Sophie Petzal

New thriller Hollington Drive commissioned by ITV

(credit: ITV)

Hollington Drive will focus on the lives of two sisters, Theresa and her older sister Helen, who works as a head teacher.

The series opens on a warm summer evening where Theresa and her partner Fraser are hosting a barbeque. When their ten-year-old son Ben asks to go to a nearby park with his cousin Eva, the parents begin to argue over whether they should let the children go.

RTS Student Masterclasses 2018: from journalism to camerawork

Ruth Pitt, Pia Di Ciaula and Rick Barker (Credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)

Journalism

Clive Myrie

Journalist and presenter, BBC News

In an era of widespread concern about fake news, trusted and experienced correspondents such as the BBC’s award-winning Clive Myrie are more important than ever.

Bill Malone delivers Dan Gilbert Memorial Lecture

Adrian Dunbar (Jim Hogan) & Carolina Main (Cat Hogan) in Blood (Credit: Channel 5)

Virgin Media Television’s director of programming said: “We’re constantly being told that linear TV is dead, but the facts actually present a different picture.”

In Ireland, Virgin Media is “bucking the trend and showing continual growth in audiences”, a result, he claimed, of a “notable step up in [the] scale, ambition and quality” of programming.

RTS Student Masterclasses: Drama with Sophie Petzal

Sophie Petzal (Credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)

She shared the pleasure and pain of writing drama with EastEnders boss John Yorke at this year’s RTS Student Programme Masterclasses. 

Script editing “was an invaluable way to learn about television production and writing … Having that ‘production head’ gave me an advantage in writing [my] first episode [of Wolfblood) …but I was still very much learning the ropes.”

Top scriptwriters offer advice on writing for TV drama

The panel (l-r) Sophie Petzal, Rachel Flowerday, John Jackson, Daisy Goodwin, David Hancock and Rachelle Constant (Credit: RTS/Paul Hampartsoumian)

“It’s important for me to have something to say. We’ve all written stuff that’s competent and empty,” said Sophie Petzal, whose television breakthrough came on CBBC dramas such as Wolfblood and Dangermouse. More recently she has written episodes for Sky Atlantic’s Riviera and BBC Two’s The Last Kingdom, and has original scripts in development with Company Pictures.