Happy New Year!

Newsletter #19

Happy New Year!

January 2024

After nearly a quarter of a century, the BBC has axed the show I have been writing for ever since I became a screenwriter. 

Doctors was never high drama, nor cutting edge, nor particularly sexy, but it has offered millions of viewers a wonderful array of drama at 1:45 on weekday afternoons, and it will be missed. 

I’ve written eighty of them, but I won’t be writing any more. The BBC has decided that they can no longer afford to make it. I would argue that they can’t afford not to, and they will come to regret their decision. Not only is it a great show in its own right, but it offers a first step into television drama for hundreds of writers, directors, and actors, not to mention all the back scenes roles from script editors to camera operators, wardrobe and make-up. And it supports a pool of television talent in the Midlands that makes other shows. It’s a crying shame.

There are enough episodes in the can to keep broadcasting until the end of this year, and I personally have a few more yet to be broadcast. But the axe has been wielded, and the show is no more.

I was on holiday when I got the news. A meeting was called (on Zoom), and everyone involved in the show was invited to attend. I decided not to ruin our first day in Naxos, so waited to read the outcome on the Doctors Writers’ WhatsApp Group. When it arrived, it did so in a series of short, blunt, four-letter exclamations. And that was that.

For me personally, it is a blow. Doctors paid the mortgage, and I don’t have any other regular writing gigs at the moment. 

The above photo was taken about five minutes before the axe fell. I have decided to take it as symbolic that I was looking through a massive great portal at the time. When one door closes, as they as they say…

I’m too young to retire, so I need to find something else to work on. I haven’t given up on the screenwriting quite yet, and am working on various plans, but I have to be realistic and accept that that might be that. So, I’m also investigating other employment opportunities – let me know if you can think of any! Of course, I would love to say that I now have the time I need to dedicate myself solely to The Descent of Chloe Jackson, and, if any publishing house were foolish enough to offer me an advance, that is what I would do.

Unfortunately, the truth is that I need to put Chloe to one side for a while. Job opportunities don’t find themselves, nor do speculative screenplays write themselves. Just for a few months, hopefully, my focus will be elsewhere. But I will be back, and so will Chloe. My apologies for the absence of a Christmas Story this year. Let’s hope I’m in a position to find you something for the Summer.

As always, if you’ve enjoyed this Newsletter, and if you have like-minded, book-reading, story-loving friends who might enjoy it too, please do pass it on to them. They sound like just the kind of person I’d love to share this journey with. 

Let’s sign them up at subscribepage.io/paulcmercer.

Oh, yes, before I forget – Happy New Year!  As we peer into the future, let’s hope for better times all round. A new year, and a new beginning.

All the best