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Work by Guild members in next seven days

CAREY ANDREWS wrote the episodes of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 7:30pm on Tuesday 11th and Thursday 13th January.

JEAN BUCHANAN'S radio play To Catch a Thief goes out on Radio 4 at 2:30pm on Saturday 8th January.

MARK BURGESS'S play 'A King's Speech' was repeated by BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 6th January 2011 at 2.15pm. Set during the afternoon & evening of Coronation Day 1937, it focuses on the relationship between King George VI & his speech therapist Lionel Logue as the King prepares for his first broadcast to the Empire that evening. Alex Jennings plays the King with Trevor Littledale as Logue. 'A King's Speech' is directed by David Blount & produced by Pier Productions Ltd.

Tynan, an adaptation of the diaries of Kenneth Tynan by Richard Nelson and Guild member COLIN CHAMBERS, is to open at the Studio Theatre, Washington DC on January 19th with Philip Goodwin (Pink Panther, Men in Black II, Law and Order) playing the celebrated theatre critic. The play was originally performed by Corin Redgrave at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre and Arts Theatre, London in 2004.

RICHARD CHAMBERS wrote the episode of Silent Witness going out in two parts on BBC1 at 9:00pm on Monday 10th January.

DAVID CRANE co-wrote the first episode of the new series Episodes, starring Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Greig and Matt LeBlanc, going out on BBC2 at 10:00pm on Monday 10th January.

SIMON CROWTHER wrote the episodes of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 7:30pm and 8:30pm on Monday 10th January.

MARY CUTLER wrote the episodes of The Archers going out on Radio 4 at 7:00pm from Monday 10th till Friday 14th. Every episode is repeated at 2:00pm the day following its original broadcast.

LINDA LOUISA DELL'S new book African Nights has been published by emp3books at £8.95 and is also available as an e-book at £5.95. Available by order from Amazon.com or all good book shops.

TIM DYNEVOR wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm Friday 14th January.

MARK EVAN'S Bleak Expectations begins a new series with the episode "Chapter the First: a Lovely Life Re-Kippered Again Once More" going out on Radio 4 at 11:30am on Friday 14th January.

BILL GALLAGHER'S Lark Rise to Candleford begins a new series on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Sunday 9th January.

TOM GREEN'S new play Talking In Bed will be at Theatre 503 in London from 10th January, starring James Holmes (from BBC Two sitcom Miranda). Full details www.theatre503.com/whatson/detail/232


PATRICK HARBINSON wrote the first episode of the new series Kidnap and Ransom, starring Trevor King as expert hostage negotiator Dominic King, going out on ITV1 at 9:00pm on Thursday 13th January.

MARTHA HILLIER wrote the episode of Holby City "China in Your Hands" going out on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Tuesday 11th January.

IAN KERSHAW wrote the episode of Shameless going out on C4 at 10:00pm on Tuesday 11th January.

ED McCARDIE wrote the episodes of Shameless going out on C4 at 10:00pm on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th January.

DAVID MORGAN took first place in the 17th Annual National Poetry Slam, winning the title of Farrago UK Slam Poetry Champion 2010.

DEBBIE OATES wrote the episode of Primeval going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Saturday 8th January.

ASHLEY PHAROAH wrote the first episode of the new series of Wild at Heart going out on ITV1 at 8:30pm on Sunday 9th January.

CHRISTOPHER REASON wrote the episode of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Friday 14th January.

PAUL ROUNDELL wrote the episodes of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th January.

PATREA SMALLACOMBE co-wrote the episodes of Hollyoaks going out on C4 at 6:30pm from Monday 10th to Friday 14th January.

MARTYN WADE'S dramatisation of Miss Mackenzie goes out on Radio 4 at 3:00pm on Sunday 9th January.

PETER WHALLEY wrote the episodes of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 7:30pm and 8:30pm on Friday 14th January.

JOHN WILSHER wrote the episode of Midsomer Murders "Not in My Back Yard" going out on ITV1 at 8:00pm on Wednesday 12th January.

Harry Potter plagiarism case dismissed

From BBC News:

A US judge has dismissed a legal action accusing Harry Potter author JK Rowling of copying the work of another author.

The estate of late author Adrian Jacobs claimed that the plot of fourth Harry Potter outing Goblet of Fire plagiarised parts of his book The Adventures of Willy the Wizard.

Judge Shira Sheindlin wrote in her ruling that there were major differences between the two works.

She added they were "distinctly different in both substance and style".

Public Domain Day

Work by numerous authors entered the public domain in various territories at the start of 2011, as listed on the Public Domain Day website.

London Councils to cull capital’s £3m arts support budget

By Natalie Woolman in The Stage:

London Councils is to axe its entire £3 million financial support for the arts across the capital.Theatre companies that will be affected include Theatre Royal Stratford East, Tamasha Theatre Company, the Tricycle Theatre and Clean Break.

The umbrella body for local authorities in the capital, London Councils raises money from individual boroughs which is then allocated to voluntary sector projects across the city.

It currently spends £3.14 million a year on provision related to culture, tourism and the 2012 Olympics.

