Category: THE WRITERS ROOM
The joy of Six
Éramos Seis (Once We Were Six) writer Ângela Chaves reveals how she brought a modern sensibility to a classic Brazilian novel and explains how music plays an important part in her storytelling.
Derry girl
Derry Girls is the proof that local comedy can travel around the world. Creator and writer Lisa McGee talks to DQ about what inspired her to create the series and how she sees comedy progressing in the future.
As Luc would have it
Screenwriter Luc Dionne reflects on the success of his Quebecois crime drama District 31, discusses how he has navigated a film and television career over more than 25 years and offers some words of advice to new writers.
Polishing Bad Apples
Mia Ylönen, creator and head writer of Finnish series Mädät Omenat (Bad Apples), reveals how the female patients who once lived in an asylum on an isolated island inspired streamer Elisa Viihde Viaplay’s psychological thriller.
Breaking Out
The vast Arctic landscape sets the scene for Outlier, in which a young criminology student starts the hunt for a potential serial killer. Arne Berggren and Kristine Berg tell DQ about creating this Norwegian crime drama.
Shadow people
Showrunner Eric Heisserer and author Leigh Bardugo discuss adapting the latter’s Grishaverse novels for Netflix fantasy drama Shadow & Bone, in which a lowly soldier unleashes an extraordinary power that might just set her country free.
Head case
Christina Lee and Alissa Nutting tell DQ about writing Made for Love, an HBO Max original series based on Nutting’s darkly comic sci-fi novel about a woman on the run from her controlling tech billionaire husband – who has implanted a monitoring chip in her head.
Frank discussion
The Queen’s Gambit writer, director and executive producer Scott Frank remarks on how the story of a young female chess prodigy in 1950s America became one of Netflix’s biggest series of 2020.
Saints and synners
As Kay Mellor’s lottery drama The Syndicate returns after a six-year break, the writer and director tells DQ how the BBC series overcame the odds to film in Yorkshire and Monaco during the Covid-19 pandemic.
True to life
In Los Espabilados (Alive & Kicking), the latest series from Albert Espinosa, four teenagers are pursued by a detective after they escape from a psychiatric institution. DQ chats to the prolific Spanish writer about why he continues to mine his own experiences for television.
Family comes first
Canadian writer Anne Boyer discusses her 30-year writing partnership with Michel d’Astous and how their explorations of family led them to write Mon Fils (My Son), a series about a teenager’s struggle with schizophrenia.
Chris versus Goliath
Chris Brandon discusses the journey towards writing his first television series, BBC thriller Bloodlands, and partnering with Line of Duty’s Jed Mercurio on this story of a Northern Irish police officer investigating a cold case with huge personal significance.
Special Kay
Doctor-turned-comedian Adam Kay is adapting his best-selling memoir about life on the wards for the BBC and AMC. He tells DQ about translating his diaries for television.
Cracking up
Polish screenwriter and author Igor Brejdygant tells DQ about writing Rysa (The Crack), which is based on his own novel about a top police officer who finds herself linked to the murders she is investigating.
Hello, Clarice
Clarice co-creators Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman reveal all about this follow-up to The Silence of the Lambs, discussing how they got into the mind of the titular FBI agent and why the character has influenced a generation of screen heroines.
Wild north
Kim Fupz Aakeson, the writer of Norwegian comedy-drama Velkommen til Utmark (Welcome to Utmark), speaks to DQ about the film origins of his quirky series and the open landscapes that make it a Nordic western.
Loading Cargo
Matti Kinnunen, the writer and director of Finnish drama Rahti (Cargo), looks back on the years-long journey to making the human-trafficking drama and discusses the universal themes that link his screen work.
Crossing the Line
Writer Cilla Jackert reveals how Twitter inspired Swedish drama Tunna blå linjen (Thin Blue Line), which follows the personal and professional lives of police officers as they grapple with the emotional labour of the job.
Guilty conscience
In Icelandic drama Systrabönd (Sisterhood), three women face up to a decades-old crime in this story of how people respond differently to guilt. Writer Jóhann Ævar Grímsson tells DQ about his aim to offer a fresh take on a familiar genre.
On the Run
Daniel Ortiz, the writer behind Brazilian telenovela Salve-se Quem Puder (Run for your Lives), reveals the origins of this romantic comedy about three women who have to change their identities after witnessing a crime.