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.”
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.
The classic sitcom no longer rules the TV schedules in the way that shows such as Fawlty Towers, Open All Hours and Porridge did in the 1970s. Or does it?
A panel of TV practitioners attempted to tease out the answer last month at an RTS early-evening event, “No laughing matter: how does comedy fight back?” This stimulating debate made one think that we could be living through another golden age of TV comedy without necessarily knowing it.
Good evening. I’d like to start with an apology to Monica and Karen, our two signers tonight. They maybe from Signpost - our multi-award winning Gateshead-based signing business - but I bet they’ve not signed Anglo Saxon before….until tonight. Standby for a speech that can link Ant and Dec to the West Germanic version of Old English…yes, really.
