The Offcuts Drawer

Lisa Jewell - Novelist

Best-selling thriller writer Lisa ("Then She Was Gone", "The Family Upstairs", "Watching You") shares clips that didn't make it into her books, and talks in fascinating detail about her unusually practical and no-nonsense writing technique.
Clips performed by: Beth Chalmers, Christopher Kent and Rachel Atkins.
Lisa Jewell is the Number 1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels (shortly to be 20), including The Girls and The House We Grew Up In, as well as Invisible Girl and I Found You.  Her first novel Ralph's Party, a book whose genre she describes as "flatmates and curry" was the highest selling debut novel of the year. She has written various other genres of fiction, and most recently she's topped the best-selling charts with her psychological thrillers.
So far her novels have sold over 5 million copies internationally, and her work has been translated into twenty-nine languages. 
Episode show notes and more details:  offcutsdrawer.com/lisa-jewell
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Caimh McDonnell - Novelist & Screenwriter

"Dublin Trilogy" novelist and former comedian Caimh (CK) McDonnell shares his sitcom set aboard a ferry, a pre-Fleabag Fleabag and a comedy about what happens when multiple timelines meet.
Offcuts performed by: Jake Yapp, Darrell Maclaine, Kenny Blyth, Lizzie Roper, David Monteith and Rachel Atkins.
This episode contains strong language.
Caimh McDonnell is the internationally bestselling author of the Dublin Trilogy which is set in his hometown. His debut novel 'A Man with One of Those Faces' – a darkly comedic crime thriller – was published in 2016 and nominated for best novel at the 2017 CAP awards. It went on to spawn the increasingly uncountable Dublin Trilogy (five books and counting) and the McGarry Stateside series, which have been translated into several different languages and optioned for television.
He also writes ‘The Stranger Times’ series of books under the name of C.K. McDonnell which has been described as "a celebration of how truth really can be stranger than fiction"
The former professional stand-up comedian and TV writer has performed all around the world, had several well-received Edinburgh shows and supported acts such as Sarah Millican and Gary Delaney on tour before hanging up his clowning shoes to concentrate on writing. His TV writing work has seen him work on some of the biggest topical comedy shows on British TV and has earned him a BAFTA nomination.
Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/caimh-mcdonnell
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Georgia Pritchett - Screenwriter & Producer

A rap musical set in a US prison based on a Noel Coward play, a sitcom about IVF and a story about JFK faking moon landings - just 3 of the offcuts from comedy writer and US showrunner Georgia.
Clips performed by: Desiree Burch, Beth Chalmers, Keith Wickham, Lizzie Roper and Jake Yapp. With additional music by Jake Yapp.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Georgia is a multi-award-winning comedy and drama writer, who has five Emmys, five Writers Guild awards, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Producer’s Guild award. She is currently a writer and co-executive producer on HBO's critically acclaimed show, Succession, now in its third season. Georgia was the co-executive producer and writer on the HBO multi-Emmy winning show Veep, which ran for seven series. 
Georgia is show-running The Shrink Next Door: an adaptation of the hit podcast, starring Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and Kathryn Hahn, for Apple TV.
She wrote three episodes of HBO's Avenue Five, Armando Iannucci’s space comedy starring Hugh Laurie. Georgia has written extensively for Miranda Hart and Tracy Ullman and the shows Have I Got News for You, Smack the Pony, Not Going Out and The Thick of It. She created, wrote and show-ran 2DTV for ITV as well as Quick Cuts starring Doon Makichan, Feel The Force and three series of Life of Riley - starring Caroline Quentin for the BBC.
Georgia’s memoir My Mess is a Bit of a Life has just been published. 
Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/georgia-pritchett
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Miranda Kane - Writer & Performer

