Write Your TV Comedy Script: Course Info & How to Structure Your Script (with examples from Daddy Issues)

5 Week Guided Process to Write Your TV Comedy Script

"This is the best comedy writing course I've done. It was organised, incredibly thorough and well designed. I managed to complete my first draft of my sitcom in 5 weeks which I didn’t think was possible! Chris’ feedback was also very positive, encouraging and specific. I absolutely loved this course and I got a lot of value out of it. I highly recommend it!"

Alya Soliman

In this blog I talk about my Write Your TV Comedy Script course and set out advice on structuring your thirty-minutes TV comedy script.

On this course, you'll produce a 30 minute television script (and radio can be accommodated if that's what you're working on). You will be taken through a structured approach to producing your script and will be given deadlines to complete each phase of the work.

WRITE YOUR TV COMEDY SCRIPT Next sessions:

17th June - 15th July 2026 (5 x Wednesday nights) 7pm-9pm UK time

8pm-10pm European time

11am-1pm Pacific time (PDT)

2pm-4pm Eastern time (EDT) BOOK YOUR PLACE

Across 5 weeks, be taken through the process of writing an artfully structured and plotted comedy script.

This live and interactive Zoom course is a great opportunity to (a) get your script done and (b) to make sure it is clear, well structured, funny and in a form that will best serve your idea, whether you are looking to submit it to producers or enter it into competitions. Chris mentors TV writers and develops scripts with Lucy Lumsden, former BBC Comedy Commissioner and TV comedy producer and founder of Yellow Door Productions.

Weekly live Zoom sessions led by Chris Head with a friendly group.

Each session is recorded so you can catch up with the video if you have to miss a class.

You submit your developing script each week for notes and feedback.

Script structure The course follows the classic script structure of: SET-UP/ TURNING POINT/ MIDPOINT/ CRUNCH POINT/ TWIST.

On the course, you will see the structure in action in the first episode of Daddy Issues (BBC comedy written by my former student Danielle Ward.) You will see how the action is written in the script and also how it plays out on screen at each of the key story beats. We will do the same analysis with Black Ops and Ghosts, and other shows will provide examples of these story beats including Catastrophe and Hacks.

And these beats of the story create a series of steps that the course follows, enabling you to get your script written in 6 weeks (you have a week following the final session to get the draft done). And if you don't manage it, you will know exactly what you need to write to complete it.

HOW THESE STORY BEATS WORK

3 act structure

While stories might be told in four acts, five acts or seven, three acts is a natural shape and is commonly found in 30 minute TV comedy. (Ignore anyone who tells you these shows are two acts - probably this is based on the idea of shows with a single commercial break).

• Act 1 introduces the dilemma or problem for your protagonist.

• Act 2 develops and complicates the situation

• Act 3 brings things to a conclusion.

  
  

The five big beats of your script

The big beats of your story are the SET-UP, TURNING POINT, MIDPOINT, CRUNCH POINT and TWIST.

SET-UP (ACT 1)

ACT 1 will be setting everything up for that episode. It will open with the SET-UP that establishes the world and the characters.

TURNING POINT (ACT 1)

At the end of Act 1 you reach a TURNING POINT for your protagonist. So something changes for your main character, it's the moment that sends your characters down a new path or raises the stakes on the challenge that has been introduced.

MIDPOINT (ACT 2)

Act 2 picks up the story, then around half-way through the script, you hit the MIDPOINT. It's not just the middle of the script, it has a specific job to do. It can be the moment of no return, or at least when things suddenly get more challenging and options close down for your protagonist. It can also be a revelation where the audience find out something significant.

CRUNCH POINT (ACT 2)

At the END ACT 2 you hit a CRUNCH POINT for your protagonist. This is the worst point. You can look at the script making things worse for your protagonist across the three beats of turning point, mid point and crunch point.

TWIST (ACT 3)

As you go into act 3 an element of the narrative reaches a conclusion but you're likely to keep a storyline open to take us into the series. The TWIST at the end of the episode gives a surprise finish, which is either simply a comic beat to end on, or potentially sets up the narrative to come.

Here's how it works in the first episode of Daddy Issues (BBC comedy written by my former student Danielle Ward), an odd-couple sitcom in which a pregnant party girl and her recently divorced father end up in a flat-share in Stockport.

DADDY ISSUES - SERIES 1, EPISODE 1

SET-UP

SCENE 1. INT. BATHROOM

• Location/Time: Small aeroplane bathroom, Day 1.

