Stories have an analgesic, healing, and restorative effect on the orator and the listener. Yes, I’m a GP and a writer so this might sound contrived, but it’s still true. Patients and clinicians use idioms, metaphors, and other literary devices to tell the stories of their illnesses. Being a clinician and writer means working with stories. It doesn’t feel as though I’m balancing two different roles; conversely, there is a synergy between the two that improves my writing and enhances my ability to help patients.

Colleagues ask how I manage to meet deadlines while working as a GP. After all, aren’t GPs always moaning about being busy? Yes, on both counts. I still spend most of the week in general practice. At the start of the programme, I was also working as a clinical director for an NHS mental health trust, and I’ve recently left this position to devote more time to writing. I have always worked long hours and I know I’m privileged to have very understanding colleagues and most importantly, a very supportive wife. It’s also incredibly hard to complain about being busy when during the Thatcher years, my Mum juggled three jobs, alongside night school, as a single parent on a council estate.

Writing has always been my (neglected) passion. In 2019, I took the opportunity to write an episode of Four Thought on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4. There wasn’t any doubt that I would enjoy writing the script, but I grew up with a speech problem and undiagnosed dyslexia. Giving a talk in front of a live audience, to be heard by millions of listeners around the world, would risk career-ending mispronunciations and embarrassing mistakes. Fortunately, I worked with Sheila Cook, an experienced producer who patiently helped me to perform the talk.

The episode was well received, and I planned to do more writing but then came a shocking twist: I became quite unwell and was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, and at the same time a bat met a pangolin, or a clumsy lab technician in Wuhan made a terrible mistake, (delete as applicable), and the world stopped spinning. In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, as some of us began to restart our lives, I decided to start writing again.

One evening I saw a Tweet that advertised the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Open Call. I had never entered a writing competition or open call, but for years I’d had a story called “Heartsink” stuck in my head. It’s about a locum GP’s first day in a strange village and the limits of his tolerance. The script got me through to the Voices shortlist and then the interview. It’s important to note that for Voices, the reviewers want to hear a writer’s voice in their work. Fortunately, I had no preconceived ideas of desirable styles, themes, or genres. “Heartsink” was a story I wanted to tell, and the Open Call was the excuse to write it.

Before my interview with Commissioning Executive, Alice Ramsey and Development Producer, Usman Mullan, I spent hours preparing my answers, googling my interviewers, re-reading emails from Emily Demol (Development Coordinator), and worrying that I was well outside of my comfort zone.

Had I prepared enough? Would my minimal experience rule me out? What the hell do writers wear to Zoom interviews? (I opted for a shirt and tie). Alice and Usman were brilliant and not the least bit intimidating. I tried to be as honest and authentic as possible while appearing normal and selectable.

Weeks later; still recovering from the shock of being selected, I travelled to Media City to meet the other North and Midlands Voices. I’m confident, sometimes loud and always opinionated, but once again my anxiety returned. How do writers act? What do writers talk about? What do writers wear? (I opted for jeans, a polo shirt, and fleece).

There were 12 members of our Voices group for the Midlands and North of England Hub, all of whom were wonderful, non-intimidating human beings. We were split into four groups of three. I was put in a group with Paul Jones and Makeda Matheson, supervised by Usman. Both writers were fun to be around and helpful. Paul is the humblest writer I’ve met, even though he wrote Patterdale, a brilliant audio drama. We enjoyed talks and interactive sessions with experienced writers, script editors, producers, and agents. By the end of Voices, we were expected to produce a fully worked series outline from which we could create a specimen script.

Since joining Voices, I have written a comedy-drama series outline and specimen script called “THE GOAT”. This is about a con man who becomes a televangelist with a plan to build Stoke-on-Trent’s first-ever Megachurch. It’s a story about the effect of losing faith, abusing faith, and then regaining faith in something; religion, family, or vocation. The Voices sessions helped me improve my characters/arcs plus pacing, and Usman’s advice during 1:1s was extremely helpful.

In the Voices groups, there were people younger than my walking boots, people with long careers in the industry, people doing completely unrelated day jobs, and people who found amazing success with their first script. With so many routes into this vocation, I think the best advice for other writers is to:

• Write because you want/have to write not just because you want to be a scriptwriter or novelist,
• Write truthfully, everyone has unique experiences, perspectives, and a unique voice,
• Make peace with the prospect of rejection or embarrassment, even established writers fail to win scriptwriting competitions or fail to get selected at Open Calls.

Most importantly, keep watching, reading, and writing. Cormac McCarthy said that “Books are made of books” and I reckon that statement also applies to TV and film.

To meet the selected writers for our Voices Development Group 2023, visit our blog

If you would like to be considered for our future development groups and would like to find out more about our work, read this blog post on ‘How we find and develop writers’ from Jess Loveland, Head of New Writing for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom and Â鶹ԼÅÄ Drama Commissioning.

Open Call will return for submissions towards the end of 2023. For further details and updates visit our the opportunity's page on our website.

If you would like any further details on any of the Voices 2023 writers, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom team: writersroom@bbc.co.uk

You can find out more about Voices and how to gain a place in the group on our Voices page.

The 2023 Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Voices

Sean Dalton is an award-winning screenwriter from Dublin. After completing a business degree, Sean co-wrote a few books and co-founded a publishing company. During the Covid pandemic, he switched his focus into screenwriting. Most recently, he completed an MA in Writing for Stage and Screen in UCD. While there, his short film screenplay PUB HEIST won 2023’s nationwide Student Media Award for “Film Script of the Year”. 
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His first comedy pilot THE BARISTA reached the top 12% in the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Open Call 2022, the second round of the Launch Pad Pilot Competition 2022, and the Quarter Final of the Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices Competition 2022. He now has several projects in the hands of development teams at some of the country’s top production companies. 

Amanda Doherty is an award-winning actor and theatre maker who makes politically engaged work. Areas of focus include working class experiences, women’s rights, and resilience.

Trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, her original work has toured across Europe and the USA including the Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Reykjavík Fringe Festivals. Her award-winning show INHERITANCE has also played at Theatre Row, 42nd Street, NYC. Her work EIST MORAN // CAN BEAGAN [Hear Much//Say Little] was selected for the Biennial of Emerging Artists, Bucharest. 

Acting credits include: The Fall (µþµþ°ä), Seanchaí (Â鶹ԼÅÄ NI), Scúp (Â鶹ԼÅÄ NI) for television; Bird About Town, Faust, Girl in the Machine for theatre, and forthcoming feature film Pulcinella. Amanda is a company member of Eight Compositions on the lives of Ukrainians for a Western Audience with Archa Theatre, Prague, currently touring across Europe.  

PJ Hart is a writer and producer from North Belfast with credits in comedy, drama and children’s TV. Having studied film at Queen's University Belfast, PJ started contributing jokes to comedy panel shows and storylines to young adult drama while working in production and editorial roles. His first original script commission was the grounded sci-fi short KILL ME NOW, which was broadcast nationally on Irish TV. PJ has contributed material to award-winning sketch shows HEALTHCARE GUARANTEED and SOFT BORDER PATROL, while his original pilot EAT THE RICH played in competition at Seriesfest Colorado in 2020 and was broadcast globally as part of the Best of Seriesfest programme.  

Since becoming a father in 2017, PJ has developed a keen interest in children’s television and in 2020, he was commissioned to write 5 episodes of Channel 5’s MIMI’S WORLD by BAFTA-winning showrunner Mellie Buse.   

PJ writes class conscious, elevated genre with a distinctly Belfast voice. His original scripts have placed in national and international competitions and he has a number of TV and feature projects in development. 

Mike Hooley and Luke Wilson Hanley's creative partnership started a decade ago in a rock band, gigging in sweaty little bars to nobody. Broke and desperate, these gluttons for punishment ventured into screenwriting together in 2017 and accidentally discovered their real passion.   

Since then, they have signed a shopping agreement in the US for their feature INTERSTATE 25, and their horror film PÚCA and fantasy series JUDAS have both been Screencraft finalists.   