Raconteuse Miranda shares the bits of writing that didn't quite make it, along with tales of her former life as a sex worker, in a show that's definitely NSFW.
Clips performed by Chris Pavlo, Bhavnisha Parmar and Emma Clarke. 
Warning: This episode contains strong language and explicit material.
Miranda Kane is a comedian, writer, and performer who garners inspiration from her previous career as a sex-worker and her more recent work in organising body positive events. She writes and stars in the Audible sitcom SLAVING AWAY, based upon her ‘utterly mundane life as a dominatrix’, which reached number one in the Audible charts and has had its third season recently released. She has also written sex blogs and co-hosts the ‘Good Sex/Bad Sex’ podcast for Metro.
She is a sex-worker rights activist, raising money for charities which support sex-workers. She takes part in debates and public speaking events to promote the decriminalisation of sex-work, and in 2017 she was a TedX speaker where her ‘idea worth spreading’ was that comedy and storytelling can help change the public’s opinion of sex-workers to allow them to work in safety and without fear of persecution or prosecution.
She currently runs Club Indulge – a range of Body Positive events aimed at providing a safe space for plus size people to enjoy being party animals.
Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/miranda-kane
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FEED DROP - In Writing With Hattie Crisell

This is not a normal episode of The Offcuts Drawer but a taster of the excellent podcast In Writing With Hattie Crisell.
Journalist Hattie visits the studies of writers of all kinds – novelists, screenwriters, poets, journalists and more – to find out how they write, why they write, and what they can teach us about doing it better and the special guest in this episode is Graham Norton.
The Offcuts Drawer will be back with a brand new episode later this week but in the meantime you can find more details about Hattie's podcast here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/in-writing-with-hattie-crisell/id1490412801
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Isy Suttie - Writer, Actor & Comedian

An investigation into the Mole-man of Hackney, standup material about pond-dipping and a bit of angst-filled teenage poetry are just some of the offcuts shared by Isy.
Clips performed by: Lynsey Murrell, Beth Chalmers, Darrell Maclaine, Shash Hira, Toby Longworth and Emma Clarke
Isy Suttie is a comedian, actress and writer who started performing stand up in 2002. She trained as an actress and has written for the GUARDIAN, the OBSERVER, RED and GLAMOUR, and is a regular writer and performer on BBC Radio 4, where her show PEARL AND DAVE won a Gold Sony Award in 2013. This led to two series of her musical story show set in Matlock, ISY SUTTIE’S LOVE LETTERS. Her TV acting credits include Dobby in PEEP SHOW and Esther in SHAMELESS, Ally in MAN DOWN and Nat in DAMNED, and she has been nominated for three British Comedy Awards.
She’s written 2 books – THE ACTUAL ONE, a comedy memoir which came out in 2016 and her first novel JANE IS TRYING has just been published in 2021.
Episode show notes with offcuts track listing and more details about Isy and the actors:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/isy-suttie
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Val McDermid - Crime Novelist & Writer

Scotland's "Queen of Crime" shares some stonking bits of early writing, including her attempt at a bonkbuster and the short story that prefigured her move into thrillers.
Clips performed by: Christopher Kent, Beth Chalmers, Leah Marks, Kenny Blyth, Emma Clarke and Rachel Atkins.
Val McDermid has sold over 17 million books to date across the globe and is translated into over 40 languages. She is perhaps best-known for her Wire in the Blood series, featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan, which was adapted for television starring Robson Green and Hermione Norris. She has written three other series: private detective Kate Brannigan, journalist Lindsay Gordon and, most recently, cold case detective Karen Pirie. She has also published in several award-winning standalone novels, books of non-fiction, short story collections and a children’s picture book, My Granny is a Pirate.
As well as books she has also written for stage, radio and screen. In early 2017 Val’s latest BBC Radio 4 drama series, Resistance, aired to great acclaim. And in the last couple of years, she has returned to writing for the theatre with Margaret Saves Scotland as well as the primetime TV series Traces based on her original idea. ITV have subsequently announced the commissioning of a new drama Karen Pirie based on Val’s eponymous series character.
Episode show notes and more details:  offcutsdrawer.com/val-mcdermid/
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Francesca Simon - Children‘s Author

The "Horrid Henry" creator gives us an out-take from her successful opera, unpublished articles and some other children's book ideas that despite her stellar international reputation still didn't get picked up.
Clips performed by: Beth Chalmers, Emma Clarke, Leah Marks, David Holt, Rachel Atkins and Keith Wickham.
Francesca Simon is universally known for the staggeringly popular Horrid Henry series. These books and CDs have sold over 22 million copies and are published in 29 countries. Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman won the Children's Book of the the Year award in 2008 at the British Book Awards. She is also the author of Costa-shortlisted The Monstrous Child for older readers, and Hack and Whack, her first picture book. To date she has published over 50 books for children of all ages including picture books, early readers and a young adult trilogy based on norse mythology.
Collaborating with composer Gavin Higgins, Francesca recently wrote the libretto for The Monstrous Child turning it into an opera which received rave reviews when it was staged at The Royal Opera House, London in 2019.
Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/francesca-simon
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Robert Popper - Writer, Producer & Performer

