Tuesday, 24 April 2007

Just what I don't need.

Just when I'm supposed to be tapping away on a professional commission for Doctors (did you catch that "professional" word?! And the "commission" bit? (well, alright, not quite a "commission" yet, as such. But if they don't like the "scene by scene" they do throw me a handful of fivers as a consolation prize, so it is a paying gig, one way or another) )...

Anyway, just as I'm supposed to be putting all my creative energy into a very fine future episode of Doctors, the WGGB organise an event about blogging which leads to the creation of a metablog containing links to a whole load of blogs written by WGGB members. You can find it at Uncrushed Diaries.

So, now I have a whole new bunch of places where I can while away the hours ignoring how on earth I'm supposed to get my main Doctor (can't tell you who it is, I'm afraid - mustn't give anything away) to the home of a dead man (oops, gave that away - never mind) now that I can no longer have the police surgeon in my episode (because he's not available during the week they're going to be shooting) and I've been given a new character instead who hasn't even been cast yet and who is most unikely to find himself at a crime scene.

Any ideas? Nope? Well, I guess it's down to me then. Better get on with it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is all brilliant news! Very encouraging indeed.

I watched yesterday's episode and was disappointed to see that the character of Greg seems to have been written out, and rather precipitously.

Very odd and totally out of character - there's no way Greg would just up and leave like that and there was no dramatic imperative for him to do so. He could have worked his notice and had a nice tearful send off as he starts his new life in Denmark! His relationship with Rico was well drawn and a central plank of the series for a long time. It seems a shame not to have given them a big finish. Perhaps there were behind the scenes issues such as actor’s availability.

I liked Greg because he was a very normal and sympathetic character. I find the other male doctors, with the possible exception of Joe, very mannered and somewhat unsympathetic. Anyway, that's just me!

Re. your query - how about using Ronnie Woodson the solicitor as a link? He's often at the police station and he's a friend of the docs (in particular Nick), so it's plausible that he could facilitate, from a script point of view, one of the docs to go to the crime scene.

Good luck!

Stuart Perry said...

I was surpised to see Greg disappear so suddenly too. I assumed it would be only temporary, but he's gone from the opening credits, alas!

Good luck working out a solution, Paul: these limitations can produce the most creative scenes.

By the by, I have been inspired, as you have done, to list my writing aims for the year. Of course, one of these is "Get a script accepted by Doctors"!!

Stuart Perry's Displacement Activities

Paul Campbell said...

Hi Guys. Thanks for dropping by.

Yeah, Greg's gone for good. I don't have any juicy gossip to share. As far as I know, the actor just wanted to move on to other stuff.

It's quite normal to have somebody disappear at the end of a series and leave the audience unsure whether they will return. But Greg is definitely not a part of the new series 9, which started on Monday.

And thanks, Tony, for the suggestion about using Ronnie. Unfortunately, I have been given my cast members, and they don't include Ronnie. But I think I've worked out a way round, so don't lose any sleep on my behalf!

I'll pop over to your blog, Stuart, and see what challenges you've set yourself.