Their Â鶹ԼÅÄ Voices project THE NOBODIES forces a group of everyday people to face the question, "If you had the insider knowledge to make an illegal bet that could change your life… would you do it?" 

Mike works in casting. His credits include 'Derry Girls', 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Northman'. He has been a member of the Casting Directors Guild since 2021.  

Luke writes/directs brand campaigns for NI's largest independent creative agency. You'll unknowingly have seen his work for Lidl, Samaritans or Subway somewhere…

Byddi Lee is the author of REJUVENATION a speculative fiction trilogy, first published by Castrum Press in 2020 and has published flash fiction, short stories and her novel, MARCH TO NOVEMBER (2014).

Byddi co-founded and manages Flash Fiction Armagh, shortlisted as Best Regular Spoken Word Night in the Saboteur Awards and co-edited “The Bramley – An Anthology of Flash Fiction Armagh” Volumes 1 and 2. Byddi co-wrote the play IMPACT – ARMAGH’S TRAIN DISASTER which was staged for the anniversary of the tragedy in June 2019 in the Abbey Lane Theatre in Armagh and again in the Market Place Theatre, Armagh in October 2022 and November 2023. She co-wrote ZOOMEO AND JULIET and SOCIAL BUBBLE, TOIL & TROUBLE – live plays performed on Zoom by the Armagh Theatre during the lockdown.

Byddi is an Arts Council Northern Ireland supported writer and holds professional membership at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin. 

Raised in one of Ireland's most disadvantaged areas, writer and actor Andrew Lynch channels his personal experiences into his storytelling, portraying characters often overlooked in mainstream narratives.

 Andrew's journey in writing began with his play, DEATH ROW COWBOY, which had successful runs in Dublin and London. Shifting his focus to film, he scripted a mini-documentary REBIRTH and a short film BRENDA. Both were aired on RTE and received numerous awards.  

Thanks to support from Screen Ireland, Andrew's debut feature film, FISHSCALE, was developed as part of the Spotlight Development Scheme. He also participated in the BFI Network x BAFTA Crew 2021/22 program, which supports the next generation of film and television talent. During his time in this program, Andrew wrote the Micro Short film MEAT MARKET. This project, created with fellow participants, received multiple awards at various film festivals worldwide.  

Presently, Andrew is part of the 2023 Voices cohort, expanding his understanding of writing for television. Additionally, he is in the early stages of development with Yellow Film & TV, the largest independent studio in the Nordics, to create an original TV series. 

Carley Magee is an emerging playwright, theatre maker, and screenwriter from Belfast. Her ethos  is to create  accessible,  diverse art that is wildly exciting, and provoking, which primarily revolves around horror, magic realism, and casting a female lens on narratives. Graduating from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School’s Drama Writing MA in 2022, she has gone on to be a recipient of Youth Theatre Ireland and Scripts Ireland’s George B. Miller Award, a recipient of Arts Council NI’s SIAP Award 2022-2023, and is currently part of Tinderbox’s Incubate programme for making new work. Youth Theatre Ireland will be producing her script SEABORNE in November 2023.  

 

Her work has been longlisted for the RSC’s 37 Plays, chosen for Prime Cut’s VERGE Season 3, and selected for the London arts festival -VAULT, “A Pinch of Vault” rehearsed readings (June 2023). Her script HAND OF GOD will have a rehearsed reading in the Naughton Studio of the Lyric Theatre Belfast in July. Carley has written numerous short films, having worked with Cinemagic and Good Relations projects to write and script edit for cross-community youth groups taking part in film-making.

Anna is a multi-disciplinary Irish artist who has performed their work internationally. Since finishing their undergrad degree in theatre and English in 2021, Anna has staged a reading of their dystopian play EXIT MUSIC (FOR OUR WORLD) as part of Galway Theatre Festival, worked on various projects with Dublin Fringe Festival and Barnstorm Theatre, and achieved a distinction in Film in Limerick’s diploma in creative producing for film.   

Their current passion projects include: re-drafting their first feature-film script under the mentorship of Peter McKenna; writing the queer-coded update of GIRLS set in Galway instead of New York; manifesting funding for their first short film and; developing a site-specific promenade piece in their hometown of Kilkenny. Through the Voices programme, Anna has been working on a folk-horror pilot script re-imagining modern-day Ireland as a pagan society. You can find out more about Anna at annaecd.com 

Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair is an award-winning writer, director and producer from Dublin, Ireland. 

Based between Ireland and Germany, she is also the founder of Curveball Media LTD and has an experienced career in film and TV development, having been a development executive for leading Irish companies Blinder Films and Samson Films. 

Winner of the 2022 Aer Lingus Discovery Award, Rioghnach’s new award-winning horror short film, DON’T GO WHERE I CAN’T FIND YOU, was selected for SXSW 2022.  

She is also the writer and director of BREAK US, which went to over 30 festivals internationally including Fantasia Film Festival. She produced and directed DO I KNOW YOU? and wrote and directed NEON. All three films were supported by Screen Ireland. 

In summer 2022, Rioghnach wrote and directed BALOR HALL, a half hour whodunnit TV film commissioned by RTE under their Storyland Scheme. 

She is one of Screen International's Rising Stars 2023. 

Mark Noonan is a writer and director from the midlands of Ireland. His debut feature film YOU’RE UGLY TOO premiered at the 65th Berlinale and was nominated for a European Film Academy award, screened at over a hundred film festivals and won the DGA Finder's Series in Los Angeles, Best Screenplay Awards in Tokyo and Athens, Best Feature Screenplay from the Writer’s Guild of Ireland, Best Debut Feature at the Galway Film Festival and Best Breakthrough Feature at the Boston IFF. 

He is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents and Toronto Film Festival Talent Lab, and been awarded writing fellowships from the Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris, the NIPKOW/Berlinale Programm in Berlin, and Pustnik Screenwriters residency in Romania. 

His first original TV pilot WHEN THEY ALL VANISH has been optioned and earned him a place on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Belfast Voices. He has a number of TV and film projects in active development.

Cathriona Slammon is an Irish writer/director from the West of Ireland. With a particular interest in family dysfunction, emotional complexity, repressed memories and childhood trauma, Cathriona typically writes in the vein of psychological drama, horror and the surreal. After completing a Master's Degree in Film Direction, she went on to direct two award-winning no-budget shorts, as well as a third short which was funded by Creative Ireland, currently in post-production.   &²Ô²ú²õ±è;

In 2022, her feature script, WHAT LITTLE GIRLS ARE MADE OF, was awarded a place on the Ardán/BAI Script Mentorship Scheme. More recently, her short film projects have been shortlisted for RTE Storyland and Virgin Media Discovers. She is currently working on her second feature script, a psychological horror/drama, as well as a TV Pilot – EATER - a tense drama set against the backdrop of female obesity and food fetishes. Cathriona is currently seeking representation. 

If you would like any further details on any of the Voices 2023 writers, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom team: writersroom@bbc.co.uk

You can find out more about Voices and how to gain a place in the group on our Voices page.

The 2023 Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Voices

Amarjit Bassan has a passion for telling commercial and accessible stories about communities, particularly little-known stories from British Asian communities. He recently completed the 4Screenwriting course, where he developed his pilot IZZAT (Punjabi for “honour”); a character-driven TV drama about the role of women in British Punjabi and Sikh society, set against a backdrop of corruption and modern-day slavery.

He has been shortlisted twice for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writers Academies and Pilot scheme and was one of 10 attendees selected from hundreds for David Higham Associates’ inaugural Open Day for Scriptwriters of Under-Represented Backgrounds. Most recently, he has made it to the final selection for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Pilot 2022 scheme.

As a stage writer, he was selected for the RIFCO Associate Artists Scheme, under which his play SOUTHALL PARK was commissioned, with support from the Arts Council, as part of the British Asian Festival and performed at Watford Palace and the Bloomsbury Theatre in London. Among other awards, the script for his short film LALIT’S VOICE won the scriptwriting award at The British Urban Film Festival. He is a graduate of Royal Holloway and Screenwriting MA.