"Friday Night Dinner" writer Popper shares some truly bizarre offcuts including the fake CV that landed him his big break in comedy, a prank community woodland notice and a sitcom about a wasp.
Clips performed by: David Holt, Alex Lowe, Toby Longworth and Lizzie Roper.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Robert Popper is an award-winning writer, producer, performer, and bestselling author.  He is the writer and producer of all 6 series of Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner, he co-created and starred in BBC 2’s Look Around You with Peter Serafinowicz, produced the Bafta-winning Peep Show, wrote on season 14 of South Park, and script-edited British TV comedies The Inbetweeners, The IT Crowd and Him & Her. More recently he co-wrote several episodes of Channel 4's Stath Lets Flats.
Under his pseudonym, Robin Cooper, he wrote the bestselling The Timewaster Letters and the follow-up, Return of The Timewaster Letters, and an audio compendium of both has just been released on Audible read by Popper himself and featuring the voices of Serafinowicz and Dawn French. 
Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/robert-popper
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Andrea Gibb - Film & TV Writer

A grab-bag of television and film scripts that didn't quite make it including a drama about GI brides and a psychological mystery set in the Scottish Highlands from screenwriter Andrea.
Clips performed by: Kate O’Sulivan, Kenny Blyth, Lizzie Roper, Shash Hira, Emma Clarke, David Monteath, Rachel Atkins and Beth Chalmers.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Andrea Gibb is an award winning Scottish screenwriter who has worked extensively in both film and television. Her feature length screenplays for ‘Dear Frankie’ and ‘Afterlife’ won her the Scottish Screen Filmmaker of the Year award and the Women In Film and Television script award in 2005. Her adaptation of classic children’s novel ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (BBC Films) was released in cinemas in 2016 and won the Grand Jury prize at the New York Children’s Film festival and the family film award at Seattle Film Festival. She was nominated for the Carl Foreman award at the Bafta film awards for ‘Afterlife’ and has just been nominated for a Bafta television award and two Bafta Scotland awards for ‘Elizabeth Is Missing’, adapted from the novel into a single television film for STV starring Glenda Jackson. This film also won her the writer’s award at the 2020 RTS Scotland awards.
She has written four episodes of ‘Call The Midwife’ for Neal Street and the BBC and an episode of ‘Sanditon’ for Red Planet and ITV.
Episode show notes and more details: https://offcutsdrawer.com/andrea-gibb/
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Jeremy Sams - Composer, Theatre Director & Writer

The West End theatre version of TV's "The Good Life", the "Toys" musical that came *before* the film... Jeremy's selection of near misses covers both stage and screen.
Clips performed by:  Alex Lowe, Lizzie Roper, David Holt, Beth Chalmers, Toby Longworth and Emma Clarke.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Jeremy Sams has written and created countless successful theatre shows including Amour (Broadway), Ghetto (National Theatre and Broadway), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (West End and Broadway), and The Wizard of Oz (West End and tour). He's translated operas and plays such as Indiscretions (Broadway), The Miser and Mary Stuart (Royal National Theatre), The Rehearsal, Don Giovanni, Figaro’s Wedding, La Bohème, The Magic Flute, Wagner’s Ring Cycle (ENO), Die Fledermaus and The Merry Widow (New York), and he wrote and devised The Enchanted Island for the Metropolitan Opera of New York. 
His directorial credits include Die Fledermaus (Metropolitan Opera), The Wizard of Oz (West End, Toronto, US tour), The King and I (Royal Albert Hall), The Sound of Music (London Palladium, world tour), 13 The Musical (Broadway), Donkey’s Years (Comedy Theatre), Little Britain Live, Noises Off (West End and Broadway), Passion (West End), Wild Oats (RNT), The Wind in the Willows (Tokyo, Old Vic) and Spend Spend Spend (Olivier-nominated - West End).
As a composer, he has written, arranged and directed music for over 50 shows for theatre, TV and film, including: The Wind in the Willows, Arcadia (RNT and Lincoln Center), The Mother (BBC), Enduring Love (Pathé), for which he won the Ivor Novello Award, Hyde Park on Hudson, Le Weekend and Persuasion (BBC Films) for which he won a BAFTA.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/jeremy-sams
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Neil Forsyth - TV Writer & Author

