BBC Studios announces new writers’ academy for up-and-coming talent

BBC Studios is creating a new paid training scheme which will help up-and-coming writers gain the skills needed to write TV drama, including broadcast episodes for some of the BBC’s most successful continuing dramas.

The new initiative, which will sit alongside the existing BBC Writers room scheme, is to be headed up by drama supremo John Yorke, who commissioned such iconic TV shows as Shameless, Life on Mars and The Street created and designed the original BBC training course (The Writers Academy) that ran from 2005 to 2013.

Successful applicants will undergo an “intensive” 13-week classroom source, before spending three months scripting broadcast episodes of Casualty, Holby City and EastEnders.

BBC Studios says they’ll leave with up to four scripts under their belt and have their services optioned by over the following two years.

Mark Linsey, BBC Studios’ Chief Creative Officer says: “I’m excited that we’ve been able to resource and fund this unique venture.

“Nurturing new British talent will really help deliver on our promise to create new IP – the lifeblood of our business and our creative industry.

“I’m thrilled that John Yorke has agreed to lead the scheme as his passion for cultivating new writers is intoxicating – and there’s nobody as qualified as him to find the very best candidates and ultimately develop hit-making graduates.”

John Yorke, Head of BBC Studios Writers’ Academy, commented: “Writers are at the very heart of TV drama and it’s brilliant that BBC Studios – and now the wider independent community – have come on board to invest in the next generation of talent.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be bringing a new version of the Academy back to the BBC.”

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