Isabella Culver is a Writer-Director from South-East London, her short film SEVEN SISTERSis premiering on Sky Arts and Now TV. It follows the character of Juliet who seeks out an ‘alternative’ healer after a traumatic sexual assault. It is a tale of recovery, self-discovery and reckoning with the darker parts of the psyche.

Isabella also directed short film THESE FOUR WALLS about male mental health in the time of lockdown. Isabella kick started her career in theatre when she won The Bristol Old Vic Open Session playwriting competition for her debut play THE DISSOCIATION OF SHIRLEY MASON. Over the course of a year Isabella worked with the Writing Department at The Bristol Old Vic to develop her work. It is a psychological thriller focussing on mental health in the 1950’s, was staged at The Bristol Old Vic as part of their New Plays in Rep season and received a five-star review from A Younger Theatre. During her time working with The Bristol Old Vic Isabella completed an R&D for her new play FLORIDA SNOW a coming-of-age tale set in Daytona Beach Florida, where her American family live.

Isabella has completed writers rooms with Vertigo Films and SLNda for a TV series created by Ashely Walter’s and Bryncoed Productions for youth-based drama series AS DEAD AS IT GETS. In her writing Isabella enjoys bringing in elements of pop-culture and current affairs. With a focus on Magical Realism and mental health Isabella’s work centres on surprising stories with a supernatural twist.

Isabella is represented by at

Dwayne Gumbs is a writer/director from London who's enthusiastic about telling engaging, compelling and diverse stories. His BFI Network funded short comedy , was screened at the BFI London Film Festival 2018 and the London Short Film Festival 2019. This led to him being commissioned by Â鶹ԼÅÄ Film to develop an original concept for a feature titled BPM, with this screenplay of Dwayne’s recently shortlisted for the 2022-2023  showcase.

Having a passion for the arts from a young age, Dwayne started a charitable organisation called , that for the past 13 years has been dedicated to making arts based opportunities accessible for all young people. In his role as Artistic Director he has written and directed various educational films and theatre pieces that address hard-hitting topics affecting the most vulnerable young people.

Keen to continue building his professional experience writing and directing, Dwayne’s looking for opportunities to collaborate on other projects, whilst developing the exciting and commercial ideas he has for screen.

Rhianna Ilube is a playwright and events curator from London. Her debut play, SAMUEL TAKES A BREAK…, was Highly Commended for the Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award, and shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting. She has been a member of the Royal Court Intro Group, Oxford Playmakers, Omnibus Engine Room, and is currently part of the Soho Six. She also recently completed her first TV pilot with Expanded Media for a Sky Table Read. Rhianna previously worked for game and interactive theatre-makers Coney as an Associate Director, and is a film programmer for BFI Flare. She has an MA in Writing for Performance and Dramaturgy from Goldsmiths University.

Contact: at ITG

Eloka Ivo is a British-Nigerian actor and writer. After studying Philosophy at the University of Bristol, he joined the 2019 cohort of the NYT Rep Company. His recent acting credits include BLACK SUPERHERO (Royal Court) and FOUR MOTHERS (Port Pictures). 

As a means of passing time during the second lockdown, Eloka began to write his own work. He was one of the first winners of The Soho House Scripted Competition in 2021, the award for which included a table read of his pilot script OYINBO to a panel of industry professionals. 

With his feet now firmly in both acting and writing, Eloka is currently developing an original idea for TV surrounding the "currency of shame" in Nigeria called DON’T COME AND DISGRACE US, as well as  preparing for his West End debut this autumn. 

Eloka hopes that his work will contribute to the growing canon of thought-provoking storytelling from historically minoritised communities, and bring a radically honest and refreshing perspective to uplift those who have been left out of the cultural conversation for too long.

Joe Kerridge is a writer from South East London. His work has been performed at Sheffield Theatres, MAC Birmingham, STYX and VAULT Festival, where he won an Innovation Award. He has also been longlisted for the Verity Bargate Award, Theatre 503 International Playwriting Award, Papatango Prize, and is a graduate of the Royal Court Theatre Writers' Programme.

Hartley Lloyd-Pack is a lyricist and writer who has worked at Hackney's Children and Families service since 2014. His work in Hackney has inspired him to create RAW GODS, which authentically captures the complex realities of life in care, using original music compositions and frank storytelling to combine hyper-realism with a sense of other-worldliness. In 2022, in partnership with Fully Focused, Hartley released a taster of RAW GODS on YouTube. The film was produced in collaboration with care-experienced young people from Hackney, and has been picked up by the Â鶹ԼÅÄ for development.

In 2018, Hartley launched the podcast Mixtape Assembly, whose guests have included Benjamin Zephaniah and Jimmy Akingbola, both of whom have gone on to support the development of RAW GODS. 

Hartley has a background in poetry and rap, and is interested in creating stories that use language in heightened ways to elevate key narrative beats. In 2016, Hartley released an album, Sixteen Sunsets, in response to the loss of his father, the actor Roger Lloyd Pack.

Hartley is represented by at Peach House.

Nadya Menuhin is a writer from London. She holds a BA in Humanities from UCL and took part in the Royal Court Writer’s Group and Kiln Artist Development. Her writing includes THE SECOND RULE (2020, Mercury Theatre), TREMORS (2021, Bitter Pill Theatre) and I, MOTHER (2022, Fuel Residency, Druid Theatre). Her humour writing has been published by McSweeney’s and Points in Case.

Her short film IN THE NIGHT TIME is in development with The Corps Ensemble, Dublin. She is currently writing a stage adaptation of the novel THE MAN WHO TOOK TRAINS and developing a comedy-drama series.

She’s interested in the way people change over time and sometimes quite abruptly. She loves sad stories, dark stories and funny stories, the best being when all three of these elements come together to make chaotic babies.

Himanshu Ojha attempted to be like Shakespeare by starting out as a frustrated actor from the West Midlands. Very much not like Shakespeare, he switched to journalism, studying for a Masters degree from Columbia University.

He worked for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Reuters, where he was a data reporter on the investigations and enterprise desk in the US and UK for five years, covering a range of topics from income inequality to corruption in the Russian railway industry to the migration crisis.

Since going freelance, he has enjoyed pursuing stories in very different ways. As a storyteller he has adapted and told Ovid’s TALE OF BAUCIS AND PHILEMON. For the theatre, he has written THE HAND OF HOZAN, one of the stories chosen to be part of James Graham’s Sketching, and ANTECHAMBER, a short play that ran in the White Bear’s Only Human festival in 2020. As a member of the Criterion New Writing programme, he has been able to hone his craft in the company of kinder, better writers. This culminated in his play THE FORGER’S TALE, an extract of which was performed at the Criterion Theatre in 2022.

He is particularly drawn to character-driven genre stories that resonate with the kind of topics he reported on as a journalist. 

Pavan Patel's TV pilot, THE EMPIRE'S JEWEL, achieved significant recognition, being shortlisted for the Netflix Screenwriters' Fellowship and placing in the top 3% for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Open Call 2022. Additionally, Pavan is among the eight writers selected for the prestigious Â鶹ԼÅÄ Studio's Writer's Academy 2022-2023, receiving mentorship from John Yorke. His feature script, CAMEL BOY, reached the Top 10% for the Academy Nicholls Fellowships 2022.

Pavan is represented by from Nick Turner Management.

Helen Simmons is a writer, producer and Screen Star of Tomorrow. She has produced six feature films, including KLOKKENLUIDER starring Jenna Coleman and Tom Burke, BONUS TRACK starring Susan Wokoma, Jack Davenport and Josh O’Connor, and HOARD starring Hayley Squires and Joseph Quinn. She runs Erebus Pictures alongside Stephanie Aspin, and recently co-directed a BFI Network short starring Callie Cookie and Lydia Rose Bewley. As a writer, Helen has written on shows for Audible and Sky, and her first feature film as co-writer, produced by Caviar, is currently in post-production. She began writing with the short film F*CK, starring Brett Goldstein and Esther Smith, which gained her nominations for best screenwriter and was a Vimeo Staff Pick. She is currently writing Film & TV projects for companies including Netflix, Moonriver Content, World Productions, and Kinetic Content.

