Voices

The writers who are part of our Voices development group are identified mainly via our annual Open Call opportunity. They take part in an intensive programme over six months offering an insight into how the television industry works and featuring expert masterclasses, craft sessions, roundtables and discussions, providing participants with the core tools and knowledge to write for TV.

From 2023 we run six Voices sub-groups from the writers' local hubs - Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, North & Midlands, London, South. The development programme combines sessions with a local hub and pan-UK sessions which bring all the Voices together from across the UK. Local sessions may be run in person at one of the BBC's offices, while pan-UK sessions take place via video-conferencing.

Our Voices are encouraged to apply the learning to define and develop a new original series idea and work closely with the BBC Writers team to develop a professional series outline document (in which they retain all rights). Following the conclusion of the group they can choose whether to use this as the basis of an original spec 'calling card' script to take out to the industry and/or to submit to our next Open Call submission window, with the aim of gaining a place in our Scripted group. 

Latest News

Meet all the Voices 2026 now over on our blog!

Our Voices 2026 were selected towards the end of 2025 and starting working with us in January 2026. They are a talented cohort of 69 emerging writers drawn from our six hubs across the UK. Over six months, they immersed themselves in an intensive development programme designed to strengthen their craft, expand their creative ambitions and connect them with the wider industry.

From January to June, the cohort took part in workshops and masterclasses led by acclaimed writers including Daragh Carville (The Bay), Declan Lawn (Blue Lights), Emma Reeves (The Worst Witch), and Nick Leather (Nightsleeper). They also explored the craft of storytelling with industry experts such as Kate Leys, John Yorke and Maria Odufuye, alongside BBC Writers alumni Abi Hynes, Gemma Bedeau and Theo James Krekis. Throughout the programme, they gained valuable insights from agents, producers, BBC Drama Commissioning, OKRE and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.

Alongside these sessions, each writer developed an original television series idea to outline stage, supported editorially by the BBC Writers team. The creativity and ambition they have brought to their work has been consistently inspiring.

For further details on any of the Voices 26 writers, please feel free to Contact Us

Jess Loveland, Head of New Writing, BBC Writers & Drama Commissioning

Belfast Hub

London

Midlands and North of England

Scotland

South of England

Wales

Script Editing Support

Each year selected Voices writers gain script-editing support from trainee script editors via a collaboration with the National Film and Television School (NFTS) with the aim of developing their Voices projects to at least first draft script stage.

Twenty Voices writers were supported in 2022, fifteen in 2023, seventeen in 2024 and sixteen in 2025.

Hear from four of the Voices writers about their experience working with a Script Editor

Irshad Ashraf from Voices 2024 sums up his experience, including working with a Script Editor via the NFTS

Would you like to be part of a future Voices group?

The writers who are invited to take part in the Voices group are identified via our annual Open Call script submission opportunity. If you wish to be considered as part of a future Voices group you must first submit a script via our Open Call.

Find out full details of our Open Call opportunity

Contact us

If you have any questions about Voices that are not answered on this website please do not hesitate to Contact Us