On the BBC and ITV...

A guest post by Gail Renard, Chair of the WGGB TV Committee

I’ve been asked to comment on all the current ITV/ BBC fiascoes but there aren’t enough hours in the day. Just some quick thoughts:

• Please will the BBC stop moaning that about not getting the licence fee they wanted, which they, you, I and even remote hermits living high atop mountains with no contact with the outside world for 30 years knew they wouldn’t get? I didn’t get the fee I wanted for my last BBC series either but with the aid of support groups and EST, I’ve learned to cope. Deal with it.
• Ditto the “Cookie”/ “Socks” crisis which has accounted for more TV hours than the current Children’s TV programming output.
• Some TV stars are paid how much?
• The BBC said they’ll make fewer shows, but of greater excellence and quality. What does the BBC think that we writers have been doing all these years? We’re not exactly holding back our best work, though I refuse to answer for “Anthea Turner: Perfect Housewife.”
• No, really. Some TV stars are paid how much?
• Also, can someone please explain to me, and to them, what executive producers do?
• Is there some new definition of “zero tolerance” which seems to apply to some ITV series and not to others? Discuss. Illustrate. Draw map.
• Free the Ant and Dec two.
• And whilst the BBC claim that many of their financial woes come from bringing new technology and digital channels to a grateful nation and they need to be cut some slack, may I respectfully point out the incredible array of services quietly and impressively offered to us by Channel 4? Let me count the ways: there’s C4 itself, C4 + 1, E4, E4 + 1, More4, More4 (all together now:) +1, Channel 4 on demand, C4 catch up service, 10 new C4 radio channels (count ’em, 10!) and I’ve not yet seen what they’ve launched today. Do you get the picture? All launched smoothly and professionally without excuses, tantrums or a licence fee in sight. C4 just deliver their services to appreciative customers who know what they’re getting, in the same user-friendly way that they’ve learned to order pizza and pole dancers. It’s not rocket science. Okay it’s almost rocket science, but C4 still manage to do it.

Don’t get me wrong. I love television and want to go on loving it even though it's not been made easy lately. British television used to be envied internationally as the best in the world, thanks to its talent, integrity, inventiveness and pure joy. Please let’s get back to the raison d’être of all writers and TV companies: making original programmes of which we and the viewers are proud. Now there’s a novel thought.

Best New Play for Stenham at TMA Awards

First-time playwright Polly Stenham has won Best Play for That Face (Royal Court) at the 2007 TMA Awards, reports Lalayn Baluch for The Stage.

Douglas Coupland interview

In The Independent, Matt Thorne talks to Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland.

The best description of Douglas Coupland is by the author himself in the novel JPod, where he depicts himself as having eyes that look like "wells filled with drowned toddlers". Of course, this is the fictional version of Coupland (in the novel he hints to the main character that he has a body to dispose of), and at the time it seemed like this evil version of himself was intended as a deliberate contrast with the more lovable Doug who wrote the early books and is worshipped by a fan-base who drive great distances for his readings (which are more like one-man comedy shows than the usual stilted events) and have been visiting his website ever since the author established himself as an early internet presence. But his last two novels, JPod and this month's The Gum Thief, to my mind far and away the best novels he's ever written, have seemed like exactly the sort of books an "evil" novelist might write.

Scottish theatre rides high

On The Guardian's Theatre Blog, Michael Billington is impressed by the vitality of theatre in Scotland.

...talking to Julie Ellen who runs Playwrights' Studio Scotland, I heard about the seething creative activity around the whole country: over the last three years Julie has offered advice and encouragement to 189 individual writers. You'd have to live in Scotland to understand why this is happening. But, as an occasional visitor, it strikes me that Scottish theatre's exuberance is a product of a resurgent nationalism. Whether this will lead to total severance of ties with Westminster is not for me to say. But one thing is clear: Scottish theatre reflects the country's growing sense of independence and is noisily on the march.

