Cilla

You could be forgiven for thinking that Jeff Pope was obsessed by the macabre. Why else would he be drawn to such odious topics as the Moors murders, serial killer Fred West or Britain’s last hangman, Albert Pierrepoint?

He puts it like this: “If drama is about conflict, which it is, you’re looking for the extremes of conflict. Those areas are love, fate and, I would argue, crime.

“I am not a depressive person or ghoulish but it’s the old journalist in me: there’s a good story in it.”

Speaking to the RTS he said: “It meant that people came to me with their ideas. Steve Coogan came to me with Philomena (Coogan and Pope’s screenplay was nominated for an Oscar and won best screenplay at the Venice Film Festival).

“Success gets you meetings, but it still doesn’t get something past the finishing line if it’s not good enough…It also means you can be more ambitious and more expansive.”

Students were given the opportunity to listen industry experts about their craft.

From cameraman Steve Robinson describing how to portray personal moments on camera to editor of BBC One's The Missing explaining how a show comes together in the cutting room, the two-day masterclasses provided advice and insight into the television industry. 

You could be forgiven for thinking that the award- winning screenwriter and producer, Jeff Pope, approaches his work by trying to find the most gruesome story possible.

This is the man who has made TV dramas based on the dark deeds of serial killer, Fred West, Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, and Britain’s most prolific hangman, Albert Pierrepoint.

From writing hit show Philomena to co-writing and executive producing Cilla and Mrs Biggs, Jeff Pope has had a successful career in the media.

He started out in television by working as a researcher at ITV's London Weekend Television in 1983. Years later he became Head of Factual Drama at ITV Studios. 

In 2007 he won a BAFTA in screenplay for See No Evil: The Moors Murders. 

At this week's RTS Student Masterclasses he told eager television students that dramas tend to be re-written about fifteen times. 

Cilla Black, the singer and much-loved television presenter, has died.

Black’s showbiz career began in the clubs of Liverpool, where she often sang alongside her friends The Beatles.

It was John Lennon and Paul McCartney who wrote Black’s first single, Love of the Loved, which went to number 35 in the charts. However, it was her version of Anyone Who Had a Heart, originally recorded by Dionne Warwick, that propelled her to number one and set her on the way to becoming a national treasure.

On 18 September 2016, Steve November has a problem. At 9:00pm that night, the slot arrives in ITV’s schedule that would normally be filled by the season premiere of Downton Abbey.

As Director of Drama for the ITV network, November has to find a replacement – Downton is ending, with the last ever episode to air this coming Christmas Day. And, given Downton’s blockbuster ratings performance, it’s going to be a fiendishly difficult act to follow.