomery break down their partnership on Dodger, a 10-part family drama set before Charles Dickens’ classic novel Oliver Twist.
A different shade of Blue
From the writers of The Salisbury Poisonings comes a Belfast-set police drama about three rookie officers heading out on the beat for the first time. DQ speaks to Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson about Blue Lights.
Writing Eve
As Killing Eve returns for a fourth and final season, head writers Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emerald Fennell, Suzanne Heathcote and Laura Neal discuss their time working on the hit spy thriller and reveal which character they all loved writing.
Picking up the pieces
Traces writer Amelia Bullmore lifts the lid on the science behind the forensically minded crime drama, which is back for a second season, and explains how she balances writing with her numerous on-screen roles.
Rise of the Faroes
As the first ever series filmed on the Faroe Islands, crime drama Trom promises to bring a new flavour to Scandinavian noir. DQ speaks to creator and writer Torfinnur Jákupsson.
Roped in
Co-creators Dominique Rocher and Eric Forestier discuss their eagerly anticipated three-part drama La Corde (The Rope) and why TV is better in the cinema.
Room with a view
Matt Baker, the writer behind BritBox series Hotel Portofino, tells DQ about the inspiration behind this picturesque period drama set on the Italian Riviera and discusses the value of remaking European dramas.
Modern life is rubbish
Writer Tove Eriksen Hillblom tells DQ how Swedish comedy-drama Vi i Villa takes a satirical look at middle-class life in a story about what happens when one man grows tired of his mundane existence.
Script to screen
Writers including Quoc Dang Tran, Nancy Harris, Nathan Foad and Bec Boey offer their insights into navigating the television industry, from developing new projects and adaptations to the importance of authentic and inclusive storytelling.
Turn of the Screw
Writer Rob Williams tells DQ how his own experience teaching and volunteering in prisons inspired him to write six-part Channel 4 drama Screw, which spotlights the work of the male and female staff in a busy men’s prison.
Talking comics
Television showrunners and comic book creators including Jed Mercurio, Adam Glass, Quoc Dang Tran and Peter Milligan discuss the explosion of comic book adaptations on TV.
Cooking up a storm
The Baker & the Beauty creator Assi Azar recalls how he was first inspired to write this Israeli romantic comedy about a pair of mismatched lovers that has sold around the world and sparked numerous international remakes.
Shift work
Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig speaks to DQ about returning to television with medical drama The Shift, which follows the staff of a busy maternity ward, and why she wrote the lead for The Killing star Sofie Gråbøl.
Blanc canvas
Actors and co-writers Sally Lindsay and Sue Vincent share their experience of creating Channel 5 and Acorn TV drama The Madame Blanc Mysteries, explaining how they came up with its characters and tackled multiple languages on screen.
Arrested development
Back to Life star Daisy Haggard and series co-writer Laura Solon reflect on making the dark comedy drama about a determined yet naive woman’s return to her family home after spending 18 years in prison.
Gone fishing
Gísli Örn Garðarsson, one of the creators, writers, directors and stars of Icelandic drama Blackport, speaks to DQ about why he wanted to dramatise the real-life impact of the country’s fishing quotas in the 1980s.