Alan Loeb interview

On the Writers Guild of America West website, screenwriter Alan Loeb tells Dylan Callaghan why giving up gambling saved his career.

Quitting gambling really did help me redirect a lot of my energy toward writing. I was writing, but the gambling habit was very intense and draining.

The other thing was kind of an epiphany. I always really wanted to sell things. If I'd finished a spec script, I'd need to sell it to have any money. That was scary and often the focus. When the script didn't sell, the depression would kick in and so on.

So I kinda changed that paradigm and said, “Okay, I'm not gonna worry if this script sells or not. The goal is to make each script I write better than the last. If I feel like I'm getting better with each script, then I'll be okay.” I held on to that and it was kind of an epiphany in a way.

Things We Lost In The Fire trailer

Anthony Sher's new play

In The Sunday Times, Anthony Sher recounts the research he undertook for his new play, The Ginat, about Michelangelo and Leonarardo.

Both Michelangelo and Leonardo were gay – this is generally accepted now – yet they seem to have led celibate lives. Why? I became intrigued by the link between sexuality and creativity. And their link to power – for Machiavelli was also in Florence at the time, and a friend of Leonardo’s. Three giants of the Renaissance – two of art, one of politics: wouldn’t it be interesting to try putting them onstage together?

Bartlett and Joyce share Tinniswood

Mike Bartlett (Not Talking) and Rachel Joyce (To Be A Pilgrim) were announced as joint winners of the 2007 Tinniswood Award last night.

The Tinniswood Award, set up by the Writers’ Guild and the Society of Authors in memory of Peter Tinniswood, honours the best original radio drama script broadcast during 2006. The prize of £1,500 is donated by the ALCS and judges were Gordon House (Chair), Jan Etherington and Lynne Truss.

At the same ceremony Mike Bartlett was also presented with the Society of Authors' Imison Award, for the best first radio play.

Michael Morpurgo interview

In The Daily Telegraph, Michael Morpurgo writes about the adaptation of his novel War Horse that has just opened at The National Theatre.

The seeds of War Horse were sown a long time ago. April 17 2008 will be the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Merkem, or the Battle of the Kippe. The Belgian army retook the hamlet of de Kippe. To mark the occasion of a victory much celebrated by the Belgians, my grandfather, Emile Cammaerts, a great poet and Belgian patriot, named my mother, who was born on April 18 1918, Kippe. It is the name by which I've known her all my life. This is the first of many diverse influences that contributed War Horse.

Some Mothers goes to the US

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, created by Raymond Allen, is to be remade by Fox in the US, reports James Macintyre in The Independent:

The extraordinary and somewhat unlikely news was greeted with glee by Raymond Allen, the creator of the original, which ran from 1973 to 1978 on BBC1 and embedded the brilliant, painfully awkward performances of Michael Crawford to the nation's psyches, if not hearts.

"I never would have dreamt 35 years ago when I originally wrote the series that dearly loved but disastrous Frank would be creating havoc on American soil," said Mr Allen, barely able to contain his jubilation. "It's a very exciting time... and a treasured moment of glory for Frank!"

A new pilot will be scripted by Philip Stark, whose credits include Dude Where's My Car and several episodes of South Park.

But will the new Frank Spencer do his own stunts?

BFI gets £25m for archive

The government has pledged £25m to the BFI towards the upkeep of its film and TV archive, reports BBC News.

Culture secretary James Purnell said the archive, held in Hertfordshire, was "a national treasure" that constituted "a visual history of Britain since the moving image again".

"From the earliest newsreels to CinemaScope to 3D, the BFI archive is one of the greatest collections of film and TV in the world. It's vital that we safeguard its future."

US strike talk hots up

As Michael Cieply reports in the in The New York Times, members of the Writers Guild of America West are voting on whether to authorise their leadership to call a strike, as contract talks turn increasingly bitter.

What began as a dispute over compensation for future use of programming on the Internet, over cellphones or in media yet to be invented has unexpectedly turned into a brawl over a decades-old residuals system. That formula pays writers and others when movies and television shows are sold on DVD or on cable television.