Creator of "Guilt" and "Eric, Ernie & Me" Neil showcases some other shows that didn't quite make it and shares what it's really like writing for American TV.
Clips performed by: Lynsey Murrell, Beth Chalmers, David Monteath, Kate O'Sullivan, Nigel Pilkington and Kenny Blyth.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Neil Forsyth is an author and television writer. In television he is a Royal Television Society Award winner, and has been nominated for a BAFTA, a Writer’s Guild Award, and a Broadcast Press Guild Award.
He is the author of seven books: Other People’s Money, the biography of Scottish credit card fraudster Elliot Castor, two well-received novels and the UK bestselling series of Bob Servant humour titles.
Neil adapted his series of books about Bob Servant for BBC Television, with the eponymous role played by Emmy Award winner Brian Cox. The TV show ran for two series, won the Royal Television Society Scotland Award for Comedy and was nominated for the Scottish Comedy BAFTA.
Neil has written four SKY Arts Playhouses and his one-off BBC4 drama Eric, Ernie and Me which told the story of Morecambe and Wise writer Eddie Braben was nominated for Best Short Form Drama in the 2018 Broadcast Press Guild Awards. His original 4 part series Guilt starring Mark Bonnar and Jamie Sives was broadcast on BBC 2 and BBC Scotland, received a best writer nomination for RTS Awards 2020 and a second series is currently in production.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/neil-forsyth
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Jackie Clune - Actor, Writer & Novelist

A sweary Karen Carpenter tribute act, women's rugby and the first black female astronaut - actress/comedian Jackie reveals an interesting range of subjects in her offcuts.
Clips performed by: Lynsey Murrell, Beth Chalmers and Lizzie Roper.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Veteran of the British theatre Jackie Clune started out as a drama lecturer before achieving critical success in her first one-woman show about Karen Carpenter at the Edinburgh Festival. She went on to write six more shows, and to star in plays written by other writers - including Mamma Mia, Billy Elliott, Emilia and 9 To 5 - The Musical. She's played Julie Burchill on the West End stage in the one-woman play Julie Burchill Is Away and toured with the all-female Henry IV production that went to New York, and on TV her many credits include Eastenders, Ghosts, Motherland and Borderline.
As a writer she has contributed to sketch shows Smack The Pony and BBC Comedy Nation, she is regularly featured in magazines and newspapers such as The Guardian, The Mail, Red and Top Sante (where she has a regular column), and as an author she has written two books "Extreme Motherhood" and "Man of the Month Club" with her third book, the novel "I'm Just A Teenage Punchbag" published last year, and her fourth "Give A Little Love" due out in June 2021.
Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/jackie-clune/
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Chris Brookmyre - Crime Novelist

Comedy, horror, Scottish football and a dog pooing in a bedsit are all to be found in the never-before-heard clips from best-selling thriller writer Chris.
Clips performed by: Christopher Kent, David Holt, David Monteath and Emma Clarke.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Chris was born in Glasgow and worked as a sub-editor at Screen International, the Scotsman and the Edinburgh Evening News before his first novel, Quite Ugly One Morning, won the First Blood Award in 1996 for the best first crime novel of the year. Twenty-three novels followed.
In 2006 he won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Writing. In 2005 he was named Glasgow University Young Alumnus of the Year and in 2007 he won the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award for writing. In 2016 his novel Black Widow won the inaugural McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish crime novel of the year. In 2017 it was named the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.  His latest novel The Cut will be published imminently.
Also under the pseudonym Ambrose Parry, he has collaborated with his wife, Marisa Haetzman, to produce the historical crime novels The Way of All Flesh and The Art of Dying, which depict life at the cutting edge of Edinburgh medicine in the Nineteenth Century, and a third novel is in the works.
Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/chris-brookmyre
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Luke Harding - Foreign Correspondent & Author

