On Monday 24th April an episode of the BBC soap ‘Doctors’ will air, starting with the words ‘written by Alexandra Taylor’. My first TV writing credit.
I’ve been asked a number of times how I managed to ‘break in’, and it’s not an easy answer. It’s been a long road to get here, which is reflected in the length of this blog post. But I hope you’ll bear with it, because every step along the way has played its part.
It was 2015 when I first dared to voice my desire to write for soap. I probably mumbled it, prefaced with “I know it’s impossible but…”. It seemed ridiculously unattainable. I was a nobody – how dare I think that I could ever get that far?
But amazingly, when I did start confessing my presumptuous dream, people didn’t laugh. They didn’t tell me to get back in my box and learn my place. Even people in the industry, people with impressive track records who knew what they were talking about – they encouraged me and told me to absolutely follow my passion. So I did.
I focused on Doctors. As a daytime soap, it is generally seen as an ‘entry point’ for new writers. It’s also made in Birmingham, just three miles from my house. I watched every episode and kept a log book, which then became a spread sheet. I listed the writers, noted my favourite episodes and analysed the structure of the show. Through a friend, I managed to wangle a visit to the BBC Drama Village where Doctors is filmed and talk to one of the crew. I messaged other writers on the show – who were all incredibly lovely – and learned everything I could about how the programme was made and what was required of its writers.
At first I tried the ‘official’ routes into the show. I applied several times to the BBC’s writing shadow schemes and WritersRoom opportunities, with no success. I managed to get an interview for an assistant script editor, but didn’t get the job. Next time the same post was advertised, I didn’t even get an interview. I realised the official route was not going to work for me and that I’d have to find a different way in.
So, in 2019, when the Royal Television Society put on a careers fair and announced that the Doctors team would be there, I went along nervously, CV in hand, not really sure what I was going to do, but determined to do something. As luck would have it, the Executive Producer, Mike Hobson, was doing a stint on the ‘CV workshop’ table, so I thrust my papers in front of him, initially asking for CV advice, but quickly moving onto “how do I get to write for Doctors?” He told me that it was generally the script editors who brought new writers onto the show. Targets identified!
I added a ‘script editor’ column to my spread sheet, went back through all the episode credits on iPlayer to find their names, and looked them all up online. Those that I could find, I messaged – but got no responses. So I moved onto the assistant script editor – a woman by the name of Mary Flanigan. My internet research revealed that she was also a stand-up comedian. Interesting. My housemate’s new boyfriend, Rob, was also a stand-up comedian. I asked him if he’d heard of her. “Sure,” he said, “I know Mary! Next time we do a gig together I’ll introduce you.” My plan was working!
But then Covid hit. No stand-up gigs. No networking. Not even any Doctors. It felt like the rug had been pulled from under my soap dreams, just as I was getting somewhere. Nobody knew when TV would get back up and running, or what it would be like when it did. The only consensus seemed to be that it would be even more difficult for new writers to break in. I was devastated.
What got me through lockdown was Script Sirens, a collective of female and non-binary West Midlands writers, formed by Scarlett Kefford earlier in 2019. We were planning a theatre showcase when Covid struck, but instead ended up doing two collaborative projects entirely remotely – web series #GoingViral, and audio drama anthology Siren Screams. The camaraderie and creative outlet really helped keep me on an even keel throughout the pandemic.
And then, finally, in 2021, live shows started coming back. Rob booked a gig, and Mary was also on the bill. I went along, Rob introduced me to Mary, and we got on. I made no bones of the fact that I wanted to write for Doctors, and I think Rob also said some nice things about me behind my back. The upshot was that Mary gave me her email address and told me to get in touch.
I emailed the next day, saying that I’d be grateful for any advice, and sharing the link to my Siren Screams drama. She replied, saying kind things about my work, and suggesting we have a phone chat. I thought this was just to give me some career pointers. It turned out that she was offering me a writing trial on Doctors. I was flabbergasted.
Delighted as I was, I was also apprehensive, worried that I would cock it up, and also that I might not actually enjoy the process of writing for a soap. What if I realised, after all this time and effort and support from friends and family, that I didn’t want to do it after all?
I needn’t have worried. I loved it. And I smashed the trial. By November 2021 I’d made it into the ‘pool’ of certified Doctors writers. Hurrah! Now I needed to get a commission to write a specific episode.
This was a long and frustrating process. On Doctors, writers are given the ongoing serial storylines for their episode, but have to bring their own ‘story of the day’ (SOTD). I pitched various SOTD ideas to Mary, and we worked one up into a two-page story outline. But in January 2022 Mary left Doctors, and I was handed over to someone else, who wasn’t so keen on the idea I’d worked on with Mary. So I pitched some new SOTD ideas to them, and worked another one up into a two-pager. Then in March 2022 Mary’s replacement was hired, and I was passed over to him. He wasn’t too keen on the ideas I’d already worked on, so once again I pitched a whole load of brand new ideas. We worked one of these up into a two-pager, and thought we were in with a good chance of me landing an episode, but then another writer’s idea got chosen. Back to the drawing board.
The next pitching round was in August, and after more SOTD ideas, and five versions of the two-pager for ‘Ring Fenced’, I finally got my first official TV commission in September 2022. I delivered the final draft of the script just before Christmas, filming happened in January and the episode will air on 24th April 2023 – 25 days before my 50th birthday.
So in the end, it took eight years to finally be able to call myself a soap writer. Or four years. Or 18 months. Or 50 years, depending on how you’re counting.
It also took huge amounts of determination, persistence, resilience and networking, plus a whole lot of luck, hard work and support – emotional, creative and financial – from friends and family.
It’s not a path that anyone else can replicate, so reading this has probably been a waste of time. Except I hope it hasn’t. I hope it inspires you to believe in your dreams, to not let rejection get you down and to find ways around the inevitable obstacles. My guiding motto is ‘persistence trumps talent’ – and it seems to be paying off. You’ve only failed if you’ve given up – if you’re still trying, then you just haven’t made it YET.
It still doesn’t seem real that I’m shortly going to see my name on a BBC1 drama, and that I’m currently writing my second episode, due to air in December 2023. It’s also already opening doors to other opportunities. But I’m not one to sit back and relax. Another of my favourite sayings is ‘I didn’t come this far, to only come this far’ – and I’m a long way from my final destination.
Look out EastEnders, I’m coming for you next…
Script Sirens 