Unforgotten Series 5 Construction

Hello Everyone,

A big welcome to all our newcomers and a special hello to people doing my online TV Series course. Hang in there! I might start doing some practical plotting webinars for you when I get a minute to breathe (ha! – no, I’m serious, just very busy writing reams about complex nonlinear narrative... the horror, the horror...).

Okay. Last time I introduced you to the professional practical Writers’ Room approach to creating a long form limited TV police detective series, which involves splitting your series up into its different storylines and planning the whole series from the big picture down to the detail (as opposed to making it up as you go along). Why do the pros work this way? Because creating a multi-million-dollar TV series without extensive planning is too much to juggle– there are too many plates to keep in the air. You will get lost and forget things. I got you to think about creating your own version of the Broadchurch model, Broadchurch being a very popular TV police detective series, each season a different crime.

How did you go? Practice is the essence here.

Today I’m going to do a quick breakdown of the structure of Unforgotten, another UK limited TV police detective series, to show you the moving parts of the machine, and give you a taste of more practical plotting techniques. Obviously, this is only an overview.

How things are done in the Writers’ room

What I’m showing here is more detail on how things are generally done in a writers’ room so you get to know a bit about the ropes. It varies between production houses and countries but the principle is the same. As I’ve said, In a writers’ room, the storylines would all be discussed separately and often plotted out on a board with cards so you would know what the task and subtasks are. Your colleagues would be discussing all the character and plot strands that have to go in. You would also learn lateral ways of thinking about the task and techniques to fix things, along with discovering technical production problems that you hadn’t realised existed. If you’re writing on your own, you need to monitor yourself, discipline yourself. and deliberately cover all bases. You also need to educate yourself as best you can on production issues and practice. Take heart. It’s all about breaking the task up into separate jobs

Just before we start, here is a video of mine about what happens in the Writers’ Room when writers are ‘breaking a story’. It’s about story breaking for Breaking Bad . This will give you some context for my overview, particularly the matter of planning generally and, specifically, planning with index cards. By the way, there is a bit in my narration in the video that is misleading. When I say the process takes about ten days, I am talking about one episode of Breaking Bad, based on what the showrunner said in other videos. Ten days is not the time it takes to create an entire season.

Quick Recap from last newsletter

Let’s get back to long form limited TV Police Detective Series, specifically Unforgotten Series 5

The task in any TV series is as follows

1. Breaking down the separate storylines and strands in your series, and dealing with them separately (hence the writers’ room term ‘Breaking the story’)
2. Inserting content from each of these storylines into each episode in an intriguing way.
3. Interweaving all the storylines, which may be a great number
4. Recalibrating – that is, going through your script to make sure that your script doesn’t feel mechanical (since the breaking down of stories can make them come across, in initial planning as mechanical). Re-read the plan and pump up rising suspense and emotion.
5. Creating a season plan and episode plans (these can be rough if you’re writing on spec but you must have a very good idea of the details)
6. Write

Police Detective Procedural series are a double-edged sword in that they are perennially popular but so common that finding an original take on the model is fraught. Beware of clichés!

Your job description: you create a murder mystery, tangle it then show it being untangled

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Summary of Unforgotten Series 5

Unforgotten Series 5 is a masterful piece of writing, involving strong characters and an intriguing twists-and-turns mystery as well as covering a range of social political issues in contemporary UK , along with a study of grief. In terms of relationship line stories (that is, what’s going on between the characters) Season 5 starts after the death in Series 4 of the boss of the unit, another detective. The whole cold case team is grieving, particularly her police partner, second-in-command Detective Inspector Sunny Khan, our central character, with whom she was very close. Now the team has to deal with a new boss, a stand-offish, distracted woman named Jess James who, unbeknown to them, is distracted because she discovered minutes before starting on the job that her husband is leaving her. Crime wise, a human leg and then an entire corpse is found stuffed up a chimney flue.

Structure

Technically, Unforgotten uses a complex construction. It has over 15 story storylines or short story strands running through its six episodes. Don’t panic! A number of these story strands you can work out very quickly. I’ll explain how in a minute. Essentially, what you do is split the job into manageable tasks.

The tasks (standard professional practice)

You have to plan out all these storylines or strands in full before writing, then write the episodes. This sounds horrific. Yes, it takes planning, but it is immensely useful. Seeing all these events and bits of character material as separate plot strands which you have to consider and plot in somewhere really helps you control the material and understand where you need to go next to display good characterisation and plot twists and turns. It subverts your natural writer’s instinct to hurl yourself into writing great scenes - but often scenes that unfortunately take you off the point and away from all the stories you need to tell. Efficiency-wise it’s extremely sensible. It not only prevents rewrites but increases quality.

