ZOOM Write Your TV Comedy Script

Service Description

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) Across 5 weeks, be taken through the process of writing an artfully structured and plotted comedy script. A writer said of the course: "This course structures me and my script". 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. WEEK 1 of the course: 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. Homework: Write the set-up WEEK 2 of the course: 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. Homework: Write to the turning point at the end of act 1 Week 3 of the course: 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. Homework: Write to the midpoint of act 2 Week 4 of the course: 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. Homework: Write to the crunch point of act 2 Week 5 of the course: 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. Homework: Write to the end of the script, the twist of act 3 (This final homework will be reviewed online a week after the final session)