Line of Duty writer urges budding Sussex scriptwriters to join new mentorship scheme

Spokeswoman Sarah Tulley explained: “The idea is to give greater opportunity to those who live outside the capital and who are underrepresented within the UK's London-centric TV industry. Jed has recruited some brilliant writing mentors for the programme: Steven Moffat (Sherlock, Doctor Who); Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials TV series BBC One); Vinay Patel (Murdered By My Father, BBC Three); Emma Frost (Jamaica Inn, BBC One); and Marnie Dickens (Thirteen, BBC Three).”

Sarah called it a “unique opportunity to work alongside Jed and writers of popular TV shows including His Dark Materials, Sherlock, Thirteen and Murdered by My Father. Jed Mercurio is hoping to give those with a desire and passion to work within the TV industry a career-making opportunity to do so via a brand-new mentorship.

“The programme aims to give greater opportunity to those who live outside the capital and who are underrepresented within the UK’s London-centric TV industry. Jed is passionate about addressing the disparity long-held within the industry and the challenges faced by aspiring writing talent in the UK regions. It is caused by many factors, however, economic circumstance is widely believed to be one of the biggest barriers – a situation worsened by the cost of living crisis. Jed is launching the initiative to help champion diversity and inclusion in TV.”

Jed said "I'm thrilled to partner with my distinguished fellow mentors to provide TV industry access to emerging writers who are financially and geographically disadvantaged. The idea that a working-class kid from a small mining town in the West Midlands could ever work in TV didn't even occur to me, or to anyone I grew up with. It was only when a TV production company placed an advert in the British Medical Journal that I was able to contribute to a medical drama. But for that one random chance, I would never have had access to the TV industry. I'm honoured and grateful to be part of a programme that will pass on the same life-changing opportunity that was given to me at the start of my own career.”

Jed has personally recruited mentors for this programme, who bring a wealth of writing knowledge with them. They include Marnie Dickens (writer & creator of Thirteen BBC3), Emma Frost (writer of Jamaica Inn BBC1), Steven Moffat (writer of Sherlock BBC1), Vinay Patel (writer of Murdered By My Father BBC3) and Jack Thorne (writer of His Dark Materials TV series BBC1). Each mentee will work with their mentor to pitch an original idea and hopefully secure a commission.

The deadline for submissions is April 21, 2023 at 5pm. The programme will run over a 12-month period and will accept 6-10 mentees within the first year. Applicants must live outside of London to be considered for the programme.