Sam and I have just had our weekly meeting to discuss the script. We are now aiming to send it to Ric Michael at Baby Cow, even if deep down we know our programme idea is not exactly comedy and consequently not suitable for his production company. But, hey ho, we’ve got to start somewhere and it’s good to have an aim.
Sam gave our script in its raw state to a friend to read. Not just any friend, but one from her telly days, albeit not someone who had anything to do with scripts but someone who was in fact head of HR. Sam’s friend was visiting for a week and so was what you might call a captive audience - of one.
As a result we changed a few things. They weren’t huge changes but if a word of dialogue jarred for Sam’s friend that meant it would probably jar for a wider audience too. And she didn’t like the family’s surname. She felt Swindley-Jones was too obvious. So we changed it to Forbes.
Steve Wetton in Writing TV Scripts describes the writer Roy Clarke’s choice of name in Keeping Up Appearances. Has there ever been a more suitable moniker than Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) for a woman of such comical snobbishness? I don’t know about you, but I’m hard pushed to think of one.
He also mentions Dickens and one of his most famous fictional inventions, Ebenezer Scrooge. Another name that will be forever associated with specific characteristics; someone whose name has even been absorbed into the language as a descriptive noun. Dickens of course can say more in five syllables than Sam and I can probably hint at in five pages – but we’re trying.
We then did a full read through of the script and it didn’t sound too bad. Yes, there are moments when we’re not sure. Is the story a little far fetched (we don’t think so); is the pace too slow (don’t think so either); are the characters believable (no reason why they shouldn’t be believed in). But of course, we also had moments when we looked at each other and thought: is this a load of rubbish? And I don’t think we’re capable anymore of giving an objective answer as we have become far too close to the whole 40-odd pages.
“Did your friend say anything else?� I ask tentatively.
“Yes,� said Sam, suddenly remembering the final conversation she had with her ex-telly friend before she left Chester. “She said she had to keep reading to the end because she really wanted to know what happened next.�
Is that a good enough reason to generate a bit of professional interest in our script?
Well, we certainly hope so.
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit