Category: THE WRITERS ROOM
Leaders of the Pack
Penelope and Ginny Skinner, creators and writers of The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies, tell DQ about making the subversive con artist story, keeping viewers guessing and using art while writing.
Taking a write turn
After appearing in historical fantasy drama Outlander, Scottish actor Joanne Thomson is building a writing career across stage and screen. She opens up about shifting careers, facing rejection, and writing what you know – as well as what you don’t.
Blooming in Brazil
João Emanuel Carneiro, the creator and writer of Brazilian series All the Flowers, on making this modern fairytale and why bringing a telenovela to a streaming platform is a new adventure.
Champion of the world
Author-turned-screenwriter Candice Carty-Williams sits down with DQ to discuss her move into television, creating music drama Champion and adapting her own bestselling novel, Queenie.
Societal shifts
Lucas Paraízo, creator of The Others, talks about his latest series for Brazil’s Globoplay, revealing why he wanted to tackle themes of intolerance and the value of looking at society in new ways.
Surrogacy storytelling
Goof Shilishi (A Body That Works) writers Shira Hadad and Dror Mishani reflect on writing their first series together – one that tackles issues surrounding surrogacy as a couple seek help to become parents.
Knight on the Town
Is Steven Knight the busiest screenwriter in the business? With three dramas on air last year and several projects coming in 2023, the Peaky Blinders creator opens up about his upcoming ska music drama This Town, adapting Dickens and building his own production studio.
Off the leash
Writer Megan Gallagher tells DQ how she “swung for the fences” with Wolf, a BBC series that promises to be unlike any other crime drama on television.
Master minds
In Spy/Master, writers Adina Sădeanu and Kirsten Peters serve up a fresh take on the Cold War in a story about a Romanian spy who finds himself in danger while defecting to the US. DQ finds out how real events inspired them to write the six-part series.
Quack attack
DQ gets on board with Wreck creator Ryan J Brown to talk about the success of his cruise ship-set comedy-slasher, his plans for season two and how villain Quacky Duck became a genre icon.
Tag team
Maren Louise Käehne and Karin Arrhenius discuss their unique writing partnership on Swedish drama Händelser vid Vatten (Blackwater), a six-part series based on Kerstin Ekman’s novel about a group of characters still haunted by the impact of a double murder that happened decades ago.
No kidding around
Kenneth Karlstad tells DQ how he drew on his own life as the inspiration for arresting Norwegian drama Kids in Crime and why he used VHS cameras to add a new perspective to the story.
Walking The Path
Writer Glória Perez opens up about her latest telenovela, Brazilian series Travessia (The Path), and reveals why curiosity is the key to these long-running dramas.
Blast from the past
Spain finds a new superhero in the form of HBO Max’s García!. Writers Sara Antuña and Carlos de Pando reveal how they lifted the character from the pages of a graphic novel to create an action-adventure drama with plenty of heart.
Marriage vows
The A Word spin-off Ralph & Katie continued the story of the titular newlyweds as they face a host of domestic challenges. DQ spoke to writers Genevieve Barr and Tom Wentworth about working on the series, which broke new ground for inclusive drama.
Finest Hour
The Devil’s Hour marks the first original series from writer Tom Moran. He tells DQ about penning the Prime Video mystery horror series, receiving advice from Steven Moffat and how he almost gave up his television ambitions.
Ex marks the spot
Having already transitioned from actor to author, Catherine Steadman has now moved into TV screenwriting by adapting Jess Ryder’s thriller The Ex-Wife for Paramount+. She discusses playing with character expectation and why she wouldn’t dramatise her own novels.
Read all about it
Michael Lucas, creator and writer of Australian drama The Newsreader, talks blending fact and fiction in this 1980s-set series, building the relationship between its star female news anchor and an ambitious young reporter, and what’s to come in season two.
Sister act
Kid Sister star and writer Simone Nathan tells DQ about penning this semi-autobiographical Jewish family comedy, playing ‘herself’ and why scripts are never truly finished.
Bohemian rapsical
Verden er Min (I am Earth) creator and writer Amy Black Ndiaye tells DQ how she broke new ground with this Norwegian rap musical about a woman finding her way through life as she enters her 30s.