Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

UKTV WriterSlam finalists announced

08/12/2021

Dead Canny, Holier Than Thou, Perfect (W/T) and The Other Half for UKTV

Tuesday 7 December 2021 Following the initiative announcement earlier this year, UKTV and TriForce Creative Network today announce the four finalists of the UKTV WriterSlam competition for UKTVs award-winning entertainment channel Dave. As part of UKTVs commitment to shining a spotlight on diverse and emerging talent, the four single episodes (4x30) include Dead Canny written by Anna Costello, Holier Than Thou written by Misha Adesanya, Perfect (W/T) written by Laurence Clark, and The Other Half written by Kate Reid and Zak Ghazi-Torbati.

Sarah Asante, commissioning editor, comedy said:

I was delighted to join the UKTV scripted comedy team just as they had launched a search for emerging diverse writers. The added commitment from the Dave team by offering the initiative a transmission target set the bar really high for our search. We have proudly developed shows that organically span the nations and regions, showcasing the breadth of storytelling from across the UK. This initiative has demystified the script to screen process in a unique way and has nurtured enormous growth in confidence and vision from the writers, which has been a pleasure to witness. Its been heartening for us at UKTV to see what can happen when we invite new writers to share their dreams and talents with us and the wider industry. I also want to thank our impressive production partners for taking this leap and going on this journey with us.

Each writer will be partnered with a production company to create the single episode for UKTV and filming will start in the new year, with casting underway for diverse and underrepresented talent.

Dead Canny (Anna Costello) will be produced by TriForce Productions with Fraser Ayres as executive producer and Jon Macqueen as producer. It follows a questionable young psychic from Consett, Co. Durham, whose ability to see dead people not only earns her a few quid cash-in-hand down the local pub, but also lands her as the prime suspect in a murder investigation.

Holier Than Thou (Misha Adesanya) will be produced by Big Deal and executive produced by Thomas Stogdon (Dreaming Whilst Black). Set in contemporary Manchester, it follows the journey of three young adults as they navigate sex, faith, and relationships, while attending the conservative, African Evangelical church they were raised in.

Perfect (W/T) (Laurence Clark) will be produced by Happy Tramp North and executive produced by Neil Webster. Set in Liverpool, three young disabled people become unexpected friends when they meet on a half-cocked and pointless work preparation scheme. Together they navigate life, dating, and a system that seems designed to only benefit the people who run it.

The Other Half (Kate Reid and Zak Ghazi-Torbati) will be produced by Ranga Bee Productions with Romesh Ranganathan, Benjamin Green and Michelle Farr-Scott as executive producers. It follows 20-something Navid who is half-Welsh, half-Iranian and 100% that bitch, who gets the chance to escape his small Welsh town when he lands an internship in the big city: Bristol. But as he runs headlong into his new life, shacking up with his best friend and her painfully privileged family, hes also running away from his old life in the closet, living with his overprotective father. And the more he tries to keep the two halves of his life apart, the more they keep crashing into each other.

The series of episodes have been written as part of the UKTV WriterSlam, with TriForce Creative Network and Dandi.org.uk. The scripts are commissioned by Sarah Asante, UKTV commissioning editor, comedy and ordered by Dave channel director, Cherie Cunningham and Pete Thornton, UKTVs head of scripted. Richard Watsham is the UKTVs director of commissioning and Steve North is genre general manager, comedy and entertainment.

_

For more information please contact:

Gem Pinkney, Head of Consumer Comms

Notes to Editors:

In winter 2020, BBC Studios increased its commitment to discovering, developing and supporting diverse talent in its production teams by launching the BBC Studios Production Inclusion Rider ,which introduced targets for new commissions requiring a minimum 20% of on-screen talent to be from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, have a lived experience of a disability, identify as LGBTQ+ or be from a low-income background. It also launched its Assistant Producer Accelerator Programme offering fourteen one-year contracts to researchers wanting to become Assistant Producers by providing them with the knowledge, skills and experience they need to develop, encouraging applications from underrepresented groups including those with a disability, those from ethnic minorities, lower income groups and the LGBTQ+ community.

About UKTV

UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 25 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat and Amazon Fire. The broadcaster is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers.

UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UKs most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the worlds leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.
LINK: https://corporate.uktv.co.uk/news/article/uktv-writerslam-finalists-an...
See more stories from uktv

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

08/10/2026

Life Safety, Part 2: From Noise to Nice: The Evolution of Speech Intelligibility in Stadium Sound

Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...