Michael Gove humiliating himself at university, a KGB-supplied sex manual and tales of derring-do in warzones around the world from foreign correspondent Luke.
Clips performed by: Christopher Kent, Lynsey Murrell and Nigel Pilkington.
Luke Harding is an award-winning British foreign correspondent with the Guardian. He has reported from Delhi, Berlin and Moscow and has also covered wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Libya and Syria. Between 2007 and 2011 he was the Guardian's Moscow bureau chief; the Kremlin expelled him from the country in the first case of its kind since the cold war. He is the author of Mafia State and co-author of WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, The Liar: The Fall of Jonathan Aitken (nominated for the Orwell Prize) and The Snowden Files and his latest book The Shadow State: Murder, Mayhem and Russia's Remaking of the West was published earlier this year.
Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/luke-harding
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Jay Rayner - Journalist, Writer & Broadcaster

Presenter and columnist Jay knows about food. But he's an acclaimed novelist, journalist and musician too. Hear his unusual play with music, the novel that never was and his celebration of Welsh drag act Lady Ding.  
Clips performed by: Keith Wickham, Toby Longworth, Christopher Kent and Rachel Atkins.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Jay Rayner is probably best known as being the regular food critic for the Guardian and Observer newspapers for the last 20 years. But he has also written extensively across the British and international media as both feature writer and columnist on everything from crime and politics, to the arts and fashion.  
On radio he has presented BBC Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet since 2012, on television his many appearances include being a judge on multiple series's of Masterchef and the resident food pundit for The One Show, and he now presents his own podcast called Out To Lunch, in which he interviews celebrities in fabulous restaurants.
He's published 11 books to date, including 4 novels, and his latest work My Last Supper has just come out in paperback.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/jay-rayner
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Chris Lang - Screenwriter & TV Producer

A film script written with the young Hugh Grant (yes, that one), a TV show about The Sex Pistols and a romcom based on his real-life relationship - just 3 of the top notch offcuts from the writer/producer of the multi award-winning TV drama Unforgotten.
Clips performed by: Toby Longworth, Lizzie Roper, Christopher Kent, Leah Marks, Nigel Pilkington, Emma Clarke and Rachel Atkins.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Chris Lang has created over 100 hours of original prime-time television drama since he cut his teeth on established favourites like Soldier Soldier, Casualty and The Knock more than twenty five years ago. Most recently his projects have included Dark Heart – a 6 part series for ITV, The Hook-Up Plan (known as Plan Coeur in France) – a French 8-part romantic comedy for Netflix and Innocent – a 4 part drama whose 2nd series will start filming later this year.  Other acclaimed dramas he’s been responsible for include: Amnesia (2004), Torn (2007), A Mother’s Son (2012) and Undeniable (2014) which was remade in France in as Quand Je Serai Grande Je Te Tuerai which was broadcast in France in late 2017 to an audience of seven million,
But it is for his multi-award winning detective drama Unforgotten, starring Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar, that he is probably best known and after three highly acclaimed series its fourth will hopefully be returning to our screens soon.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/chris-lang
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Emma Kennedy - Writer, Presenter & Actor

Yes she's a writer of *breathes in* TV comedy series's (her own and other people's), drama, animation, children's books, memoirs, novels, programme guides and plays but she's also won Masterchef and Mastermind. And she has some very useful advice to writers starting out.
Clips performed by: Keith Wickham, Leah Marks, Emma Clarke, Beth Chalmers and Toby Longworth.
Emma Kennedy wears many hats. Having trained in and practised law (a hat she then discarded) she has gone on to be an actor, novelist, comedy writer, producer, playwright, presenter, winner of TV competitions and Queen of Lego. You will recognise her face from her roles in TV comedies such as The Smoking Room and Goodness Gracious Me, or from her work with Mel & Sue, or even from her presenting on Comic Relief.  And you'll know her voice from countless Radio 4 shows and podcasts, in particular her work with Richard Herring.
Her second book The Tent, The Bucket And Me was turned into TV series The Kennedys. She's written 10 other books, including three for children that feature her character Wilma Tenderfoot. For children's television her writing CV includes episodes of Dangermouse, Strange Hill High and Waffle The Wonderdog, and after the success of her fiction thriller for adults The Things We Left Unsaid last year, a second novel, The Time Of Our Lives is due out next Spring.
Episode show notes and more details:  offcutsdrawer.com/emma-kennedy/
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Alex Lowe - Actor, Writer & Character Comedian