London Councils’ new list of strategic priorities will result in the majority of the cultural services it supports losing all of their funding by the end of June 2011.

Research highlights need to improve writers' business and digital skills

Creative & Cultural Skills, the Sector Skills Council for the creative and cultural industries, has launched the Literature Blueprint (pdf) – research highlighting an urgent need to improve the business and digital skills of creative writers and people working in other roles in the sector, such as literature development.

It also considers the need to broaden entry routes into the sector, support the development of writers working with children and young people, and ensure that creative writing qualifications reflect the reality of writing professionally.

Creative writing is at the heart of our national identity and cultural economy, and acts as a springboard for many other highly profitable industries, such as film, theatre, gaming and publishing. Meanwhile, digitisation has transformed the way the sector produces, markets and promotes literature and literature events.

Following industry consultation, the Literature Blueprint makes a number of key recommendations:

1. Improve professional development opportunities for writers and other literature professionals who work or aspire to work with children and young people.
2. Enhance the information, advice and guidance available to individuals aspiring to become writers or to enter the wider literature sector.
3. Ensure that entry routes are relevant and fully accessible by all.
4. Increase alignment between higher and further education provision and the skills needs of the sector so that courses better prepare students for work.
5. Ensure that the right mix of training and qualifications is available to meet current and future skills needs, and that opportunities are promoted and signposted well.
6. Help the sector to access relevant business support and ensure that this is communicated well.
7. Prioritise the development of digital skills both for individual writers and for literature organisations

Antonia Byatt, Director, Literature, Arts Council England, said: 'UK literature is a truly global force and, whilst renowned for its heritage, it is also pioneering a new generation of young and exciting writers who are making their mark. Writers, and the people who present and promote them, need to match their creative skills with appropriate business skills so that they can take advantage of new ways of reaching more readers, online and face to face.'

Caroline Felton, Chief Executive, Creative & Cultural Skills, said: 'The Literature Blueprint has identified the key areas where skills for the industry need to be developed, and now we must work with the sector to ensure the appropriate support is available and the right interventions are made. On a practical level, this will, I hope, manifest itself in the form of improved access to training opportunities that will best support writers and those in other roles in the sector throughout their careers.'

Jimmy Gardner obituary

Multi-BAFTA winning screenwriter Jimmy Gardner died on December 14th, 2010 aged 53 of heart failure. His work was marked by an honesty and integrity which reflected his own character. Though best known for the hard hitting and highly acclaimed British television dramas The Cops and Buried, in person Jimmy was a kind, thoughtful, humorous and modest man, qualities not always associated with the television industry.

Brought up in Edinburgh, Gardner later studied at Kent University for a BA Hons in English and American Literature. Subsequently, he led a somewhat peripatetic life with an eclectic range of jobs in London, New York and Lisbon before returning to Edinburgh.

In 1992 he graduated from the screenwriting course at the Northern Film School with Borderland which won the Best British Student Short Film Award was shortlisted for the 1996 Dennis Potter Award after a recommendation from Tessa Ross, then at BBC Television. As Ross recalls 'I still remember well how exciting it was to read Jimmy's submission to the Dennis Potter Award, all those years ago - here was an honest and clear original voice, a voice with grit and humanity and a clear sense of purpose. Jimmy was quiet and serious, unshowy and very unusual - just like his writing. Working with him and the team on Buried was a great highlight and Cops remains one of the true inspirational, unforgettable pieces of television drama. I am very sad to hear of his death.'

Following a BAFTA nomination for his short film The Butterfly Man, Gardner began his television career writing episodes of The Bill. Having written for the second series of This Life Gardner, together with Robert Jones and Anita Pandolfo, developed The Cops with producer Francis Hopkinson which went on to win the BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series in 1999 and 2000 and the Royal Television Society’s Best Drama Series Award in 2000.

The Cops was described by Executive Producer Tony Garnett as a 'Trojan Horse drama', a critique of life on a northern sink estate and of the realities of policing in this milieu. Francis Hopkinson described Gardner's first script for the series as a perfect opener and launched the show that boosted many careers – so we all owe Jimmy'. On learning of his death, producer Tony Garnett said 'Jimmy was a real talent, perceptive about people and angry at injustice. It was a privilege to work with a writer of such integrity.'

Gardner went on to co-devise and write (with Robert Jones) the critically acclaimed series Buried and this uncompromising, harsh and violent portrayal of prison life won the 2004 BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series.

He also wrote the screenplay for a feature film Outlanders based on a story by Dominic Lees which was released theatrically in 2009.

Gardner created and was the lead writer for the darkly comic family saga Goldplated; a prescient tale of unsustainable avarice set around a nouveau riche family of property developers in Manchester.

More recently he had written an episode of the period cop drama George Gently starring Martin Shaw and at the time of his death was writing another episode, along with developing a number of original drama projects.

Gardner was born with a congenital heart defect, which required surgery at different stages of his life, together with ongoing treatment, all of which he bore with characteristic good grace and wry humour. He is survived by his wife, Claire Russell, three brothers, his son, Eugene, and his parents.