Contact: at ITG

Jenny Takahashi Stark is a London-based screenwriter of English-Japanese ancestry with a love for character-driven drama, comedy-drama, and stories that open doors into unusual worlds. She is currently developing original TV projects with Merman and Banijay, and was selected for the Channel 4 Screenwriting Course 2023, Â鶹ԼÅÄ London Voices 2023 and Film London's Breaking The Glass Ceiling Programme 2023. She is also Winner of the All3Media New Voices Drama Award 2022, Richmond International Film Festival Finalist 2022 and writer on the IFT Creative Corridor Transatlantic Diversity Programme 2022. Jenny’s theatre plays have been performed at Cheltenham Everyman, Theatre 503 and Southwark Playhouse.

She is represented by at Curtis Brown.

If you would like any further details on any of the Voices 2023 writers, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom team: writersroom@bbc.co.uk

You can find out more about Voices and how to gain a place in the group on our Voices page.

The 2023 Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Voices

Mo Ahmed is a writer from Yorkshire, focusing on the little-known and surprising intersections that make up modern Britain. Mo’s work spans the drama, satire and thriller genres and draws heavily from his multicultural experience growing up in a monocultural city. Mo won a commission from Channel 4 to develop a comedy and also won the Mother Tongues prize which led to him working with the producers of GOD'S OWN COUNTRY to write a feature film.

In 2022, Mo was selected for C4’s Commissioning Mentor Network, where he was paired with a drama commissioner. He was also involved in Screen Yorkshire’s Flex programme which aimed to generate a new slate of Yorkshire-based stories. Mo splits his time working on long-form podcast series and developing his slate of scripts and ideas.

Lou Burns is an emerging writer of television drama based in Newcastle. She is passionate about telling social realist stories with strong northern roots, and likes to explore themes such as poverty, injustice, corruption, inequality, and community in her writing.

In 2022 Lou’s pilot RIOT reached the top 3% of the 4718 scripts received by the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom. Previous to this, Lou was a finalist for both a Northern Writers Award, and Channel 4’s 4stories talent scheme.

In addition to writing her new pilot SHERRIE, Lou is currently working with Lone Pine Productions to adapt the book BE GOOD, LOVE BRIAN into a feature film.

Natalie Cutler is a writer/performer from Dudley who began her career on the comedy circuit with her debut one woman show - NOT YET SUFFRAGETTE which received a 5* review from Broadway Baby and was nominated for 'best show' at the Fringe. She graduated from the National Film and Television School in screenwriting and in 2022 was the only writer from the UK selected for the Cannes Film Festival writers’ residency with Studiocanal. Her TV drama won best pilot on the FilmMarketHub and reached the top 10 scripts in Steven Knight's writing competition. She is currently on the BFI Network’s Writers Development Lab and is mentored by Bafta winning NATIVITY! Creator, Debbie Isitt.

From the ‘middle of nowhere’, Mia Fairbrother is a Midlands-born emerging writer - joining the Writersroom cohort shortly after receiving the BAFTA Rocliffe prize for Emerging Writers in TV Drama 2021 with her script UNDERAGE. When she’s not writing, Mia works within unscripted television: having worked on several mainstream shows from the likes of LOVE ISLAND, THE CIRCLE, and most recently Channel 4’s FIRST DATES.

Tonally, Mia typically enjoys writing gritty, realist pieces punctuated with heart and comedy. From small-town beginnings, she’s particularly interested in how one’s past can too easily predict their future, exploring this often in coming-of-age narratives. Still in her early-to-mid-twenties herself, Mia is extremely passionate about developing authentic, young adult voices across television.

Paul Jones is a writer of Maltese heritage based in Liverpool.  He returned to education in his forties to study creative writing and screenwriting. PATTERDALE, adapted from his short story, won the 2021 Alfred Bradley Bursary Award and was broadcast on Radio 4. His second radio play, OF A NIGHT, will be broadcast in late June 2023. He is currently developing a television drama centring on three generations of a Liverpool family.

Paul is delighted to have been selected for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Voices programme and hopes to continue writing for both radio and television.

Theo James Krekis is the writer and director of PRAM SNATCHER which was funded by the BFI NETWORK and had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival 2022. His debut feature of the same name is in development with the BFI and will be produced by Try Hard Films. In television, Theo's original series BLOSSOM is in development with Clerkenwell Films which he's also set to direct. He was selected for Channel 4's 4stories scheme where he directed SUPERDAD, a road movie for the BAFTA winning anthology series ON THE EDGE.

His previous short, MEMOIRS OF A GEEZA, premiered at the BFI London Film Festival 2019, London Short Film Festival 2020 and BFI Flare 2020. His directorial debut, MANGAS, premiered at the BFI London Film Festival the previous year. Theo is an alumni of Network@LFF, Edinburgh Film Festival's Talent Lab Connects and is a Film London Lodestar. He's repped by Independent Talent Group for narrative work and Knucklehead for commercials and music videos.

Jack William Mackey is a writer from Liverpool, currently based in London. He began writing during the pandemic, after completing an undergraduate degree in Arabic and German, and whilst procrastinating from starting the dissertation for his Masters in International Law and Diplomacy.

Jack is currently developing an original comedy-drama THE CURES with Can Can Productions and Channel 4. He has also entered a first-look deal with Can Can to develop a further three original projects in 2023. Jack is represented by Julia Tyrrell Management.

Makeda Matheson is a Writer and Director from Huddersfield. Makeda’s directing projects span documentary (her film ALIVE received its world premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2021) and commercial film (Chanel, CNN et al). In her scripted work, Makeda draws on her Afro-Caribbean heritage and background as a documentarian to delve into different worlds and to explore the rich tapestry of untold stories that exist in the north of England.
 
Makeda was part of Scratch Me (BFI x Film Hub North) 2022-23 where she received mentorship from Fulwell73 and Screen Yorkshire’s FLEX agile storytelling program 2020-21. She is represented by Natasha Salter at Salt Partnerships.

Harry May-Bedell is a writer and performer based in Leeds. With a background in theatre, dance and comedy, Harry’s work treads the fine line between hilarity and despair featuring bold characters and big stories that explore what it means to be human through a unique queer lens.

Harry has received theatre commissions for Leeds International Festival including the sell-out show ‘Leeds Needs Help’ and has taken part in multiple talent development programmes including Scratch Me (Film Hub North) and FLEX (Screen Yorkshire). In 2020 Harry wrote and starred in the BFI-funded short MONSTER.

Current projects include PLAYING WITH DOLLS, a comedy/drama TV series in development with Wall-to-Wall North, a comedy web-series called HEY BABE! with Tyke Films and most recently Harry has been selected as part of a prestigious mentorship programme to develop a new original TV project.

Harry is currently unrepresented.

Lauren-Nicole Mayes is a working-class actress and writer from Blackpool, based in Manchester.  Lauren broke into the world of writing having noticed a lack of stories being told representing the women who had raised her. Lauren was chosen as one of the selected five for the Box Of Tricks and Sky Studios ScreenPlay Award with her original script, BABYNUN XO. She was a part of the Sky Studios cohort for the year and the play then went on to receive Arts Council funding and support from The Lowry Theatre for an industry sharing event. The script is now being developed for television. In 2022, her one woman show DEAR LITTLE LOZ was commissioned and developed by Izzy Parriss Productions for Edinburgh Fringe at Surgeons Hall receiving rave reviews. Lauren is an Associate artist at Oldham Coliseum Theatre and the lead facilitator of Scribbles, their playwriting group.

Earlier this year, Lauren was shortlisted for the English Touring Theatre’s NationWide Voices programme via The Royal Exchange Theatre and most recently she was commissioned by Julie Hesmondhalgh’s Take Back Theatre company for Back To The Bone Festival with her original piece, AM I STILL BLEEDING?

Lauren writes about her autobiographical experiences as well as touching on themes such as family, love, social issues, sacrifice and class.

