Category Archives: Old Post

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A new radio job

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Following a really good meeting with some independent radio producers this morning, I can tentatively announce that I’ve been asked to write a brand-new, updated episode of “Journey Into Space” for BBC Radio 4. Originally broadcast in the 1950s, JIS was the last radio show to attact a bigger evening audience than television. There was a new episode of the show broadcast earlier this year, which kept very much to the original formula, but now I’ve been tasked with re-imagining the concept pretty much from scratch.

This version of JIS (2.0, if you will) is going to be a lot darker and more political than radio drama was allowed to be in the fifties. The intention is that this new episode will kick-start a new series to be broadcast on radio, interwoven with shorter “webisodes”. Watch this space..

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New Tricks – the story so far…

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I realise that I have jumped into journalling my day-to-day experiences making “New Tricks” with no “backstory” whatsoever. For those who require some context, or mistakenly believe that it might somehow render this journal more interesting, here’s the story so far:

I directed two episodes of New Tricks earlier this year (Season 5). I really enjoyed working with the regular cast and crew so, when the powers that be asked me to write an episode for Season 6, I jumped at the chance. Having handed in a first draft (a story about UFO hunters and government/military conspiracies), the same powers that be asked if I’d like to direct my episode and one other (all directors on New Tricks work on a “block” of two episodes each). Almost no one gets to write and direct an episode of series television in the UK so I couldn’t pass up the chance. I’ve done it once before, on Spooks (Season 5, Episode 8 if anyone cares) and it offers a lot more creative freedom than doing either job in isolation.

So, we are now just a few weeks from beginning the shoot. I have handed in six drafts of the script, which seem to have gone down pretty well, and have found the majority of the locations and cast most of the parts.

That should bring us up to the present day.

I’m writing this journal simply because I personally enjoy reading other filmmakers accounts of their working practices. I have no idea how useful or interesting this journal will turn out to be because I obviously have no idea of what the coming weeks will bring. I’d appreciate any and all comments/criticism from readers, so please don’t be shy.

Some more info on New Tricks can be found at Wikipedia and the BBC.

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Entropy…

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Today was the last day of pre-production before Christmas. We now break for two weeks and, when we come back, we’re straight into a week of technical recces, read-throughs and script meetings before the shoot begins.

By now, ideally, we would have chosen our locations, confirmed our cast and be as close as possible to locking down the scripts and schedule. Instead, we actually seem in danger of moving backwards as the availability (or lack thereof) of several of the actors is making it almost impossible to schedule the shoot. It was suggested to me today that we may actually have to re-cast one or more of the parts in order to solve the problem. I’m very reluctant to even consider that – it feels like the tail would be wagging the dog. There must be other solutions to be found.

There is a real adjustment to be made coming off a production as frantic as “Hustle” and onto a show like “New Tricks”, which has a much more sedate and deliberate pace. Not that one is necessarily better or more effective than the other but it can sometimes feel like you’ve traded in your dangerous two-seater sports car for the safe family saloon; every now and again you slam the pedal to the floor and nothing happens.

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“Wow!” signal.

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Insurance medical today for New Tricks so, typically, I have woken up with blocked sinuses and a nasty cough. I sat with the art department yesterday for a “page turn” through both scripts. Everyone seems to be on top of everything, as usual. Afterwards, I sat down with Ellie, the costume designer, and ran through ideas for all the characters across both episodes. I think it would be a good idea to tie Norton, Kuziak and Melissa together visually. I don’t expect anyone to really notice, at least not on the first viewing, but it will hint that the three are connected and also help to give the lie to the “official” version of events in the story. We’re going to use various aspects of the “WOW! Signal” to achieve this.

Wow_signal.jpg

There is still some concern that my script is “anti-American”. I can’t see it myself, it certainly wasn’t the intention when I wrote it. The villains of the piece are American. Does anyone really think they are supposed to represent all Americans?! I’m also not at all sure that BBC Editorial Policy should be getting involved in this one. Doesn’t that make it political censorship? We’ll see how this one plays out…

Listening to: Amber Waves from the album “Scarlet’s Walk” by Tori Amos

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Unintelligent design?

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My staunch atheism notwithstanding, a thought did occur to me this morning…

We accept that the modern traveller, happening across a tribe who have had no contact with modern civilisation, could demonstrate some of the everyday technology we take for granted and thereby convince them that he was a great wizard or even a God. The assumption being made by the tribe is that, if this person possesses such incredible abilities he/she must be immeasurably superior. From our own viewpoint, however, we accept that the traveller may well be just another dipshit with an iPod.

Does it not therefore follow that the ability to create all life in the known universe, while seeming to us to be a feat of inexplicable wonder, might be commonplace amongst a society of superior beings with whom we have, hitherto, had no contact?

My point is this; even if there really is a God who created all life in the universe and watches over our every action every minute of every day, who’s to say he’s not a total fucktard?

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There’s no place like home…

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So, I made it back. Forty-five minutes of watching an empty baggage reclaim belt go around and around was eventually rewarded by the sight of my brand new suitcase which had been forced open with a screwdriver by the lovely people at Homeland Security. It is now fucked and unusable (the suitcase, not Homeland Security)

Apparently this happened because you’re not supposed to lock your luggage anymore. I didn’t know that. There were no signs, no announcements and, when the woman at check-in asked “Would anyone have had a chance to tamper with your suitcase”, my reply of “no, it’s locked” didn’t trigger any response at all.

I feel kind of hypocritical applauding Jack Bauer for torturing suspects in the name of National Security and then bitching about having my suitcase broken into, but I guess it’s those kinds of double-standards that separate us from the animals.

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Marooned

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This is the view from my hotel room window. The previous post may have given the impression that Miami is a really nice place. It isn’t. The beach is nice, but OF COURSE the beach is nice!

The rest of Miami is a badly-designed cultureless concrete shithole. (At least, that’s what the Tourist Board brochure says)

I appear to be stuck here. Despite having finished shooting yesterday, the BBC seem in no great hurry to bring me home. That was worrying me until I realised that, by staying in my hotel room with absolutely no distractions, I was able to get on with a lot of work. Consequently, I have been outlining a new film idea and have no real desire to leave until it’s done.

The Law of Sod now dictates that the BBC will make contact imminently and I’ll be on a plane back to Blighty within the hour.

Nuts.

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