How To Write A Novel In A Week [15 Minute Drama]

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0120130114By Tony Grounds

Jim sees himself as an ideas man - always has been and always will be. But even though his entrepreneurial endeavours have so far only met with knock backs, Jim refuses to be cowed. And now, with the most important week of his life ahead of him, the bolt of inspiration is about to strike.

Cast:

Jim . . . . . Paul Ritter

Kath . . . . . Sophie Thompson

Ray . . . . . Ben Crowe

Susie . . . . . Lizzie Watts

Barman . . . . . Robert Blythe

Shop Assistant . . . . . Will Howard

Director: Sasha Yevtushenko

Tony Grounds has been described as "the best TV writer of his generation" (The Independent), and has been a regular contributor to our screens for over twenty years. This is his first original series for radio.

Grounds created and wrote Gone to the Dogs starring Jim Broadbent and Alison Steadman; it was nominated for a Writers Guild Award. He wrote Gone to Seed, in which Peter Cook made his final dramatic appearance, and the series was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award. He wrote Sex and Chocolate for Dawn French before writing the award-winning and BAFTA nominated Births Marriages & Deaths, starring Ray Winstone. Grounds has also teamed up with director Joe Wright, writing Bodily Harm for Channel 4, where Tim Spall, George Cole, Leslie Manville and Annette Crosby garnered acting nominations. It was described by The Daily Telegraph as "an outstanding work of art depicting a nightmarishly apocalyptic vision of suburbia..." He worked again with Ray Winstone for Channel 4's expose on corruption in the Premier League with All in the Game, which also featured Idris Elba. His 2004 TV film When I'm 64 for BBC2 starring Alun Armstrong and Paul Freeman won the Prix Europa Award for the best drama on any channel across Europe. Filming has just completed on his most recent single drama for BBC1.

The Telegraph described Paul Ritter's performance as Pistol in BBC 2's cycle of Shakespeare's history plays as 'an actor who is surely destined for greatness very soon. His Pistol conveyed perfectly the shock of a man who reluctantly had left behind the rowdy cheer of Eastcheap, and found himself in middle age contemplating the melancholy of a medieval autumn.' Most recently, Paul Ritter appears as Dad in Channel 4's sitcom Friday Night Dinner. In theatre, Ritter was nominated for a Tony Award in 2009 for his role in The Norman Conquests. In 2012, he appeared in the stage version of Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the National Theatre.

Marcia Warren has won two Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role - one in 1984 for

Stepping Out, and the other in 2002 for Humble Boy at the National Theatre. She was also nominated for another in 2001 for In Flame at the New Ambassadors Theatre.

Sophie Thompson is well known for her TV role as child abuser Stella Crawford in EastEnders, as well as the second bride Lydia in Four Weddings and a Funeral. She won an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Into The Woods, and the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Performance in Sam Mendes' revival of Company. Her big-screen appearances include: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Eat Pray Love, Gosford Park, Emma and Nicholas Nickleby. She also recently starred in TV series Love Life.

Jim has found a way to unlock the novel inside of him. Comedy drama by Tony Grounds.

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0220130115Realising that everyone has a novel locked inside them, Jim has discovered the key.

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0320130116By Tony Grounds

Jim has shunned work and a holiday in Crete to devote the week to creating his very own Ulysses. Driven to despair, his wife Kath has shown him the door. But unbeknown to her, the challenge of winning her back is just the sort of quest his novel was lacking.

Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.

Jim's plan to devote the week to writing a novel causes trouble.

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0420130117Jim's mother Iris has gone missing after revealing a closely-guarded secret.

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0520130118By Tony Grounds

Jim has had an eventful week: his mother Iris revealed that the love of her life was not in fact his father but Angelo, an Italian prisoner of war with whom she had an affair as a teenager. Meanwhile, Jim's despairing wife Kath has threatened separation following his crusade to turn his life into a novel. With nothing to lose, Jim has staged an audacious reunion.

Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.

Will Jim find a way of drawing on the turbulence of family life to salvage his novel?

Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations