Category: THE WRITERS ROOM
Fish feud
Lilyhammer creators Eilif Skodvin and Anne Bjørnstad return to Netflix with Billionaire Island, a comedy-drama about two families fighting for control of Norway’s salmon farming industry. They tell DQ about blending drama with soap-style humour and being there at the start of the streaming revolution.
New Wives tale
The Wives creator Helen Black recalls the journey to making her first original series, explaining how the drama champions female camaraderie and why writers should “hold their nerve.”
Lay of the Scrublands
Scrublands head writer Felicity Packard previews the return of the Australian mystery series with sequel Scrublands: Silver, explaining how she adapted Chris Hammer’s novels and how she avoids cheating the audience.
No regrets
Friends-turned-TV collaborators Kyla Harris and Lee Getty tell DQ how they drew on their own experiences to create BBC comedy drama We Might Regret This, delving into its themes of friendship and romance and how they hope to lead the charge for disability representation on screen.
Working the room
With credits on series including Fake and Bump, Australian scribe Jessica Tuckwell takes DQ inside a writers’ room and reveals what it’s like for a writer to work on a show they haven’t created themselves.
Turk of the town
From teen drama Skins to new show The Turkish Detective, Ben Schiffer has risen from aspiring screenwriter to head writer. He speaks about building his TV career and blending British drama sensibilities with the hustle and bustle of modern-day Istanbul in his first original series.
Guiding light
While Poppy Cogan was busy adapting Holly Jackson novel A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder for television, the book became a worldwide sensation. She explains how she brought this mystery drama to the screen and reflects on her own journey to creating her first TV series.
Meet the mentors
As six emerging writers join Jed Mercurio’s mentorship programme, the Line of Duty creator joins Wilderness screenwriter Marnie Dickens to share some of the advice they are passing on to aspiring writers.
Fresh Justice
Eight years after Brazilian crime drama Justice aired, writer Manuela Dias is back with a sequel, Justice: Misconduct. She speaks to DQ about turning the Globo drama into an anthology series, rooting the show in real life and moving stories away from princesses and heroes.
Death becomes him
Segunda Muerte (Second Death) creator Agustín Martínez digs up the past in this Spanish thriller about a police investigator pulled into a mysterious case. He tells DQ about the drama’s themes, its unique rural setting and how he sought to emphasise character over plot.
Coming together
Ahead of the launch of The Gathering, writer Helen Walsh speaks to DQ about creating the authentic world seen in her first television series, viewing its characters from multiple perspectives and why this story needs to be told today.
Raising hell
How did the most “gloriously odd” Black Mirror episode ever win a Bafta award? Series creator Charlie Brooker and writing partner Bisha K Ali break down season six episode Demon 79 and talk about upending fan expectations and the dangers of working with AI.
Quick to respond
How do you follow one of the biggest BBC dramas in recent years? That was the question facing writer Tony Schumacher ahead of season two of The Responder. He discusses reuniting with star Martin Freeman and keeping his hometown of Liverpool at the heart of the action.
Crafting The Sixth Commandment
Ahead of the Bafta Television Craft Awards, nominated writer Sarah Phelps unpacks the success of true crime drama The Sixth Commandment and explains why audiences are craving shared experiences and how she writes her way out of trouble.
Generation gap
Marianne Wendt, writer and creative producer of Wer wir sind (Generation Now: Today for Tomorrow), opens up about the social themes at the heart of this German drama and the big questions it asks about the kind of society we want to leave for our children.
Hot property
After developing her screenwriting career on TV thrillers such as Fool Me Once, Charlotte Coben has created her first original series in Prime Video’s comedic thriller Dead Hot. She tells DQ about blending humour with grief, filming in Liverpool and working with her author father Harlan.
Crossing over
Thereza Falcão and Alessandro Marson, the writers behind Elas Por Elas (Crossed Paths), reveal why they wanted to remake this 1980s telenovela for modern audiences and outline how they did it.
Love lessons
Spanish author Noemí Casquet tells DQ about watching her novel Zorras (Tramps) become a television series, the themes behind the story and her own on-screen cameo.
Killer instinct
Death in Paradise creator Robert Thorogood transports DQ to a town in Buckinghamshire for his latest crime drama, The Marlow Murder Club, which is finally hitting the small screen almost a decade after he first tried to sell the idea.
Stealing the Shōgun
Writers and executive producers Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks discuss their ambitions for Disney+ drama Shōgun, an epic tale set in 1600 Japan, and explain how they pushed for authenticity throughout the series.