08/10/2026

ESPN's First Super Bowl Adds Disney+ to U.S. Distribution Mix

ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...

08/10/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Addison McGhee, Auburn University

From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments The future of live sports produ...

08/10/2026

Prime Video to Become Exclusive Global Home of Emmy Awards Beginning in 2027

The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...

08/10/2026

Techex to Demonstrate Hybrid Satellite and IP Delivery Platform at NAB Show New York

Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...

08/10/2026

X Games Appoints Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer

X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...

08/10/2026

Fonn Group Appoints Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director, DACH

Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...

08/10/2026

Perfect Game Introduces New Studio Show on the Road With Launch of PG Central

The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms Perfect Game is bringin...

08/10/2026

Uplynk White Paper: The IP Convergence Framework for Distribution

Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...

08/10/2026

Gravity Media Op-Ed: Gravity Media's Next Act - From Service Provider to Strategic Content Partner

For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...

08/10/2026

Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley Publish Satellite-to-IP Distribution Framework

Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...

08/10/2026

NFL Announces Ninth Annual Big Data Bowl Powered by AWS

The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...

08/10/2026

Eutelsat Renews Partnership with Tldiffusion dAlgrie on EUTELSAT 7 West A

Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...

08/10/2026

Disney+ to Stream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027

Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...

08/10/2026

RHStv to Stream Clemson vs. Coastal Carolina Baseball at Myrtle Beach Fall Showdown

RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...

08/10/2026

Gray Media to Simulcast 15 Timberwolves Games Free Over-the-Air in Minnesota and Wisconsin

Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...

08/10/2026

SMPTE Media Technology Summit Returns to Pasadena Nov. 16-19; Get 10% Off With SVG Promo Code

SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...

08/10/2026

PROTON Camera Innovations Named Recipient of 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy for FPV Drone Systems

PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...

08/10/2026

Silver Lining: Sharing Tales From the Trenches of Cloud-Based Production with NBC Sports, MLB, NHL, and Warner Bros. Discovery

Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...

08/10/2026

Dolby Atmos Coming to Formula 1 on Apple TV Beginning with 2026 U.S. Grand Prix

The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...

08/10/2026

Free Leonard Peltier Proves That the Fight for Justice Is Just Beginning

David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...

08/10/2026

Sound Particles update Energy Panner 2 & Brightness Panner 2

Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...

08/10/2026

The DMNO ON from UDO Audio

New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...

08/10/2026

ADAM Audio introduce the Sub8 PRO & Sub10 PRO

Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...

08/10/2026

Clear-Com Powers Critical Communications at Rock in Rio 2026

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

08/10/2026

NAB New York 2026 Preview

Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October. Cal...

08/10/2026

ESPN Unveils First Studio W Refresh

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Pay-TV Operators Ask FCC to Pause TV Station Ownership Cap Rules

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Calrec Brings New Consoles, Software to NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Mediagenix Bows AI Content-Aware Scheduling

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Ikegami to Unveil UHK-X700VN Camera at NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Ed McGivern Joins USSI Global as Chief Revenue Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Globecast Brings Media Orchestration and C-Band Transitio...

Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...

08/10/2026

Clear-Com Powers Critical Communications at Rock in Rio 2...

Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...

08/10/2026

Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Creative Executives

Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...

08/10/2026

NAB Show New York Returns to Javits

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

FCC to Vote on Restrictions for Device Testing, Spectrum for D2D and Drones

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

World First' as DTM Deploys Riedel Private 5G for On-Track Coverage

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

LiveU Cranks Up Connectivity Across Tour de France

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Ikegami to Introduce New UHK-X700VN Camera at NAB New Yor...

Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...

08/10/2026

Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show...

Calrec will be located at Booth 444. Freedom to choose The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...

08/10/2026

LiveU LU900Q with LIQ Brings Unprecedented Connectivity t...

LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...

08/10/2026

Disney+ to Stream Super Bowl LXI Live

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix to Be Carried in Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision on Apple TV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Marshall to Bring Newest PTZ and POV Cameras to NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/10/2026

Marshall Electronics to Showcase Award-winning Camera Sol...

Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...

08/10/2026

UKTV acquires first two series of new Maigret for U and U&DRAMA in deal with Banijay Rights

14-hour package also includes A Remarkable Place to Die season 2 as well as libr...