REAL TO REEL
Mr Benn may have good reason to dress up in costume this year, because 2021 marks 50 years since the bowler-hatted British businessman's adventures in a fancy-dress shop first aired on TV in 1971. The now celebrated antics of Mr Benn were first introduced in a series of children's books in 1967, followed by an …
Having been treated to an uncharacteristic flurry of snow during a February cold snap in London, made worse by the sedentary lifestyle imposed by a coronavirus lockdown, I was looking forward to opening the door into spring. Instead, I chanced upon the trailer for The Door into Summer, a 2020 Japanese film adaptation of the …
Feeling somewhat frustrated earlier this month during UK lockdown 3.0, I picked up Robert Heinlein's Time Enough for Love, to read again. If you've read the novel, you'll know that in the Intermission, Excerpts from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long, he sets out a list of skills of the competent man — what he thinks …
One year ago, Amazon announced that its legal drama Goliath starring Billy Bob Thornton as underdog lawyer Billy McBride had been renewed for one final season, then coronavirus arrived — so when will Season 4 be with us? We do know that production has restarted. Rumour has it that Season 4 will be released in …
Having watched all five seasons of the Amazon police drama Bosch, I was excited to find Season 6 arrive during the lockdown imposed on us due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ten minutes into the first episode and Bosch is called out to the Overlook at Lake Hollywood Park on a murder case. An abandoned 911 …
The Walkie-Talkie is the nickname of a skyscraper in the City of London, located at 20 Fenchurch Street, that switched on its lights in 2014. Reminiscent of the arrival of an other-worldly visitor that appeared out of the blue, it sits slightly away from the main cluster of city skyscrapers, as if silently surveying its …
Amazon TV's Goliath is back for a third instalment and after the two previous diverse offerings, no-one knew what to expect in Season 3. When Billy McBride in Season 1 said, “Ever since I took this case, weird shit is happening to me…”, well, that kind of weird has nothing on this. Get ready to …
Continue reading "Goliath Season 3: The Weird and the Wonderful"
Knowing what sells is essential if you want to write a successful script, so a key part of a scriptwriter's toolbox is to read as many scripts as possible written by others. It also becomes less disheartening when you see that some of the most successful films and TV shows contained ideas in early drafts …
It has been a while since Amazon's eagerly anticipated Goliath Season 2 was released. Those who watched the drama unfold might think it has taken so long for me to write a commentary because I needed to get over the shock of what we saw. I admit it, I did have to cover my eyes …
In the second of a series of posts about rewriting characters, this article looks at Season 1 of Goliath, the Amazon legal drama starring Billy Bob Thornton as underdog lawyer, Billy McBride, who is pitted against the powerful. The discussion compares the third draft pilot script for Goliath Season 1 entitled Trial dated 20 July …
As part of my scriptwriting aspirations, I was interested to understand how a hugely successful TV show knows right from the start what people will watch whilst making content unique. This led me to read drafts and pilot episode scripts of TV shows and I soon realised that those making these shows often don't get …
Continue reading "Rewriting characters: The Big Bang Theory"