BBC Writers Room

Led by former BBC and Channel 4 Head of Drama John Yorke, the Writers’ Academy will offer writers in the early stage of their careers the chance to develop their skills on some of the BBC’s long-running drama series.

The paid scheme will see successful applicants complete an intensive 13-week classroom period, followed by three months scripting episodes of Casualty, Holby City and EastEnders.

Participants will graduate with up to four scripts to their name, and will have their services optioned by BBC Studios for the next two years.

“To get a show on TV is so hard – it’s like winning the lottery,” said Kerrigan, who lives in Cramlington, Northumberland and admitted to knowing nobody in television when he first put pen to paper. Winning the Writers Room Trans Comedy Award took the writer from his “bedroom to the BBC”. 

He continued: “It changed my life and I’m really grateful – if it wasn’t for the Writers Room, God knows what I’d be doing.”