Frankie Meredith is a writer, mother and proud midlander. She often writes about her family & friends (and is awful at changing the names). Her work can be funny, dark, a bit weird and it is almost always set in the West Midlands - coz it’s a lot more than just Peaky Blinders.

She wrote her first full length play TURKEY while on Soho Writers Lab which was produced at The Hope Theatre to 5* reviews, offies noms and a sell out run. FINDING PETER was taken to Edinburgh and had two subsequent runs in London and her play 17 was produced at Vaults Festival by Wildcard Theatre. She wrote and directed her own folk-musical, PETTICOAT COUNCIL which premiered at Warwick Arts Centre in 2021 and toured the Midlands.

MAY QUEEN - her play about myth and Coventry - was performed at the Belgrade this July after it toured the UK with PainesPlough. Her first short film CLEMENTINES won a British International Film Festival Award for Best Film and she is currently developing work for television. She has recently been on attachment with the RSC and on Channel4s mentor scheme. She is repped by Jessie Stewart at Independent.

Mark Williams mixes humour with realism in his writing to create gripping, authentic stories which reflect his experience of living in Stoke-on-Trent.  Mark grew up in a council estate in the 1980s and struggled with severe speech problems and undiagnosed dyslexia but at the same time, he had lots of character-building adventures. Many years later, Mark found himself working as a GP in a semi-rural practice in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

He then decided to write and perform an episode of Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio Four’s iconic series FOUR THOUGHT, described as “thought-provoking” and chosen as one of the best episodes.  Mark is currently working on a comedy-drama pilot: THE GOAT, based on losing and then finding faith in religion, people, and ideas. He has also written about the Monkey Dust crisis in Stoke-on-Trent, Descartes’ theories, and his day job.

If you would like any further details on any of the Voices 23 writers, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom team: writersroom@bbc.co.uk

You can find out more about Voices and how to gain a place in the group on our Voices page.

The 2023 Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Voices

Rory D. Bentley

Represented by Mark Brennan, United Agents 

Rory is an award-winning Writer & Director of mixed British-Punjabi heritage from Leicester/Edinburgh. He is currently casting his first feature AMRIT with the BFI after being selected for a coveted place on the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Films / BFI / Creative UK iFeatures initiative - the UK’s premier development lab for debut feature films. He is a BAFTA connect member and a recipient of the prestigious John Brabourne Award. His award-winning 16mm independent short film SURPRI-!  premiered at BFI London Film Festival 2022 and won ‘Best Super Short’ at the British Short Film Awards. 

Rory co-wrote, shot and directed the award-winning 8mm short JAMELLA, starring Jamie Demetriou - which won first prize at the Straight 8 ‘one roll, no editing’ Industry Competition. He has made several other independent & DIY short films which have screened at Academy / BAFTA qualifying film festivals around the world including Edinburgh International Film Festival, Cork Film Festival, Palm Springs International Shortsfest California, British Shorts Berlin & Aesthetica.

Jonny Blair

Represented by Robert Taylor & Tom Shepherd, The Artists Partnership 

Jonny (he/him) is an emerging Scottish filmmaker from Dumfries & Galloway. His first short film THE GROUNDSMAN starred David O’Hara (The Departed) and screened at festivals worldwide before winning the Best Fiction award at the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards. After graduating from the filmmaking course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Jonny went on to complete an MA in Directing Fiction at the National Film and Television School. 

His NFTS graduation film COME OUT OF THE WOODSstarred Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones) and was nominated for a Royal Television Society award. As a writer Jonny has been commissioned to develop a six-part drama for MAM TOR (Chloe) and Â鶹ԼÅÄ.  He also recently directed episodes of Â鶹ԼÅÄ Scotland’s continuing drama series RIVER CITY and in 2024 he’ll direct his debut feature film WALK WITH ME for Silver Reel (Under the Skin).

Maisie Chan 

Maisie is a well-known children’s author. Her short script LYCHEES AND BINGO BALLS won Â鶹ԼÅÄ Bites (2008) before she rewrote it as a novel – DANNY CHUNG DOES NOT DO MATHS which won multiple awards and was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards in 2022. 

She was part of Write4 Film (Scottish Film Talent Network), is a B.E.A.T.S fellow (mentor was Emma Reeves) and a member of EAST, a network for East Asian TV screenwriters. She has been in development writer’s rooms for CBeebies and CÂ鶹ԼÅÄ. 

Her shortFOLDINGwas part of Sharp Shorts (funded by BFI/Screen Scotland) and has played at festivals in Dublin, London, Glasgow and Berlin.  Maisie has written an episode of PIP AND POSY (Magic Light Pictures) and is in talks with a production company hoping to adapt her novel. She is developing a TV drama idea as part of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Voices programme.

Eliza Gearty 

Eliza is a writer based in Glasgow. She is drawn to writing across mediums and telling character-led stories about the impact of socio-political issues on human relationships. Her novella ON THE DOORS, inspired by her experiences as a charity street fundraiser in Glasgow, was published by Speculative Books in 2019. Her debut play ABOUT MONEY was produced by 65% Theatre and staged at Theatre503 and Summerhall in 2022. It won an Edinburgh Fringe Scottish Theatre Award and was shortlisted for the 2022 Saint Andrews Playwriting Award. 

Eliza is a graduate of the Soho Theatre’s Writers Lab and a 65% Theatre Associate Artist. Most recently, she was a 2023 Breakthrough Writer in Residence at the Traverse Theatre, where she was supported to develop her play HOME. She is currently working on her first screenplay, a comedy drama about shame, sexuality and the service industry.

Lewis Hetherington

Represented by Michael Eliot-Finch, Brennan Artists 

Lewis is a Glasgow-based playwright and performance maker. His work is rooted in collaboration, storytelling and play. He has won two Fringe First Awards with Analogue Theatre and an Adelaide Fringe Award. 

He is co-founder of fieldwork performance, Constellation Points, and an Associate of The PappyShow. He has worked with companies including National Theatre of Scotland, Platform, Lyceum Theatre, Traverse and Grid Iron. He has created performances in castles, climbing arenas and swimming pools, as well as theatres all over the world, including venues and festivals in Australia, Canada, China, USA, Singapore, Japan and more.

Lewis often makes performances with community groups and has a real passion for uncovering stories which need to be heard, using creativity to empower people to find their voice. He also makes a lot of work for children and young people and finds their capacity for imagination and honesty as audience members hugely inspiring.

James Ley

Represented by Kelly Knatchbull, Sayle Screen 

James is a playwright and screenwriter living in Glasgow. His plays include WILF (Traverse Theatre), ODE TO JOY (Stories Untold, Summerhall), LOVE SONG TO LAVENDER MENACE (Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Summerhall, SoHo Playhouse, New York), SALLY  (A play, a pie and a pint) EMMA AND GILL (Catherine Wheels, Lung Ha), I HEART MATHS (A play, a pie and a pint), and SPAIN (Glasgay!, Citizens Theatre). 

James’ play ODE TO JOY which he wrote and directed won a fringe first at the Edinburgh Festival 2022. James was Writer on Attachment to National Theatre of Scotland in 2022. He was selected for the 2019 Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab, and the 2019 Stowe Story Labs in Vermont, USA. James’ feature adaptation of Love Song to Lavender Menace is currently in development, produced by John McKay/Compact Pictures and funded by the Scottish Film Talent Network.

Daisy Jo Lucas

Represented by Peter MacFarlane, MacFarlane Chard 

Daisy came to writing whilst performing in theatres across London and Glasgow. Her first stage play FAT CAT was performed Upstairs at the Gatehouse, and her subsequent theatre work has been staged at the Old Red Lion, Tron Theatre, Old Hairdressers, Gilded Balloon, and Glasgow's CCA. 

After being awarded a full merit-based scholarship, Daisy studied a Masters in screenwriting where she was mentored by writer and showrunner Liz Lake through the development of an original pilot. Daisy’s first short film EGG was awarded Best Drama Short by the Europe Film Festival and her drama THE PARTY has been shortlisted for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Open call.  Daisy was long listed for Play Pie Pint's David MacLennon award and has developed audio drama with Kirsty Williams for Â鶹ԼÅÄ radio 4. Daisy iscurrently working on her first Television commission for  Â鶹ԼÅÄ Scotland’s continuing drama series, RIVER CITY.