The Hollywood Reporter also has extensive coverage, while, on his Artful Writer blog, screenwriter Craig Mazin, who has been critical of the WGA in the past, turns his fire on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The AMPTP...has been acting atrociously. For those of you who don’t know, the proposal they currently have on the table isn’t just bad.

It’s immoral.

Comedy pilots take off

There's a growing trend for British TV comedy to be piloted before a series is commissioned, reports Stephen Armstrong in The Sunday Times.

In the past year or so, British television has started embracing a new way of developing comedy, and this autumn we will see the results. The reason for this revolution is clear. “The days when you could put a half-hour comedy with David Jason or Robert Lindsay at the heart of the schedule and have the audience stay with you ended about 10 years ago,” says Paul Jackson, director of comedy and entertainment at ITV. “Real-com shows like The Office were critical hits, but didn’t bring in a third of the audience of Only Fools.”

Guild Awards Best Soap/Series (TV)

The full list of writers for the shows shortlisted for Best Soap/Series in the 2007 Writers' Guild Awards have now been announced. They are:

• Chris Chibnall, Paul Cornell, Russell T. Davies, Stephen Greenhorn, Steven Moffat, Helen Raynor and Gareth Roberts - Doctor Who, Series 3
• Joe Ainsworth, Lisa Holdsworth, Nigel McCrery, Charles McKeown, Roy Mitchell, J.C. Wilsher and Richard Zajdlic - New Tricks, Series 4
• Chris Chibnall, Mark Greig, Matthew Graham, Guy Jenkin, Tony Jordan, Ashley Pharoah and Julie Rutterford – Life on Mars, Series 2

The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at BAFTA on 18 November. Tickets (£25 for Guild members) are still available for what is sure to be a memorable event, but numbers are limited so early booking is advised.

4Talent Pilot

Channel 4 have launched a new TV series writing competition, Pilot.

We're inviting exciting, talented writers to submit a treatment for a six-part drama series, an outline for a pilot episode for that series, and a script for a sample scene from that episode.

12 writers will be selected to take part in a packed weekend of industry workshops and masterclasses. They will then be hot-housed in one of three Scottish independent production companies, where mentoring producers and Channel 4 script editors will help them develop their series idea and complete a first draft script. After eight weeks of paid training, each writer will pitch to a selection panel. Only one idea from each production team will be selected. These three writers, along with their producers, will hotfoot it down to Channel 4's HQ in London to pitch to 4Talent and the Channel's Commissioning Editor for Drama, Sophie Gardiner.

One creative team will head home with a £90,000 commission to produce a pilot episode of their drama series, including a fee for the winning writer to complete a final draft script.

Tony Jordan in Sheffield

Tony Jordan's Writers' Guild-supported talk for the Off The Shelf literary festival in Sheffield will be held on Monday October 22nd at 7.30pm, in the Pennine Theatre, Sheffield Hallam University, Howard Street, Sheffield.

Tony Jordan is one of the UK's most successful television writers. He created some of the most memorable characters in EastEnders, while recent series credits include Life On Mars (co-created with Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharaoh) and Holby Blue.

Tickets for the event cost £8/£6 (cons) from Sheffield Theatres box office on 0114 249 6000.

Doris Lessing wins Nobel Prize

Doris Lessing has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, reports BBC News.

The Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, described Lessing as "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny".

"Oh good, did they say that about me?" she replied. "Oh goodness, well obviously they like me better now than they used to."

There's coverage across the media, including in The Guardian, The Times and The Daily Telegraph and from Boyd Tonkin in The Independent.

The novelist and poet Helen Dunmore welcomed a "fantastic" choice. "It's a recognition of the range and depth of her work – which is hugely enjoyable, but she has also rearranged everyone's mental furniture," she said. To the novelist Michèle Roberts, Lessing's Nobel should inspire writers "to believe that you can get to grips with the very, very complicated world we live in and make pictures of it. And it's great to see a woman writer doing that."

