3-day Online Programme
30th September, 1st & 2nd October, 2025
Television is littered with good ideas, but very few great ones. The majority of new TV dramas fail, or perform around an average – very few break out and become national (or worldwide) TV events.
Why is that? What can we do to change it?
Over six 90 minute sessions, John takes us through not just the key elements that make up a good idea, but how they should be shaped to obtain lasting success.
During the sessions we will cover:
– The perfect Protagonist
– The perfect Antagonist
– The power of the one specific goal
– The reciprocal relationship between structure, content and theme
We will concentrate at some length on honing and shaping the building blocks of any powerful drama – scenes. Here we will focus on how they work, how to write them, how to cut from one to another, how to use them to create pace, how to use them to define character and how to make them utterly compelling.
Subversion of Expectation
Structuring scenes that revolutionise your script:
– The importance of visual imagery – focussing on Mise – en – Scene
– The use of non linear structure, and how that is slowly transforming television
– The misunderstood importance of timing – “Why are you telling this story NOW?”
– The importance of emotion
– How to create and manipulate the emotion
Mad Max director George Miller likened the perfect film or TV experience to surfing. A wave picks you up, takes you on a wild ride where the real world has disappeared, and at the end of an extraordinary and exhilarating experience dumps you on the beach – leaving you asking “how did I get here?”, but knowing that something profound has changed.
This course is designed to show you how to create that Wave; indeed, how to lure people into the water, how to create a tempestuous sea, and how to give your viewers a transcendent experience.
COURSE INFO
Who is this for?
Writers, Script Editors, Story Editors, Development Executives, Executive Producers, Commissioners
Dates:
30th September, 1st & 2nd October, 2025
Times:
11am – 12:30pm UK time
and 3:30pm – 5pm UK time
Standard Fee:
£450 (plus VAT if applicable)
Venue:
Zoom
Please review our Terms and Conditions, which includes advice about our Data Protection and Privacy Policy.
For more details contact: inshaaf@mediaxchange.com
All Online Programmes will be conducted in English
In addition to the above we will incorporate every element you need to create an unmissable TV drama experience.
ABOUT JOHN YORKE
John is a drama producer, author and teacher who has spent 30 years studying our insatiable appetite for stories. His long career in TV drama has given him the tools to identify the underlying shape common to all successful narratives – from drama to political speeches
He is the author of the UK’s bestselling book on narrative structure – Into The Woods – How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them.
As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has shaped stories that have attracted some of the biggest audiences for drama in UK TV history
He has overseen some of the UK’s most enduring and popular programmes, from Shameless and Life On Mars to East Enders and Holby City, alongside award-winners like Bodies and the internationally acclaimed Wolf Hall. John has worked with a vast array of talent, from Paul Greengrass and Paul Abbott to Debbie Horsfield and Jimmy McGovern, making him uniquely placed to watch, learn and analyse the work of the finest writers in television
“This is a marvellous analysis of screenwriting and, with any luck, should help a great many people achieve their dreams“
Julian Fellowes
Creator of DOWNTON ABBEY
“Probably the most accessible, inspiring take on story that I’ve attended. We came home with a clearer and deeper understanding of our work, and with a common set of vocabulary, which is key to good teamwork.”
THOMAS GIERTSEN
FOUNDER, FEELGOOD
NORWAY