³Ò°ù²¹Å¼²â²Ô²¹ McGroarty 

³Ò°ù²¹Å¼²â²Ô²¹, technically a Glaswegian, grew up in the rural village of Dunscore and her nearest town was featured in cult classic The Wickerman, which… explains a lot. 

In 2016 ³Ò°ù²¹Å¼²â²Ô²¹ joined the film and television industry as a runner working across scripted television and feature film. Most recently ³Ò°ù²¹Å¼²â²Ô²¹ has been script assistant for Left Bank Pictures crime thriller Department Q, scheduled to film in 2023. 

³Ò°ù²¹Å¼²â²Ô²¹ is a graduate of University West of Scotland where she studied Filmmaking and Screen Writing. In 2020 ³Ò°ù²¹Å¼²â²Ô²¹ completed NFTS Scotland’s certificate course Screenwriting: Finding Your Voice, while working as assistant to director Jon S Baird on feature film TETRIS. 

Since then ³Ò°ù²¹Å¼²â²Ô²¹ has been continuously writing and growing as a filmmaker. PEGGED, her hilarious first feature script has been pitched to Film 4 at Glasgow film festival 2022 and in May 2023 ³Ò°ù²¹Å¼²â²Ô²¹ made her directorial debut with short film MANIC HEALING.

Eve Nicol 

Eve is a Glaswegian playwright and theatre director. Their “boundary-breaking” (The Stage) debut play, ONE LIFE STAND for Middle Child, toured the UK for 16 weeks, including the Paines Plough Roundabout @ Summerhall. Eve adapted Belle & Sebastian’s iconic album IF YOU’RE FEELING SINISTER for Avalon and Â鶹ԼÅÄ Arts and has directed critically acclaimed productions for the National Theatre of Scotland, Traverse and Tron. 

Their provocative 2022 play, SVENGALI, received the Filipa Bragança Award and was nominated for the Popcorn Award for New Writing. Previously Digital Associate of the National Theatre of Scotland, Eve is now a Mentor Director for National Theatre Connections, a Trustee of the Dewar Arts Awards, and Associate Director for much-loved shows WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF and ISLANDER. 

Eve is supported by the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Peggy Ramsay Foundation, and Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland. Their work, exploring music, love, and power, strives to mend broken hearts and recover lost souls.

Emma Ramsay

Represented by Francesca Devas, Independent Talent 

Emma is a screenwriter/director represented by Francesca Devas at Independent Talent. She is currently developing original comedy/horror ideas with Long Boat Pictures & Birdie Pictures. Her TV writing credits include CÂ鶹ԼÅÄ sitcom NOVA JONES and Â鶹ԼÅÄ Scotland’s continuing drama series, RIVER CITY. 

After studying for a BSc in Digital Media, specialising in animation and VFX,  she undertook an MA in Screenwriting where she wrote a number of short films. Since graduating in 2019 she has been working in television drama development. Currently she is assistant script editor at World Productions working on a true crime drama TBA and across the Scottish development slate.

Jo Spencely 

Jo is an Edinburgh-based screenwriter and playwright who has just completed her first screenwriting commission, for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Scotland’s continuing drama series, ‘River City’ (26th July 2023).  In 2023 Jo was selected for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Voices (Scotland), the Young Films Foundation Skye Screenwriters’ Residency Programme, and The Writers Lab UK & Europe.

Her plays have won the London Playwrights Playclub, been presented at The Old Red Lion Theatre, Barons Court Theatre and The Chiswick Playhouse, and her one-act play, ‘Mayday’, won her a place on the London Playwrights Writer Development Programme.
Jo has an MA with Distinction in Writing for TV from Glasgow Caledonian University. Her work has reached the top 3% in Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Open Call 2023, QF stage in the Stage32 Female Driven Screenwriting Contest (2022) and the top 20% in the New Voice Awards (2021).

Jo loves to write scripts that foreground women’s experiences and explore family dynamics, but always with a wry take on the world.

If you would like any further details on any of the Voices 23 writers, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom team: writersroom@bbc.co.uk

You can find out more about Voices and how to gain a place in the group on our Voices page.

The 2023 Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom Voices

Jason Barker is an award winning writer/director, occasional actor and sometimes stand-up comedian based in the West Country.

He is currently developing a feature film called MISTER UTERUS with BFI Film Fund, Delaval Films and Tigerlily Productions, an adaptation of the autobiographical feature documentary he made with the same team in 2018 - A DEAL WITH THE UNIVERSE.

Jason has co-written a radio play for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4 and was selected for the BaftaXBFI Flare mentoring scheme in 2022. Jason’s stories often explore identity, rural mythology and, having been through puberty twice, pregnancy and now menopause (yay), hormonal upheavals usually feature.

Recently completing a neuroscience degree, Lara Biller is relatively new to writing. At university, she wrote several plays that were produced by the drama society, including dark-comedy THE SHADOWS, which had a sold out run at the King’s Arms in Salford, as well as being picked from 200 playscripts for the WordPlay performances at Bath Spa University.

Both her plays THE SHADOWS and FRANKLIN, a drama about gender and mushrooms, were nominated for Best New Writing at the University of Manchester’s theatre awards. During COVID restrictions, Lara wrote 40-minute zoom monologue, iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou, which was put forward as Manchester’s entry for an inter-university drama festival in Edinburgh.

Her work often blurs genres and she is drawn to strange, dark stories with enthusiastic men, queer women and plenty of blood. The first TV script she wrote, about a pack of runaway teenage girls, got her a place on the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Voices scheme.

Rob Cromwell has been a professional writer for TV, live comedy and advertising for nearly two decades.

Having previously focused on comedy, Rob now writes high concept dramas with a satirical or darkly comic edge, around themes of loss and recovery, natural justice, and moral ambiguity. He’s fascinated by the contradictions of the human mind, its darker recesses and the way memory works.

Rob featured on the Â鶹ԼÅÄ’s New Talent Hot List in 2017 and has written more than 200 hours of television across the comedy and entertainment genres. His diverse writing CV covers some of the biggest shows and names in British television, and this experience has given him a versatile style without ever losing his unique voice.

Rob’s script RebEllieous – a period comedy drama about a wealthy heiress turned highway robber – was his second foray into drama writing, and he has since written two further pilot scripts. He is currently seeking representation.

Florence Espeut-Nickless is a writer and actor from Chippenham in Wiltshire. She writes for stage and screen about and with working-class communities in the Southwest.

She’s part of Dancing Ledge Productions Screenskills New Talent Scheme 2023/4, an Open Session Writer at Bristol Old Vic, was CRF Writer in Residence at Pentabus, and associate artist at Strike A Light.

Florence adapted THE ODYSSEY for the National Theatre and Trowbridge Town Hall. She’s been commissioned to write a play for NT Connections.

Her award-winning debut play, DESTINY has toured the UK over the last year two years (developed with Bristol Old Vic/Tobacco Factory). She wrote MIRACLE ON 34 SEYMOUR STREET (Trowbridge Town Hall) and is developing a new play BLINDED BY YOUR GRACE (Bristol Old Vic/Strike A Light/GL4/MAYK).

She was a finalist on 4Stories (C4/Blacklight) and shortlisted for Dancing Ledge’s Writer in Residence scheme. Florence is represented by Jessica Cooper at Curtis Brown.

Holly Fitzpatrick forefronts queer feminist rage in all its tragic, comic, epic glory. She is a 23-year-old writer, theatre maker and dramaturg from South Devon interested in transformative, non-linear approaches to storytelling.

After graduating from the University of Exeter with a first class BA in English and Drama, she received Arts Council funding for her debut play, LAVENDER – an intense coming-of-age story traversing gender, faith, politics and time, set along Devon’s eroding coastline. The play was produced at Exeter Phoenix, Theatre Royal Plymouth and the Omnibus Theatre in South London, and as a submission resulted in Holly being shortlisted in the top 1% for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom’s Drama Room before being selected for the Voices 2023 programme.

