BBC Studios held its regular “The Network” talent programme workshop, with attendees treated to a live script-reading from two of EastEnders’ most recognisable stars: original cast members Adam Woodyatt and Gillian Taylforth, who play the iconic Ian and Kathy Beale, respectively, on the show.
The fruits of their labour can be found below in video form, along with a discussion including Woodyatt, Taylforth, and former programme member and now storyliner, Maisie Adair.
View oEmbed on the source websiteMaria Odufuye, a former script editor on EastEnders, came up through BBC Studios’ training schemes and has gone on to other parts of the TV industry thanks to the practical start she got with EastEnders.
High-End Television (HETV) is a legal and financial term used in the television industry to describe high-budget scripted and factual shows.
Highlighting the need for entry points in the industry to be provided for people from historically disadvantaged communities, Odufuye noted: "Continuing drama gave me the access to make my dream a reality, and I strongly believe it remains one of the best and most accessible training grounds for the next generation of TV talent and our gateway to great storytellers making groundbreaking TV."
Read More: Supacell season 2 gets major update from Netflix as fans eagerly await release dateMeanwhile, another success story from the training provided in EastEnders is another former script editor for the soap, Elizabeth Kwenortey, who has now gone on to regularly collaborate with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight on his hit shows SAS Rogue Heroes and the first season of House of Guinness.
Kwenortey, who also attended the festival in Edinburgh, credited the "hard work that was done by that development team to reach out" to people like her, who were desperate to get into the industry, but needed that entry point.
Read More: EastEnders spoilers confirm Ian Beale's Walford return date and Linda Carter going public with Max Branning romanceFrom EastEnders, Kwenortey went on to work for hit ITV crime series Grantchester and has been on the up ever since, and she credits continuing dramas for this.
Reflecting on the current TV industry, she said: "Well, I think as shows get smaller or have to, you know, wrap up, close up shop, the opportunities get taken away. But I still think some are doing the work. There are teams committed to doing the work in creating those newer opportunities or creating access to those opportunities."
However, interestingly for viewers at home, the smaller opportunities for entry mean there are also fewer chances for upskilling. This is something that is becoming a focus on continuing drama - and even impacts icon Adam Woodyatt, who tried his hand at directing the scenes shot especially for The Network's training scheme.
He also recalled that the director of the episodes on the day that the scenes were shot (Richard Lynn) was also someone else who he had seen "progress through the ranks" from early runner roles to assistant directing and then to full-time directing - illustrating the development opportunities the soap can provide.
Read More: EastEnders favourite Sophie Khan Levy confirms Priya Nandra-Hart exit amid real-life pregnancyShe said: "I thought, ‘Oh bless him, that’s my boy!"
While Woodyatt was uncertain about whether he would try his hand at directing a full episode of the soap, Taylforth advocated for him: "I think you should do some more. I really do."
He would not be the first soap actor to try their hand at directing; perhaps most famously was fellow original cast member Susan Tully AKA Michelle Fowler, who left the soap and acting in 1995 and is now a prestigious television director.
Green told me: "These kinds of schemes are so important because the future of our industry is always relying on the next generation of creatives, and every year we get a group of incredible creatives [in the training scheme].
It’s a clear historical and present trend for many famous faces and names from across the industry - whether commissioners, showrunners, producers, screenwriters, script editors or directors - that they had their starts in continuing drama, including other major players attending the festival.
Netflix’s VP of content Anne Mensah, who oversees the streaming giant’s high-budget slate of shows in the UK, also defended the genre of Continuing Drama - which she noted often gets higher viewership ratings than many of the shows at the centre of industry discussions - against much of the snobbery it faces.
Mensah said these shows may not be "about class, but are comfortable within their own class", calling this an element of diversity the TV industry doesn't talk about enough.
Recalling her own former stomping grounds of Waterloo Road, Mensah noted that one can "properly learn TV through those shows".
Woodyatt said: "We are the modern-day weekly [repertory theatre], which is where people used to cut their teeth; in the theatre doing weekly rep on tour for months and months and months. That's what we are now."
Read more:
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Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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