Oxford slashes hyphens

The new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary has done away with hyphens in about 16,000 words, reports Simon Rabinovitch for Reuters.

Bumble-bee is now bumblebee, ice-cream is ice cream and pot-belly is pot belly.

And if you've got a problem, don't be such a crybaby (formerly cry-baby).

The hyphen has been squeezed as informal ways of communicating, honed in text messages and emails, spread on Web sites and seep into newspapers and books.

"People are not confident about using hyphens anymore, they're not really sure what they are for," said Angus Stevenson, editor of the Shorter OED, the sixth edition of which was published this week.

There's comment on several sites, including from Russell Smith in the Canadian Globe and Mail, and, from Ben Zimmer on the Oxford University Press Blog.

Some compounds are in no danger of losing their hyphens. It’s hard to imagine the standard spelling of mother-in-law changing to mother in law or even more strangely motherinlaw (though there are no doubt some people somewhere who choose to spell it that way). And we seem to like using hyphens to set off certain prefixes like all-, ex-, quasi-, and self-, as in all-encompassing, ex-wife, quasi-legal, and self-esteem. Moreover, when it comes to prefixes, the hyphen is favored when the root word is capitalized (anti-American, pre-Christian) or when two vowels need to be separated (anti-intellectual, pre-eminent). But with prefixes too, there are no straightforward guidelines for when to hyphenate, and some hyphens simply fade over time as a word becomes more common. Yesterday’s post-modern is today’s postmodern.

Writing Control

On The Guardian's Film Blog, Matt Greenhalgh (who won the Guild/List prize at the Edinburgh Film Festival) talks about writing the film Control, about Ian Curtis of Joy Division.

In the research phase, I had a hitlist of people who knew Ian to go to see to get it right. As a biographer, you've got to be right. Some can try to bully you into presenting their version of Ian - we'd have a showdown and I was just waiting to get "well, you didn't even know Ian" thrown into my face. But Tony Wilson just said: "Fuck 'em, go write the myth". I felt free after getting his permission.

Relief for arts after spending review

From Alistair Smith in The Stage:

Gordon Brown’s first spending review as prime minister has been met with relief by the cultural sector after it was confirmed that Arts Council England would receive an inflationary increase in funding for the next three years.
Gordon Brown

Many within the industry had feared ACE would be hit by standstill funding or worse. However, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling confirmed this week that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s allotment would increase from £1.68 billion to £2.21 billion in 2010/11, a settlement which he said “guarantees an inflation increase for the arts”.

Update: on The Guardian's Theatre Blog, however, Lyn Gardner is not impressed.

...while it is probably right to feel relieved, I for one am not going to be sitting around feeling grateful for a cash settlement that will keep many surviving by their fingertips and many more talented artists unable to even get a foothold in their chosen professions. Over the next few years we are likely to lose an entire generation of theatre-makers who simply won't get the necessary funding to make those first steps. While we are about it, let's remember that the money that the government gives to the arts is not a handout but an investment. The arts gives more back to the economy than it takes in subsidies, but what cannot be measured is what it gives back in nurturing the imaginative health and well-being of the nation.

Alan Moore interview

In The Daily Telegraph, Susanna Clarke talks to comic-book writer Alan Moore about his career and his sexually explicit new work, Lost Girls.

'Frankly,' says Moore, 'creating a piece of pornography that men will respond to isn't rocket science. Charlie Brooker wrote in The Guardian that men get aroused simply by glancing at a crude charcoal sketch of a single boob scrawled on the side of a shed. Quite wretched, and probably true. Most visual pornography is lit as if for brain surgery – the most repulsive strip-lighting imaginable. Every pore, every hair visible. Not in any way sensual. But thanks to Melinda [Gebbie]'s artwork, there was almost no conceivable scene that, if it were approached with enough layers of soft, beautiful colour, could be said to be obscene.'