Alongside LAVENDER, she has worked as a dramaturg for the queer cabaret-character study Revelations at the Theatro Technis @ 26 Crowndale in Camden, and has facilitated creative writing and performing arts workshops for young people.

Ramsey Hassan is an emerging writer of comics, plays, and novels based in London. As a Somalian who came to the U.K. as an asylum seeker, he’s super interested in telling gripping and funny genre stories about the black Muslim experience and the refugee experience too.

Under his pen name of RAMZEE, he was nominated for a British Comic Award in 2016 and has gone on to write comics for 2000AD and Marvel.

As a playwright, he’s an alumni of the Vaults New Writers Programme and developing a play in the Royal Court Writers Group.

His kids illustrated novella SANCTUARY won the second prize at the Faber Children’s Fab Prize 2017 and he has recently landed a deal to write and illustrate a three book middle grade series.

Pelé Hearne found refuge in imagination from an early age. With a stick in hand, he wielded it as a sword or lightsabre, while a simple blanket transformed into a shapeshifting cape. Pelé Hearne, aged 31 and still a Jedi.  

He spent his youth creating films with friends using his trusted handy cam, plunging himself into an education of classic cinema and water cooler moment TV.

Pelé has a passion for writing original expansive worlds, big colourful genre work, and thanks to his background in theatre directing, he is also drawn to writing strong, memorable characters.

His studies in screenwriting and producing at Regents University London earned him recognition, including a workshop opportunity with an Oscar-winning actor.

Notable accolades include being a finalist in the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Studios A Thousand Stories competition 2021 and being awarded "best dialogue" in the 2020 Fresh Voices competition. Pelé, now seeking representation, expects to live up to his namesake.

Paul Holbrook is a multi-award-winning, working-class writer and director. Despite a lack of formal education, Paul began his career making progress through industry-backed screenwriting competitions including Page, Shore, Screencraft and The Academy Nicholl Fellowship.

Paul's work often fuses the flair of genre cinema with grounded social realism, and his passion for character-driven stories is evident in all his produced work thus far. He has screened and won numerous awards at BAFTA, BIFA, and Oscar-qualifying festivals around the world including Palm Springs, BFI London, Encounters, and Aesthetica. He was also nominated for a London Critics Circle Award and has had his work released on prestigious platforms such Short of the Week, Alter and Director’s Notes.

Paul is a returning member of the Bafta Connect program, has been funded by BFI Network and The Pitch Film Fund, and is developing various TV and film projects including a 6-part TV comedy with Sky.

Laura Horton is a multi-award-winning writer and the first playwright Laureate of Plymouth.

Her debut play LABYRINTH DIET was an OFFCOMM winner in 2021. Her follow-up BREATHLESS was awarded the Pleasance Regional Partnership. It won a Fringe First, was a finalist for the Popcorn Award and was shortlisted for other prestigious prizes. The show enjoyed runs at Soho Theatre and 59e59 Off-Broadway in 2023, where it was New York Times critic’s pick. She has written several short plays. Her first short film, A SUMMER OF BIRDS, was Toast of the Fringe winner in 2021.

An associate of The Space, Laura launched digital projects HIDDEN BY THINGS and THEATRE STORIES, for which she was in The Stage100. On commission at Theatre Royal Plymouth, she is also developing dark comedy, LIFE UNDERWATER, which has been selected for a reading at the Criterion.

She is adapting LIFE UNDERWATER and BREATHLESS for television. Laura also runs Bad Sex Writing workshops and shows. She is represented by United Agents.

Harry Smyth is a writer & development producer with one foot in scripted drama and the other in documentary.

Harry has developed an impressive list of unscripted programming for major broadcasters such as Â鶹ԼÅÄ, Channel 4 and Sky. The latest series he developed, ‘STACEY DOOLEY: STALKERS’ for Â鶹ԼÅÄ, was met with critical acclaim and excellent viewing figures. Harry’s unscripted development work accounts for over 50 hours of broadcast content.

Harry's crime-drama script COLDLINE made the 2018 Official LondonTVPitchbox Selection at Raindance Film Festival and was later in development at BAFTA-nominated Salon Pictures. His following script UNTIL PROVEN made the 2021 Pitchbox Official Selection. Though mainly writing in the crime & thriller genres, his work as a screenwriter also includes a web-series for Comedy Central and narrative music videos.

More recently, Harry has worked on funded developments for HBO, Tall Story and NRK. Harry is represented by The Dench Arnold Agency.

Courtney Wilkinson is a Mexican-American screenwriter from California living in Henley-on-Thames. She moved to England after finishing her undergraduate degree in English at the University of California, Berkeley to study Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Studies at the University of Cambridge.

In addition to writing for television, Courtney is a music journalist and interviewer, covering everything from indie shows to large festivals across the US and Europe.

Having been drawn to UK television from a young age, her inspirations have primarily been British from The Inbetweeners to Black Mirror, the latter having inspired HARMONY, her dystopian sci-fi television series about women’s bodily autonomy.

Rowing has also been a large part of her life, having been a coxswain at Berkeley and Cambridge. She is currently working with a US production company to develop her first television series, PUTNEY TO MORTLAKE, a dramatic comedy based on the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.

Mo Yilmaz

Though career-wise in nappies, the hope is to bring something to the table which reflects what we all need now, which is a renewed faith in the common goodness in people. This process reflects this; my colleagues in new voices from across the country are fellow travellers, trying to make a connection with you, the audience. The rest is details. Having said that, some details: British born, South East Asian extraction, father, husband, son.

Working closely with the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom team, out of six UK-wide hubs, the writers have taken part in an intensive programme of craft workshops, expert masterclasses and discussions with guest writers including Ryan J Brown (WRECK), Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn (BLUE LIGHTS; THE SALISBURY POISONINGS) and Lisa Holdsworth (CALL THE MIDWIFE; A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES). The writers have also had the opportunity to hear from key industry representatives including agents, producers and member of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Drama Commissioning team, as well as sessions with BAFTA Albert and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.

All our Voices 23 writers have also spent the last six months defining and developing a new series idea to outline stage with the editorial support of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom team.

It’s been an immense pleasure getting to know these talented writers this year; we can’t wait to see what they go on to achieve next. I’m thrilled to introduce them to you now and I do hope you enjoy reading through their biogs and getting to know them.

If you would like any further details on any of the Voices 23 writers, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom team: writersroom@bbc.co.uk

You can find out more about Voices and how to gain a place in the group on our Voices page.

Jess Loveland, Head of New Writing, Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom + Drama Commissioning

All week we'll be introducing the Voices writers from each of our hubs separately. The first group we'd like you to meet are our 12 Voices from our hub in Wales.

Commissioning Executive Celi Fowler:

"We are incredibly excited to announce our Welsh Voices group for 2023! Since January, we have been working with 12 writers to help develop and hone their writing skills, each working towards an original TV idea. It has been a delight getting to know and working with such a passionate and talented group who have brought with them such an exciting range of ideas. We are looking forward to seeing what they do next!"

Mari Beard and Hanna Jarman first met in 2006’s NYTW and went on to be performers living in Cardiff. They started their writing partnership in 2017 when they wrote their dark comedy series MERCHED PARCHUS/RESPECTABLE GIRLS with ieie productions which aired in 2019. Together they were nominated for BAFTACymru awards in the writers and breakthrough categories. The series went on to be nominated for a RTS award for Best Drama and a Celtic Media award for Short drama.

They also wrote the drama series Y GYFRINACHfor BoomCymru with support from the BFI young audience fund and are both currently working on a new writing project for ieie productions.

Mari’s other writing credits include BAFTA nominated BEX(Ceidiog) and Hanna’s include, Y TEIMLAD/THAT FEELING (NYTW), BRANWEN (WMC/Fran Wen), GALWAD 2052 (SkyArts). They both also had babies in 2022 because, apparently, they can’t do anything without each other.

