Sitcom Geeks

This episode James and Dave are joined by producer extraordinaire David Tyler (Victoria Wood, John Finnemore's Cabin Pressure, Milton Jones, Steve Coogan, Marcus Brigstocke, Jeremy Hardy and dozens more) to discuss the joys of writing for radio.

With the rise of the writer-performer sitcom, Dave and James look at what this means for the humble sitcom writer. (SPOILERS: There are pros. And there are cons.) Also: The launch of a new feature based on your First Ten Pages. Are you going to send us your first Ten Pages? Hear what happened to Dave when he did.

This week: secondary characters who populate your sitcom. Dave (the posh snob) Cohen and James (the cockney spiv) Cary discuss how to make sure your archetypes don't turn into stereotypes. Also, James is writing a sitcom on the internet. What could possibly go wrong...?

We've had larger-than-life monsters and odd couples, in this episode James and Dave explore the ensemble sitcom, where many characters vie for our attention. Expect the name 'David Croft' to appear on several occasions. And 'Cheers'. Also: why you should be trying to write audience sitcoms.

Hey! You! Look! Producers and script readers need to be grabbed by your script from the opening page. In this episode, James and Dave discuss the essential ingredients required in your first ten pages.

What's the story? Now you have characters you need lots to happen to them. Things that allow them to dig themselves so deep into holes it'll take the rest of the episode to dig them out again. James and Dave explain how to generate plots - and Katie looks back on this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

In the second of a two-part special, James talks to Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley (Gnomeo & Juliet, Little Britain and more) about Hyperdrive, Black Books, The Great Outdoors and Veep.

In the first of a two-part special, James talks to Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley (Black Books, Veep, Gnomeo & Juliet, Little Britain and many more) about how they got started, with tonnes of helpful advice for sitcom writers.

This episode Dave and James offer advice about choosing the best story to write up for your pilot episode. And using the benefit of hindsight they send you off to the brilliant pilots that became the greatest sitcoms ever. In their opinion, of course.

This week James and Dave discuss mismatched couples and why, despite everything, they stick together. Whether they're part of a family, partners, work colleagues, or simply unable to separate, these relationships are a great source of comedy for your show.