"Barry from Watford" and paranormalist "Clinton Baptiste" are just 2 of Alex's alter egos that you've likely met. But did you know he's written material for just about every comedy performer in the UK? Hear his story, and the worst impressions of Barack Obama and Tom Cruise ever. 
Clips performed by: Chris Pavlo, Christopher Kent, Emma Clarke, Lizzie Roper and Beth Chalmers.
Alex first worked as an actor as a teenager when he co-starred with Kenneth Branagh in the West End theatre production of Another Country. Since then he has worked continuously in all genres, but is perhaps most well-known as the man behind comedy character Barry From Watford, a regular on Steve Wright's Radio 2 Show, Iain Lee's various radio shows, the Channel 4 TV series Cheap Cheap Cheap with Noel Edmonds, and numerous sell-out live shows and podcasts, the latest of which pairs him with fellow "character" Angelos Epithemiou. He also performs live round the country as the spoof paranormalist from Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights: Clinton Baptiste.
As a writer he's written for impressionists Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona, for Miranda Hart, Peter Serafinowicz, Watson & Oliver, Ned Sherrin and countless other sketch and comedy shows, as well as creating several pilots for TV and radio shows both as vehicles for himself and for other performers. 
Episode show notes and more details:  offcutsdrawer.com/alex-lowe
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Mark Billingham - Crime Fiction Novelist & Screenwriter

From standup to multi best-selling crime novelist and screenwriter, Mark's own story includes hair-raising real-life encounters with gangsters and even serial killers. Among the TV show ideas and unpublished articles there's some standup material and even a song lyric which has yet to be performed by his band of fellow novelists The Fun Lovin Crime Writers.
Clips performed by: Keith Wickham, Chris Pavlo, Emma Clarke and Christopher Kent.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Mark Billingham is one of the UK's most acclaimed and popular crime writers. A former actor, television writer and stand-up comedian, his series of novels featuring D.I. Tom Thorne has twice won him the Crime Novel Of The Year Award as well as the Sherlock Award for Best British Detective and been nominated for seven CWA Daggers. His standalone thriller IN THE DARK was chosen as one of the twelve best books of the year by the Times and his debut novel, SLEEPYHEAD was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 books that had shaped the decade. Each of his novels has been a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller.
A television series based on the Thorne novels was screened in Autumn 2010, starring David Morrissey as Tom Thorne and a BBC series based on the standalone thrillers IN THE DARK and TIME OF DEATH was shown in 2017. His latest novel CRY BABY, a prequel to the best-selling SLEEPYHEAD has just been published at time of broadcast.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/mark-billingham
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Dave Cohen - Writer, Comedian & Teacher

As one half of the renowned Sitcom Geeks, Dave knows more than a little about what it takes to be a successful comedy writer. From his early association with Rik Mayall and co, through award-winning sitcoms and sketch shows, right through to his latest novel, Dave's offcuts cover the various trends of comedy from the past 40 years.
Clips performed by: Chris Pavlo, Emma Clarke, Keith Wickham and Rachel Atkins.
Dave Cohen was a stand-up comedian and founder member of the Comedy Store Players with Mike Myers and Paul Merton and now works as a writer, script editor and tutor (or as he describes himself on his Huffington Post page: "comedian, writer, typist". ) On TV his many writing credits include panel shows, sketch shows and sitcoms with programmes like multi-award-winning CBBC series Horrible Histories (for which he's written over 100 songs), Have I Got News For You, and Lee Mack's Not Going Out. On radio he co-created Radio 4's 15 Minute Musical, and performed in his own series Travels With My Anti Semitism as well as writing for many flagship comedy shows such as The News Quiz and The Treatment.
He's published 2 books about how to write comedy: The Complete Comedy Writer and How To Be Averagely Succesful At Comedy, with a third book, a novel, out shortly. As well as teaching comedy and script editing for other writers Dave has also co-hosted the Sitcom Geeks podcast with James Cary for the past 5 years, which now has nearly 150 episodes and is still going strong.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/dave-cohen
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or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

