鈥淪oap operas are rubbish. Anyone can write them.鈥�
People are often saying things like this. However, for soaps and medical dramas - as some should actually be called - are regularly far higher than anything else on TV. Many of the people who claim to hate soaps seem to know a surprising amount about what鈥檚 happening in them. And those who proudly refuse to 鈥榳aste鈥� their time watching them are often happy to spend it explaining why, at length 鈥� for instance, on a recent about . Someone, somewhere, is clearly doing something right.
Viewers watch soaps for different reasons as this by Ofcom shows. Whether you love soaps, love to hate soaps or just catch them every now and again, pretty much everyone has, at some point, tuned in for one. But does this mean anyone with a laptop and a spare half hour can write an episode? As a script reader for 鈥� which makes , , and 鈥� I鈥檇 say, probably not. Along with my fellow readers, I went on a trip to 麻豆约拍 Elstree Centre to catch up with some of the people working on the shows and find out what they were looking for.
鈥淐omedy!鈥� says Doctors Script Editor Neil Irvine. 鈥淭he series needs more of this.鈥� He鈥檚 also hoping to find 鈥渃ompelling human interest stories that surprise us鈥� and 鈥渨riters who have something to say.鈥� Simon Harper, Series Producer on Holby City and former Script Producer, agrees: he is looking for 鈥渉igh stakes emotional drama鈥� and 鈥渇resh, authentic writing with both warmth and a contemporary spark.鈥� However, he also says: 鈥淭he best scripts are infused, where appropriate, with humour, playfulness and witty banter鈥eing funny is vital!鈥� Casualty鈥檚 Story Producer Roxanne Harvey enjoys scripts with a 鈥渟trong emotional impact鈥� as well as 鈥渉umour and wit.鈥� EastEnders Script Editor Manpreet Dosanjh likes the work of writers who can create 鈥渂ig characters鈥� in a 鈥渟trong and believable way鈥� and are 鈥渁ble to juggle both comic and gritty storylines.鈥�
Humour is something that many writers mistakenly think doesn鈥檛 apply to Continuing Drama, but some of the best episodes and characters have elements of comedy. With soaps there鈥檚 a misconception that every scene has to revolve around relationship break-ups, deaths and/ or angry shouting but this isn鈥檛 true. For instance, EastEnders has a long tradition of comedy double-acts. Dot helping Ethel to die wouldn鈥檛 have been half as powerful if it hadn鈥檛 been for all of the entertaining and amusing times they shared together prior to this.
Another thing you might not be expecting Continuing Drama to be looking for is writers who have their own unique take on things: 鈥渁n individual and original voice,鈥� as Neil puts it. You may think writing for soaps or medical dramas means sacrificing your 鈥榲oice鈥� in order to mimic someone else鈥檚. However, talking about EastEnders, Manpreet says: 鈥淚f writers can create their own distinctive original dramas, they are more likely to be successful on the show.鈥� The rest of the group agree. It鈥檚 one of the reasons why Continuing Drama prefers to initially read original film, TV, radio and theatre scripts from writers they haven鈥檛 worked with before, rather than sample episodes that use pre-existing characters and scenarios.
Other things the teams are looking for include, 鈥渆conomic, sharp dialogue that鈥檚 naturalistic and compelling,鈥� 鈥渃lear multi-strand storytelling鈥� and, perhaps unsurprisingly, people who genuinely want to work for them. Continuing Drama sometimes seems to attract writers who see it as a way of making money and little else. Did you last watch a soap in 1987? Are you struggling to get your trilogy of novels published? Have you accumulated lots of bills printing, posting and copyrighting them? If you鈥檝e answered yes to all of these questions, I鈥檇 suggest there are better ways of earning cash without spending hours of your life trying to achieve something you have no real interest in.
Roxanne explains: 鈥淪ometimes writers don鈥檛 display a passion for the show and its characters, and their scripts read as if they want to be writing something else. If Casualty doesn鈥檛 float your boat, don鈥檛 apply to work on it. You鈥檝e got to have a love of the show.鈥� Manpreet has similar experiences: 鈥淧eople often think that they know [EastEnders] when they don鈥檛 watch it and so write their own heightened, clich茅d and over-the-top version of the characters,鈥� she says. Writers getting mixed up with what the shows are and aren鈥檛 about can be a problem. Neil says: 鈥淭here is a preconception that Doctors is primarily a medical drama, when it actually tells human interest stories.鈥� In contrast, Simon says that while Holby City is a medical drama, it is often mistakenly seen as a soap.
As with all kinds of聽writing, there is a limited amount of people who can write soaps and medical dramas exceptionally well. The fact so many episodes are produced means that, inevitably, some are more successful than others. That鈥檚 the nature of television production. However, everyone working on them aspires to make every episode great. It鈥檚 only with talented writers 鈥� ones who share their belief in the shows鈥� potential 鈥� that they鈥檙e able to achieve this and create the kind of big, memorable moments in television that Continuing Drama, at its best, does brilliantly.聽聽聽
To read full versions of these interviews, including more information on what each of the shows is looking for, .聽 Follow Sally on Twitter:
If you鈥檇 like to write for EastEnders, Doctors, Holby City or Casualty (and you watch and enjoy them), you can either send an original script to the 聽when it is open for submissions聽or, if you鈥檝e had work already produced for stage or screen, directly to.
Find out more about the and shadow schemes for writers on Continuing Drama shows.