Key ScreenSkills involvement on hit BBC drama, The Responder

BBC drama The Responder became an instant hit with viewers. The Liverpool-based show, starring Martin Freeman as a first responder police officer balancing his nocturnal work life with his own inner struggles, received plaudits from viewers and critics alike for its taut blend of procedural drama and character study.

It is also a model for how industry and ScreenSkills can collaborate to create training opportunities to the benefit of individuals and the sector at large. From the show’s inception through to production, ScreenSkills has invested in the show with mentoring and programmes for new entrants and career progression supported by the High-end TV Skills Fund.

It was in 2019 that writer Tony Schumacher joined ScreenSkills’ New Writers Programme, an initiative aimed at discovering and nurturing the best new writing talent by partnering them with established industry mentors. Delivered by Dancing Ledge Productions who went on to produce the series, he was paired with Jimmy McGovern, (Cracker, The Street and Anthony) who had read some of Tony’s work as an author and was impressed enough to select him as a mentee.

Tony was 50 at the time and new to scriptwriting. It was fellow Liverpudlian Jimmy who encouraged Tony to write from experience and develop his idea based on his time as a police officer in his home city and helped shape the script for the whole series.

When it came time for production, it offered an exciting opportunity for new and existing talent in the North West.

Barrington Robinson, a Liverpool local, was looking for a break in the world of high-end TV when a placement on ScreenSkills’ High-end TV Co-producer Programme offered him a chance to join the production for The Responder. “It was a perfect match, particularly as it was being made in my home city of Liverpool.”

There was a placement, too, for Charlotte Manifold, stepping up to the role of assistant production coordinator through ScreenSkills’ Make a Move programme. The initiative, designed to support people progress in their career, offered Cheshire-based Charlotte vital experience. She said: “Make a Move gave me the confidence to step up to assistant production coordinator and was a great help in taking that important step in my career.”

Natalie Anderson sees the production of The Responder as another example of a region thriving in the screen industries, “It does feel like there’s a lot going on in the North,” she said. “It’s always good when your city gets more attention!”.

She’s from Garston in Liverpool and joined the production after securing a place on ScreenSkills’ Trainee Finder programme. The new entrant programme offers paid placements to those at the beginning stage of their careers, with Natalie securing a role as a prop trainee on her hometown set of the show.

Jay Kishan Patel had first been a part of the 2017/18 cohort of the Trainee Finder programme. It was through the programme that he met contacts who helped him secure a 1^st assistant editor role on The Responder and was even offered the chance to edit one of the episodes by series producer Rebecca Ferguson. He said: “Trainee Finder gives you this community in the background and you know there are people that have your back.”

On the wider positives of ScreenSkills initiatives, he said: “There is no obvious or immediate route into the industry and if you don't know anybody you may not know how to enter. ScreenSkills gives people the tools to get into it, but also enables people of different backgrounds to come into the industry and develop their career.”