Emma Cooney is a Welsh Writer and LAMDA-trained Actor. Her Theatre credits include BELLY BUTTONS AND GOODBYE MEMORY LANE (The Sherman Theatre). She’s also written and performed comedy sketches for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sesh and is a proud alumna of both The Sherman Theatre’s Writer’s Group and The Royal Court’s Introduction to Playwrighting Group.

In 2023, her play SIAN DE BERGERAC was shortlisted for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom’s Drama Room, reaching the top 1% of the 4,287 scripts submitted. It was also long-listed for The RSC’s 37 Plays Initiative and an extract was performed at The Sherman Theatre’s New Writing Showcase. 

Emma wants to create TV and Theatre that’s hilarious, heart-felt and ambitious. Her work often explores the complexity of women, loneliness and hope.

Phil Hamer is a screenwriter from Pontypridd. Arriving late to writing in 2020, Phil’s screenplay SIDE STEP made Nicholl Fellowship quarter final and won Best Unproduced Screenplay at the International Film Festival of Wales in 2022. It also made top 3% at Â鶹ԼÅÄ Open Call 2023. His comedy THE DAVIESES was an SWN TV Pilot finalist in 2021 and made Top 12% at Â鶹ԼÅÄ Open Call 2022. Phil’s comedy drama HIS OWN DEVICES was an SWN Short Film Script quarter finalist in 2021.

Currently smuggling his strongest beliefs into accessible genre scripts, Phil is developing DISTANT PLANET, an alien love story about a single mum with a wormhole in her airing cupboard (‘Socialism could work if it wasn’t for humans’) and LIMBO, a ghost story set in a desolate Welsh mining town (‘Never trust Westminster or psychics from Merthyr’).

Primarily, Phil seeks to explore the devastating effects of modern capitalism on the poorest regions.

Rebeca Hughes is a Welsh screenwriter based in Cardiff.

Prior to taking part in the Welsh Voices scheme, her pilot GALAR/GRIEF reached the top 12% of Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom’s Open Call. She wrote the screenplay for TV movie romcom ZOE IS HAVING A BABY produced by Reel One Entertainment and starring The Handmaid’s Tale’s Nina Kiri.

Through all genres from drama to comedy, Rebeca enjoys writing quirky, memorable characters and throwing them into situations that speak to the complexity of wider society. In particular, Rebeca focuses on multi-faceted female characters who face moral challenges in their lives and relationships.

When she’s not writing scripts, she’s reading them as a Development Executive in the film industry.

Paisley Jackson is a young female, neurodiverse actor and writer from Newport, South Wales.

Her first play CELTIC MANNERS won ‘The John Thaw Initiative’ and was performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre with two sell-out shows. Paisley’s theatre credits include Chippy Lane Productions, Dirty Protest and Theatr Gwaun.

She reached the top 4% of open submissions for The Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom, and is listed as a Â鶹ԼÅÄ Promising Writer. CELTIC MANNERS was described as “A Wales-set drama – following on from Polly Garter in Dylan Thomas's ‘Under Milk Wood', and Effie in Gary Owen's ‘Iphigenia In Splott".

In 2022/23 Paisley graduated from The Sherman Theatre Writers and The Royal Court Playwriting Groups where she has completed her new play ZETA.

Now looking forward to writing for television, whilst exploring female led stories with a clear sense of place, Paisley champions herself on her dark humoured pieces, conversational characters and sharp wit.

Natasha Kaeda is a Welsh-based writer working across stage, screen and audio.  

After completing Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab, Natasha went on to develop her first play TIME EQUALS ZERO through a seed commission from The Hampstead Theatre. In 2020 Natasha’s play, IN MY LUNGSTHE OCEAN SWELLS was staged at The Vault Festival and won the Origins Award for Outstanding New Writing and received an OffCom Commendation. Other playwriting credits include THE QUARRY (ALRA showcase), A CRADLE SONG (shortlisted for The Orange Tree Writers Collective), FALLOW (developed with the Sherman Theatre). 

Natasha’s episode AUTUMN was the first in a series of four audio dramas called LAND SKEINS. The project won the OffWestEndCom Innovation Award 2021. She is currently developing a new audio play, supported by Arts Council Wales. 

In 2022, Natasha was shortlisted for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Writersroom’s Pilot scheme with her TV spec script WILL YOU BE THERE TO LOVE ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD.

Melodie Karczewski is a disabled writer and actor from Thanet who has been living in Cardiff for the last 3 years.

Growing up, she was apart of the BFI Academy, NFTS BFI Academy, HighRise New Gens and the BAFTA mentorship programme where she was mentored by Kayleigh Llewellyn. She is a recent graduate on the BA Acting course at The Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama and is a member of Open Door.

Her short play, THE TASTE OF HEALING, which she wrote, directed and starred in, was put on at The Yard theatre in London in June 2023.

She is interested in telling stories inspired by true events, folklore, forgotten communities and the ethical questions posed by our modern world, in both dramatic and comedic ways.

Photo credit: @Yellowbelly

Originally from Edinburgh but now based in Cardiff, Hannah McPake is an actor and playwright.  In 2013 she co-founded multi-award-winning gig theatre company Gagglebabble and in 2020 she began writing. 

Her first full-length play TALES OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM was performed at Sherman Theatre last Christmas.  Recipient of the Radical Creatures Commission from National Theatre Wales, BALLOON GIRL is scheduled for performance in 2025. I AM KEVIN a hybrid theatre/film with Cornish landscape theatre company Wildworks is out in cinemas this July.  

Hannah regularly collaborates with yello brick to create audio experiences and is an Associate Artist of Theatr Iolo.

Hannah's work is often inspired by history or reimagining's of well-known stories, it puts female characters squarely centre stage, usually playful and comic but unafraid to delve into the dark side of life, big-hearted and quietly political. Hannah is working on her first TV drama pilot.

Mali Ann Rees is a Cardiff born writer and actor who trained at East 15 Acting School. Mali debuted her professional writing career with her 30-minute audio-drama BRATIAITH for the Sherman Theatre’s Heart of Cardiff series and subsequently became an Associate Artist for the Sherman Theatre.

She has written sketches for The Size of Us a Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio comedy sketch show which she also performed in. Mali’s first staged work was a short play called THIEVES, which was performed as part of Theatr Clwyd’s Curtain Up series.

Mali was selected for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Welsh Voices 2023 and is looking forward to embarking on her journey into television writing. 

Hefin Robinson is a bilingual playwright and writer from Carmarthen. He enjoys regular collaboration with a number of Wales-based companies.

Recent work includes: THE FIELD (yello brick); DOCTOR DOLITTLE’S WILD ADVENTURE, PINOCCHIO AND THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, THE CURIOUS MUCHNESS OF STUFF AND NOTHING (Hijinx Odyssey); FINAL CUT, COLD CASE/GWAED OER (yello brick with Wales Millennium Centre); DREAMERS & DRAGONS, HUMANKIND, NOWHERE (Mess Up The Mess)

Other plays include SOARING (Dirty Protest with NTW/Sherman) and his prize-winning debut ESTRON (‘ALIEN’) which toured Wales in a production by Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru. Hefin has been a participant of Theatr Clwyd’s writer in residence scheme and the Royal Court’s writers’ programme.

Dave Stevenson is a screenwriter and author from Crickhowell, Powys.

In 2020, he was selected for the Emerging Welsh Writers Group by The Other Room Theatre and Bad Wolf, where he developed his TV drama pilot MY FRIEND, THE WALRUS. His short film, I’M AFRAID IT’S BAD NEWS, screened at the 2020 Borderlines Film Festival, and he has worked in development on several feature projects with acclaimed directors and producers.

As an author, Dave’s work was published in Create 50’s sci-fi anthology THE SINGULARITY, while his self-produced children’s audiobook series, POOR UNCLE DAVE, continues to reach a growing international audience.

Despite the 21st Century’s best efforts, Dave remains an optimist and brings this outlook to his writing. His work covers a range of genres, from rom-com to sci-fi via dramedy and fantasy, with the same core goal; exploring authentic, relatable characters through bold, absurdist concepts.