Separated at Birth

It's an exciting Easter weekend on the BBC.

So, to celebrate my upcoming EastEnders double (tonight and Monday) and the imminent arrival of a New Who (Saturday), here's a special Scriptuality lookalike feature.

Can you tell them apart?


Copyright BBC

Matt Smith as The 11th Doctor



Copyright BBC

Liam Bergin as the Umpteenth Mitchell

TV's James Moran reveals the Big Secret

Finally, the world's most productive, workaholic screenwriter has found the time to finish his long-awaited Q&A.

If you've come to Scriptuality looking for advice, you're in the wrong place. So, just pop over to James' place and get the complete picture. All truth is here.

Okay, this is a closely held secret, that all of us professionals try to keep you from discovering, but I'm going to break the code of silence and tell you: TV/film producers are looking for GOOD STUFF. That's it. Don't waste time wondering what genre or type of story is "in" right now, as by the time you write it, sell it, get it made and released, something else will be "in". Any time a producer or channel says "we're not looking for X, and Y doesn't work", ignore it - if they got a script that was fucking amazing, about X *and* Y, they'd snap it up. Things don't work until they do. The second you start trying to tailor something to the market, your script will suffer. If you have a story to tell, something you're dying to get out into the world, write that. Write from the heart, put your soul, blood, sweat and tears into it. And it'll get you noticed (if it's good, obviously). Producers want to see your original voice, not something you think they want, or a carbon copy of whatever's popular at the moment.

James Moran 2009.

A Smile

God, that last post was a bit gloomy!

So, here's something to make you smile.

Those lovely people at Amazon have just sent me a copy of Russell T Davies' new book "The Writer's Tale". And, as I'm currently sitting waiting for notes on my Holby treatment, the temptation to peruse it a little was too great (well, it's work, isn't it? professional development).

Anyway, 30 pages in, and it's a delight. e-mail correspondence between himself and Benjamin Cook (journalist on Dr Who Magazine). An absolute complete and utter "must read" for any writer and/or Whovian out there.

And a lot to smile about.

But the particular nugget that made me grin like a monkey?

He's responding to a question about whether a character needs to be likeable...

"Likeability. I've been thinking about your question during Dancing on Ice (did I ever tell you, I was asked to be on that? Actually skating! Julie is still laughing to this day)"

If you've ever seen a picture of the man, you'll know why that would have been the best series of Dancing on Ice, ever.