Category: THE WRITERS ROOM
Over the Years
Russell T Davies, the creator and writer of series including Queer as Folk and Years & Years, opens up about his career, being a showrunner and writing about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.
Building The Nest
Bafta-winning writer Nicole Taylor takes DQ inside her thrilling five-part emotional drama The Nest, which has become the biggest new drama launch on the BBC this year.
Testing times
Operation Buffalo writer and director Peter Duncan tells DQ how he mixed authentic detail with satirical humour to dramatise the true story of British nuclear testing in South Australia.
On the Hunt
Cheat writer Gaby Hull talks about the inspiration and writing process behind six-part drama We Hunt Together, an unconventional police thriller in which two couples begin a cat-and-mouse chase.
Anything but Normal
Sally Rooney and Alice Birch tell DQ about adapting the former’s critically acclaimed novel Normal People, in which a pair of teenagers embark on a tender but complicated relationship.
Chaos rules
Now in its third season, Fauda has pushed Israeli drama into a new direction by exploring both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict, presenting an action thriller tinged with emotion and compassion. DQ chats to the show’s creative team.
Girl talk
Having started life as a one-off drama, Our Girl is now in its fourth full season. Creator Tony Grounds tells DQ about making the military series, being inspired by real-life stories and replacing star Michelle Keegan.
Bye bye Bosch
Michael Connelly, author of the Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer book series, tells DQ about how the dramas based on both have affected by the coronavirus outbreak and his hopes for the final season of Bosch.
Writers unite
Lisa Holdsworth, chair of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, tells DQ about the union’s plans to support writers amid the coronavirus pandemic, while also questioning how future series might represent current events.
Criminal genes
Forbrydelsen (The Killing) writer Torleif Hoppe speaks to DQ about the genre-defining Danish series and how his latest crime drama, DNA, flips the script on its leading detective.
Life and Unsoul
Brazilian drama Desalma (Unsoul) marries crime drama with small-town paranoia and religious ritualism to unsettling effect. Writer Ana Paula Maia tells DQ about the creative process behind her first television series.
New radicals
The writers and producer of Swedish drama Kalifat (Caliphate) tell DQ how they crafted this story of five young women who become radicalised by religious fundamentalism.
Norway’s darkest day
Sara Johnsen, the co-creator and writer of Norwegian drama 22 Juli (July 22), tells DQ about her approach to dramatising the devastating terror attacks that struck Oslo and the island of Utøya on that date in 2011.
Life through a lens
After working on a pair of adaptations, writer Daisy Coulam is bringing an original story to television in the shape of Deadwater Fell. She tells DQ how a love of true crime shows and the power of social media inspired the series.
Killer cop
After a season one conclusion that left the Twittersphere outraged, Bancroft writer Kate Brooke tells DQ what’s in store for the eponymous rogue cop in season two and why there’s no character like her on TV.
Unwanted guest
Following appearances on screen this year in Sanditon and A Confession, Kate Ashfield tells DQ about continuing her burgeoning writing career by penning Finnish psychological drama Huone 301 (Man in Room 301).
Night school
Carla Faour and Julia Spadaccini, the writers behind Brazilian series Segunda Chamada (Second Call), tell DQ why they wanted to shine a light on the country’s adult education system.
Sharpening Sabre
The next project from Goran Stanković and Vladimir Tagić, the creators of popular Serbian dramedy Morning Changes Everything, centres on a pivotal moment in contemporary Serbian history.
Specially maid
Spanish series Arde Madrid imagines the relationship between Hollywood star Ava Gardner and Argentine dictator Juan Perón, as revealed through the eyes of a maid and a chauffeur. DQ meets writers and directors Paco León and Anna R Costa.
Dealing with expectation
Taís and Pedro face some life-changing decisions when they discover they are about to become parents in Brazilian series Pais de Primeira (First-Time Parents). Writer Antonio Prata tells DQ how the series was born.