Did you always want to be a writer?

I wanted to be a director when, aged seven, I saw the behind-the-scenes Lord of the Rings documentaries. It was fascinating to see Peter Jackson running around and I thought, “That’s what I want to do.”

Life gets in the way and you’re pulled in other directions but, at Cambridge University, where I was studying history, there was a talk by the film screenwriter Jay Basu. I went away buzzing from that talk and, since then, everything I’ve done has been working towards being a screenwriter.

Did you do any training?

I went to the London Film School to study screenwriting. It was a great course; I wrote a lot, including the first draft of Count Abdulla. That script got me my agent and on to a lot of writing schemes; it’s been my calling card in the industry.

How did you get your TV break?

I looked at websites with screenwriting schemes – the BBC Writersroom is very useful – and applied for every single one of them. I didn’t get into 90%, but the few that I did were really useful. The first was for a one-minute short for the BBC Writersroom, in collaboration with the BBC Asian Network.

After film school I took a job in advertising, but I kept working on scripts in the evenings and at weekends until I was able to take the jump and become a full-time writer.

Where did the idea for Count Abdulla come from?

A joke – “How could a Muslim vampire exist if the blood isn’t halal?” – was the jumping-off point. A lot of it was drawn from my own life; I’m not a doctor or a vampire but I do resonate with a lot of the things Abdulla’s going through – at that point in my life, I couldn’t figure out where I stood in relationship to British or Pakistani culture, either.

A lot of the characters are based on people in my life: Bushra is very much like my mum; she’s often smothering but really sweet; Shafi is an amalgamation of a few of my cousins; and Amrita is based on my best friend. I think the best comedy is drawn from a real place and a place you know inside out. I’ve never struggled to write jokes for these characters.

How do you write comedy?

It all starts with the idea. Before I wrote Count Abdulla, I didn’t consider myself a comedy writer, but I came up with this idea that was begging to be a comedy – it’s difficult to think of a Muslim vampire drama.

I’d written a pilot script and my agent sent that out and Fudge Park, the producer of The Inbetweeners, took it on. We worked on developing the script, making it quite a bit funnier probably, and then sent it out to broadcasters.

Once ITV picked it up I wrote the rest of the episodes, working closely with my executive producer, Phil Gilbert, to find a story for the season but also keep the gag rate up.

Is that the end of the writer’s role?

No. I sat in on the auditions and helped with casting the main characters and, when we went into production, I was available on set to talk about any changes people wanted to make. I was also in the edit.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m already thinking about series 2, if it were to get recommissioned.

I’m also working with BBC Comedy on developing a musical comedy-­drama called Southall Story. My parents are from nearby Hounslow and it is based on their life but set in the modern day – my mum is from a Muslim background and my dad from a Hindu background.

Interfaith and intercultural relationships are very common in Southall, Hounslow and the British Asian community in general. Southall Story is a real celebration of that, a sort of British Bollywood musical.

I’m also in a writers room for a BBC series and have a first-look deal with Paramount, working on a thriller set in Kenya, where my dad was born. And I’m writing a medieval comedy show about a Palestinian champion jouster.

What makes a good comedy writer?

It’s all about creating characters that are funny naturally, rather than shoehorning in jokes.

Your character has to have flaws that will inevitably lead to jokes and pratfalls. I’ve had a great education watching so many great British comedies over the years.

What are your favourites?

I’m a huge fan of The Inbetweeners but my all-time favourite is Peep Show; it’s so dark and horrible. From the US, HBO series Barry; you’re really gripped by the plot but it never loses sight of the gags.

What does a typical writing day look like?

My routine is set by cups of tea. When I get to a point where I can’t write any more, I make a cup of tea. That settles the mind; I drink the tea, look out the window, do a bit of thinking and get back to it – and rinse and repeat for the rest of the day.

Where do you write?

Mostly at home and in peace – I don’t listen to music when writing. At times, on the sofa in front of football on mute and occasionally in cafés.

What are the best and worst parts of the job?

The best is watching actors, people you’ve seen in so many other things, say your lines; the worst is the rejection.

Are there any tricks of the writing trade you can share with us?

I write really detailed outlines so I have a clear map of where I want to go with a script. And don’t force yourself to write something if it’s not working – write something else as a palette cleanser.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to write for TV?

Everyone has a different route but, for me, doing the screenwriting course was really useful because it gave me a year to focus solely on writing.

There are also a lot of good books: the one I like best is Into the Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them by TV producer John Yorke.

We need to do a better job of bringing writers through, especially those from more challenging backgrounds. More writers rooms would help.

What would be your dream writing gig?

A period drama from the British Asian perspective. We make so many great period dramas but I find it crazy that we set so many shows in the Victorian period when the British Empire was at its height and, particularly in India, and yet we’ve had almost nothing about that relationship.

Memorably, you appeared on University Challenge in a leather vest. Do you have an exhibitionist streak?

I’ve always been a bit of a showboater, I think. I couldn’t let the opportunity of being in front of Jeremy Paxman go by with just a woolly jumper. A lot of my career since then has been spent trying to escape the vest.

Kaamil Shah was interviewed by Matthew Bell.