Katherine Jakeways - Writer, Actor & Comedian

Comedy writer/performer Katherine - "the new Victoria Wood" and star of the Horrible Histories movie, shares never-before-heard bits of her writing for TV and radio.
Clips performed by: Beth Chalmers, Emma Clarke, Rachel Atkins, Leah Marks and Toby Longworth.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Katherine Jakeways is a British comedian, actor and writer, whose writing was described by the Radio Times as "acutely observed" and they suggested she may be "the new Victoria Wood". Katherine has appeared in multiple television, radio and theatre shows. TV appearances include Extras, Horrible Histories, Sherlock, Tracey Ullman’s Show, Episodes and ‘Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge’.
In 2010 the first episode of her debut radio comedy, North by Northamptonshire, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 starring Sheila Hancock, Penelope Wilton, Mackenzie Crook and Geoffrey Palmer. Two more series followed, one of which was nominated for a Sony Radio Award. Also for Radio 4 she went on to write 3 series of All Those Women, starring Lesley Manville and Marcia Warren, one series of Guilt Trip, starring Felicity Montagu and Olivia Nixon, and she co-wrote 2 series of Ability with Lee Ridley. In 2016, Katherine’s radio play Where This Service Will Terminate debuted on Radio 4 about two strangers who sit next to each other on a train from Paddington to Penzance. The play had a positive critical and public response and led to four follow up plays, the last of which Where This Service Will Depart, was broadcast in 2020.
Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/katherine-jakeways
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or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

Simon Evans - Stand Up Comedian, Presenter & Writer

A lesser known fact about erudite standup comedian Simon is that he used to write for porn magazines. But there's also scientist comedy in the mix plus a little bit of politics and the truth about whether he really is a Brexit comedian.
Clips performed by: Nigel Pilkington, Toby Longworth, Beth Chalmers and Keith Wickham.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Simon Evans is an established UK comedian with his own BBC Radio 4 series Simon Evans Goes to Market, and numerous TV appearances to his name which include two appearances on BBC One’s Live at the Apollo, one on Michael McIntyre’s Roadshow, and a season of Channel 4’s Stand Up for the Week. He is also a regular on Radio 4’s The News Quiz, and various other panel games, and from 1998 to 2002 wrote and hosted eight series of the news satire, The Way It Is.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/simon-evans
Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/
or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

Bill Dare - Comedy Writer and Producer

A world without sex, a rubbish support group, the invisible woman making breakfast in her underwear - just 3 of the scenarios featured in the unfinished or rejected early work from the BBC comedy supremo Bill Dare.
Clips performed by: Toby Longworth, Rachel Atkins, Beth Chalmers, Chris Pavlo, Nigel Pilkington and Keith Wickham.
Bill is a renowned BBC radio and TV comedy writer and producer. For TV he created shows such as The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Dead Ringers, The Late Edition With Marcus Brigstocke, and I’ve Never Seen Star Wars. And radio shows he created include The Now Show, The Motion Show and – where also lead writer – Life Death And Sex With Mike And Sue, The Big Town All Stars, Les Kelly’s Britain, Brian Gulliver’s Travels and The Secret World (Gold Award, Best Comedy, 2014 Radio Academy Awards).
He has produced TV series such as Spitting Image (8 series), Loose Talk, the sitcom Mr Charity for BBC2 and the comedy/drama Twisted Tales for BBC3. He wrote the film You’re Breaking Up, broadcast on BBC2. Alongside his television and radio work, Bill has written two plays performed at the Edinburgh Festival; as well as co-writing Nina Conti’s five-star show, Talk To The Hand, and producing the recent Dead Ringers Live. He has three published novels – Natural Selection, Brian Gulliver’s Travels, and his latest: The Billion Pound Lie which was published last year.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/bill-dare
Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/
or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

