After researching, both myself and Joshua decided that , in a real world scenario, we would like to pitch to BBC Radio 4.
The reasoning behind this is that I personally listen to a lot of radio drama on this particular broadcaster above the few others that broadcast it.
My research therefore focussed on the pitching process for an independent company to BBC Radio four, mostly contained on the R4 website.
It was on this site that I discovered the “BBC Independent Production Database”. It was from this point that we based our proposal. Though the requirements for the afternoon play are for a “45 minute drama”, they also allow for multiple productions varying from ten to twenty minutes long. we decided to go for a 15 minute long pilot based on these parameters.
The BBC has several drama slots throughout it’s broadcast schedule, including;
“Monday-Friday 10:45-11am Radio 4 (repeated at 19.45 weekdays)
Woman’s Hour. Short form (15min) commissioned in multiples of 5, ideally a series with individual stories in each episode or short term stories that mature over 5 or 10 episodes.
Monday-Friday 2:15-3pm Radio 4 The Afternoon Play. Daily narrative drama strand. A complete story that is imaginative, accessible and entertaining.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 11-11:30pm Radio 4 Comedy Narrative. Light and entertaining comedy drama or sitcom.
Saturday 2:30-3:30pm Radio 4 The Saturday Play. Enjoyment and escapism. For example: love stories, thrillers, and extraordinary personal stories.
Sunday (time varies) Radio 3 Drama on 3. Radical drama such as The Wire, or classics and new theatre productions.” (BBC, 2014)
One of the first problems I had to get past as a scriptwriter (who had never written a radio script by myself before) was transferring sounds from my idea as it stood in my head, to the paper. this however can (and did) lead to an over abundance of sounds, making foley near impossible. on that subject, the BBC say;
” Radio is not about sound – it’s about significant, meaningful sound. So don’t be afraid of silence, or varying the distance between the speaker and the mike. The intimacy of a speaker with the listener can be immensely powerful. In real life, lots of sounds happen all at once.” (BBC,2014)
Applying this method to a radio project, be it drama or comedy, helps make a more polished product.I also circulated the script to some more accomplished friends who have done much more scriptwriting than myself to help with plot holes and other such deviations.