• Summary: Gemma and Ben are kissing frantically. They try to find a condom but fail. They debate the risk of unprotected sex and misquote a famous AIDS slogan. The scene ends as the Captain announces their descent into Manchester Airport, and they introduce themselves to each other.

This SET-UP establishes Gemma's lifestyle of casual sex with men she doesn't know.

TURNING POINT

SCENE 1B EXT/INT. HIGH STREET SALON

• Location/Time: High Street Salon, Two months later (Day 2).

• Summary: A hungover Gemma arrives late to work. Her boss, Rita, greets her and gives her a drink with vodka ("Hair of the Dog"). Gemma tells Rita about the painter (artist) she slept with, Liam, and how the date ended because he wore the same deodorant as her dad. Rita asks about Gemma's "hunky Dad," Malcolm, and reveals that Gemma's mother ran away with their savings, and Malcolm is now living in a bedsit. Gemma admits she's been putting off visiting him but promised she would go today.

The TURNING POINT is Gemma finally committing to visiting her father.

MIDPOINT

SCENE 17. INT. GEMMA’S FLAT, BATHROOM

• Location/Time: Gemma's flat bathroom, Later.

• Summary: Gemma sees four positive pregnancy tests on the sink. She takes a fifth test, which also turns positive. She whispers, "Fuck."

So the MIDPOINT (which changes everything) is Gemma dicovering she is pregnant - not this happens literally midway through the script - p.16 out of 32).

CRUNCH POINT

SCENE 34A. INT. SUPERMARKET

• Location/Time: Supermarket potato aisle, Day 9.

• Summary: Gemma is pushed over the edge by Malcolm's stupidity about jacket potatoes. She has an emotional outburst, revealing her pregnancy, homelessness, and not knowing the father. Malcolm is inscrutable until he breaks into a huge smile: "I’m going to be a granddad!" He sobs and clarifies to a supermarket worker that they are "happy tears."

The CRUNCH POINT is when Gemma finally reveals her pregnancy to her father.

TWIST

SCENE 35. INT. GEMMA’S FLAT, LIVING ROOM

• Location/Time: Gemma's flat living room, The next day (Day 10).

• Summary: Malcolm moves in with Gemma (sorting out her rent problems). He gives Gemma a soft rabbit as a present from the garage, which genuinely touches her. He tells her Derek is bringing his duvet up. Derek appears, gloating that she's "up the stick" (pregnant). Gemma is deflated.

Just when things seem to be looking up for Gemma, it turns out that in the TWIST that her dad's friend the odious Derek will be living with them too.

Across the five weeks of the course, we hit these five beats (and you write to that point of your script for homework). You will see the structure in action in this first episode of Daddy Issues (the five beats outlined above.) You will see how the action is written in the script and also how it plays out on screen at each of the key story beats. We will do the same analysis with Black Ops and Ghosts, and other shows will provide examples of these story beats including Catastrophe and Hacks.

For much more on this see chapter 6 of my new book:

The Complete Comedy Script Toolkit

"This course gave me all the support I needed to develop my characters and scenes into a first draft pilot. Approaching the three-act structure gradually over a few weeks was really helpful - it helped me to iron out any problems with Act 1 before thinking about Act 2 and so-on. The group feedback was very constructive and it really helped to get a general consensus of what went well and where I could improve. By the end of the course I had a completed script and plenty of notes to guide my next draft." K.P.

"I’m marvelling at the ‘throw us in the deep end’ approach of Chris Head! Having messaged a few of the gang this week and read some of their scripts, it’s amazing what a deadline and accountability brings out in people! Well done all. I'm finding the whole thing very challenging but in a good way. By the end of this I can say, ‘I finally wrote a pilot’!" Ryan Johnson

If you want to be thrown in the deep end (or, rather, if you want to be supported so you can dive into and confidently swim in the deep end) and if you want to finally get that script written in the company of a great group of writers and with expert support, this is the course for you.

Next ZOOM course sessions:

17th June - 15th July 2026 (5 x Wednesday nights)

7pm-9pm UK time

8pm-10pm European time

11am-1pm Pacific time (PDT)

2pm-4pm Eastern time (EDT) BOOK YOUR PLACE

And I can also work with you on your script one-to-one.

Image of a class in progress by Kate Bell (student in top right of picture!). Thanks Kate!