The Offcuts Drawer - Successful Writers Share Their Best Worst Ideas

Screenwriter, comedian, showrunner, actor, novelist, podcaster, musician, singer... Charlie shares so many projects from his long and varied career that we didn't have time to fit them all into 1 episode - so listen out for part 2 coming shortly. This episode's abandoned, unfinished and rejected writing projects include a film best described as A Christmas Carol meets Channel 4's Star Stories,  a TV drama series about the early life of a political icon and a Monty Python mash-up. CAST: Nigel Pilkington, Kenny Blyth, Noni Lewis, Christopher Kent, Shash Hira, Keith Wickham, Emma Clarke Charlie Higson first came to prominence as lead singer of The Higsons before moving into comedy writing and performance. Alongside Paul Whitehouse he wrote for Harry Enfield and then co-created The Fast Show, becoming one of its key writers and central cast members throughout its BBC run and later specials. His television and film writing includes the feature Suite 16, the revival of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) as writer, actor and showrunner, and the creation of Swiss Toni as well as creating the 2015 ITV drama series Jekyll & Hyde. As a novelist, Higson wrote adult crime fiction before being commissioned to create the Young James Bond series, delivering five titles between 2005 and 2008. He followed this with the seven-book post-apocalyptic saga The Enemy. He also wrote the Fighting Fantasy title The Gates of Death and returned to the Bond universe in 2023 with On His Majesty’s Secret Service. He is the creator and presenter of the history podcast Willy Willy Harry Stee, and author of the companion book illustrated by Jim Moir aka Vic Reeves, while continuing to write, produce and perform across screen and audio. For more details about Charlie, his offcuts and the actors performing them see the episode show notes:  The Offcuts Drawer - Charlie Higson, Part 1  

The creator of Yes Minister shares clips of his abandoned screenplays and theatre scripts along with tales of his work in Hollywood and beyond, as he prepares for the West End opening of the final instalment: Sorry Prime Minister. CAST: Keith Wickham, Beth Chalmers, Shash Hira, Christopher Kent, Kenny Blyth, Emma Clarke Jonathan Lynn is a multifaceted figure in British entertainment: a film director, screenwriter, actor, and author. At Cambridge University he joined the Cambridge Footlights and performed in their Broadway production Cambridge Circus alongside cast members such as John Cleese and Graham Chapmen He has directed a number of well-known comedy films, such as Clue and Nuns on the Run (both of which he also wrote), My Cousin Vinny, and The Whole Nine Yards.  In television, his most prominent work is the creation (with Antony Jay) of the political satire series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. In addition to his screen work, Lynn has written novels and stage plays. His publications include Comedy Rules, the novel Mayday and several volumes connected to Yes Minister. He has received awards for his writing, including the BAFTA Writers Award. For more details about Jonathan, his offcuts and the actors performing them see the episode show notes:  offcutsdrawer.com/jonathan-lynn

Bernadette, who writes under - at time of recording - seven different pen names, shares some of her discarded projects including a novel about a cat in prison (not a children's book), a Jane Austen fan who meets a grisly end, and a historical tale of father/daughter derring do.   CAST: Emma Clarke, Shash Hira, Beth Chalmers, Noni Lewis, Marcus Hutton   Bernadette Strachan is the author of 28 novels published under multiple pseudonyms, including Juliet Ashton, Claire Sandy, Bernie Gaughan, MB Vincent, Alice Cavanagh and Catherine Miller, as well as her original publishing name, Bernadette Strachan. Her titles range from romantic comedies such as What Would Mary Berry Do? and Snowed in for Christmas to the crime-themed Jess Castle series. She co-wrote the musical Next Door’s Baby with Matthew Strachan, staged at the Orange Tree and Tabard theatres, and also wrote About Bill, performed at the Tabard. More recently, under the name Catherine Miller, she created a trilogy of Archers prequel novels for BBC Books, later adapted for BBC Radio 4. In 2023, as Alice Cavanagh, she published The House That Made Us.   For more details about Bernadette, her offcuts and the actors performing them see the episode show notes:  offcutsdrawer.com/bernadette-strachan  

The writer & voice of BBC Radio 4's Ed Reardon shares the comedy scripts that missed the mark, got rejected by the commissioners or still remain unfinished. CAST: Nigel Pilkington, Chris Kent, Jake Yapp, Helen Goldwyn, Beth Chalmers, Emma Clarke Christopher Douglas is a British writer and performer, best known for co-writing and voicing Ed Reardon’s Week on BBC Radio 4 with the late Andrew Nickolds, a comedy series that has run for sixteen series and 100 episodes, and was twice recognized as Best Radio Programme by the Broadcasting Press Guild (2005, 2010). He has also created the character Dave Podmore and co-written the radio comedies Mastering the Universe (2 series) and Beauty of Britain (3 series), along with a radio adaptation of New Grub Street and his award-winning drama Tristram Shandy: In Development. On screen and stage, he scripted performances featuring the Nicholas Craig persona (with Nigel Planer) for the BBC, and he is the author of several books including Spartan Cricketer, I, An Actor…, and Ed Reardon’s Week. For more details about Christopher, his offcuts and the actors performing them see the episode show notes: offcutsdrawer.com/christopher-douglas  

A former television writer now an award-winning children’s novelist and playwright, Piers’ offcuts include an attempt at a romantic novel, a social media status update about a bossy weevil, and a sitcom based on the unlikely topic of his early life growing up on a farm during the foot & mouth pandemic.   CAST: Kenny Blyth, David Monteath, Helen Goldwyn, David Lane Pusey   Piers Torday is a British writer whose work for children and the stage spans more than a decade. His debut novel, The Last Wild, was published in 2013, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, and translated into 14 languages. It became the first in a series including The Dark Wild, winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize in 2014, The Wild Beyond in 2015, and the prequel The Wild Before in 2021. He has also written the standalone children’s novel There May Be A Castle, and his short fiction appears in collections such as Winter Magic, Return to Wonderland, and The Book of Hopes. More recently, he began a fantasy duology with Midnight Treasure in 2024, named Children’s Book of the Year by several national publications, to be followed by Wolf Crown, out next month (October 2025). Alongside his books, Torday has created a body of theatre work, adapting The Box of Delights for the stage in 2017 with subsequent revivals, writing A Christmas Carol with the first female Scrooge on the London stage, and The Child in the Snow based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s “The Old Nurse’s Tale.” His plays also include The Wind in the Willows at Wilton’s and Plum: a Homage to Happiness in 2025. In 2027, his stage adaptation of The Last Wild will open at the Unicorn Theatre before touring schools and venues nationwide. For more details about Piers, the offcuts and the actors performing them see the episode show notes:  offcutsdrawer.com/piers-torday