Arabella Weir - Actress, Writer and Columnist

Arabella rose to fame in The Fast Show asking "Does my bum look big in this?" which she wrote as well as performed, but did you know about her musical based on the life of Tina Turner? Hear a clip of that and various radio, TV and film scripts she penned that didn't get the go ahead.... yet.
Clips performed by: Rachel Atkins, Beth Chalmers, Leah Marks, Chris Pavlo, Nigel Pilkington and Keith Wickham.
Warning: This episode contains strong language.
Arabella is an actress, author and presenter. She is best known as one of the stars of the award winning TV sketch show The Fast Show, which enjoyed five series on BBC2. Her numerous television credits include Two Doors Down which was recently commissioned for a fifth series by BBC2 as well as Pure, Drifters, Doctor Who, Skins, Taking Over the Asylum, and Traffik.
She wrote the best-selling books Does My Bum Look Big In This?, The Diary of an Insecure Woman, Onwards and Upwards, Stupid Cupid, an autobiography The Real Me Is Thin, a trilogy for teenagers, and she co-wrote Posh Nosh for the BBC, starring alongside Richard E. Grant. She will shortly continue the tour of her first one-woman show Does My Mum Loom Big In This.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/arabella-weir
Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/
or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

David Quantick - Comedy Writer, Author & Journalist

Quantick, the swiss army knife of the writing world, has worked on some of the most iconic comedy creations this century, but now's your chance to hear his earlier, less successful work, plus the first ever online sitcom - about heroin addicts - that preceded his later triumphs.
Clips performed by: Alex Lowe, Rachel Atkins, Beth Chalmers, Toby Longworth, Chris Pavlo and Keith Wickham. 
For a tracklist of the clips visit offcutsdrawer.com/david-quantick
Warning: This episode contains strong language and adult content.
David is a comedy writer, cultural commentator, acclaimed best-selling author and music journalist. He works regularly with Armando Iannucci, including on the new HBO series, Avenue 5. He won an Emmy as part of the writing team on Veep, a BAFTA for Harry Hill’s TV Burp and a Writers’ Guild Award for The Thick Of It. David has written for everyone from Dangermouse to the Duke of Edinburgh. His books include The Grumpy Old Men series and the thriller The Mule. His recent books include All My Colours (Titan books), How To Write Everything and How to be A Writer’ (both published by Oberon). He has written and appeared on a multitude of BBC radio shows, including The Now Show, The 15 Minute Musical, The Blagger’s Guide and 52 First Impressions. His latest novel Night Train is out soon.
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/david-quantick/ 
Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/
or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

Jenny Colgan - Romantic Novelist & Science Fiction Writer

Renowned worldwide for romantic fiction Jenny shares her earliest novel... about rabbits, as well as an unpublished bonkbuster set in the world of nuclear physics and a Dr Who TV series for very small children.
Clips performed by: Rachel Atkins, Beth Chalmers, Toby Longworth, Leah Marks, Nigel Pilkington and Keith Wickham. 
Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including Christmas at the Cupcake Café and The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris. Meet Me at the Cupcake Café won the 2012 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams, which won the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013. She also wrote the children's series Polly & The Puffin, and science fiction books and audio dramas for Dr Who under the name JT Colgan and Jenny T Colgan. 
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/jenny-colgan/ 
Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/
or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

Jon Holmes - Writer, Comedian & Broadcaster

The pilot. Jon shares tales of spies with technical trouble, insulting Keanu Reeves and why he received the largest fine in UK broadcasting history after a call from a 12 year old. Definitely NSFW.
Recorded in front of a live audience. 
Clips performed by: Rachel Atkins, Alex Lowe, Chris Pavlo and Keith Wickham. 
Warning: This episode contains strong language and adult content.
Jon Holmes is a double BAFTA and nine-time Radio Academy award-winning British writer, comedian and broadcaster. He has presented his own radio shows on national BBC and commercial stations. His many TV writing credits include: Horrible Histories, Mock The Week and Top Gear. His radio comedy credits include: Listen Against, Dead Ringers, The Now Show and Jeremy Vine: Agony Uncle, and his own award-winning satire The Skewer has just been commissioned by BBC Radio 4 for a second series. He has written 5 books to date and also writes travel for The Sunday Times and other national papers. 
Episode show notes and more details:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/jon-holmes/
Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/
or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

Trailer For The Offcuts Drawer

Introduction to The Offcuts Drawer podcast. Laura Shavin interviews successful writers and gets them to share the writing offcuts they keep in their bottom drawer.
For more details visit offcutsdrawer.com