Unforgotten’ s story Strands

Unforgotten has, in short:

1. the crime (the macro – which you have to work that out for yourself before you work out how the police will unravel it);
2. the solving of the crime over six episodes by the two detectives and the rest of the team;
3. the two Detectives’ home lives;
4. from episode 1 onwards, detailed storylines about the home lives of four individuals whom we guess are involved somehow in the crime but initially appear to have no clear connection. Over the six episodes, with many twists and turns which continue until the last moments of the season, their involvement is explained.

Strands and storylines in Unforgotten Series 5, details

1. The crime

• how and why the murder was committed (make this credible but initially mystifying. BTW this would be your pitch! ) Remains of a corpse are found stuffed up inside a chimney flue.
• how the police work it out - with a big puzzle at the start and you inserting false leads and dead ends to intrigue the audience and keep it watching. This is the script, the end result, fulfilling the pitch.

2. Detective DI Sunny Khan 2 storylines

• Crime Solving Storyline - his part in working out the crime
• Domestic Problems - what’s going on in his home life - girlfriend pregnant

3 Detective Jessica James 2 storylines

• Crime Solving Storyline - her part in working out the crime
• Domestic Problems - what’s going on in her home life. Husband has left

4. Conflict between the two detectives -

• from Sunny’s point of view.
• from Jess’ point of view

5. Other Police -

• how they help solve the crime (what jobs – action line , how they react to the new boss – relationship line )

6. Suspect 1 - Elderly man, member of the House of Lords

• How involved with the crime
• Suspect 1’s Personal life, His Terminal Cancer Diagnosis, Charity Work with At Risk Youth club, marriage

7. Suspect 2 – 2 storylines

• Mother of the corpse. How involved with the crime ?
• Running restaurant with partner. She has alcohol and violence issues

8. Suspect 3 –2 storylines

• Young male thief. How involved with the crime?
• He is funding his junky girlfriend’s habit by bag-snatching

9. Suspect 4 – 2 storylines

• social worker. How involved with the crime?
• living in France with partner and her two children, hoping to build a life with her.

Practical Plotting

I have no idea how the creator and writer of the series set about the actual practical plotting process. Here’s what I’d suggest. Always work from the big picture into the detail. The big picture will initially be very rough – just a sketch. Gradually, you will build this out. If you look carefully at the video of the Breaking Bad Writers’ Room you will see a set of cards on the wall to the left of Vince Gilligan. From my memory of Vince Gilligan’s interviews, these are the episode plans for the entire season. Notice how many gaps there are. It’s work in progress, which is what yours will be.

In your planning you will be constantly modifying, adding new material, removing, reinstating – it’s complex. Your planning in one plotline will give you ideas for another. The planning is great fun, and since you’re not committing to writing you have the luxury to keep thinking about the issues, picking out the weak bits, refining, crafting before you event start writing the script. You haven’t painted yourself into a corner before you start.

1. Start with crime – which is your macro. Start by working out how the murder and the disposal of the body happened so you know how and why and where your season has to end up. You will of course be modifying this for some time. You have to decide the identity of the corpse, why and how they were murdered, the relationship and interaction of each suspect with the dead person when alive and which suspect did what concerning the murder..
2. Invent twists and turns in the crime plot through exploring characters Next, your best bet for plotting out the twists and turns of the crime plot and how it’s discovered is to explore it through the characters. Most writers are triggered creatively by characters, so brainstorm the personal life and backstory of each of the four suspects and it will give you ideas for plot content. What problems could a person from their background and life experience have. What could have gone wrong for them? What advantages and disadvantages?
3. Work out the home life problems of the two detectives.
4. Do your research. This is a procedural series so find out about police procedure in cold case investigations. Work out how the police can discover, bit by bit, the details of the murder. Work out hurdles in the way of the police and false leads to keep the audience guessing.

Progressing several plot strands in the same scene

Many story strands will be happening in the same scene. This is the essence of dynamic television. For example, in group scenes you can unfold bits of several different storylines as the scene progresses. The junior police walk through a police station set discussing the case and noticing that the new DCI is distracted. Just then they’re interrupted by a suspect nervously arriving, while a phone rings for one of the police and it’s some more evidence coming from forensics (whatever). You get the idea.

The same thing applies to the scenes between the suspects, for example between the mother and her chef husband. You can progress their personal relationship plot strand and the story strand about them running a restaurant in the same scene. There is one scene, for example, where the pair are driving to meet some potential investors in their proposed chain of vegan restaurants where they start to have a quarrel and personal matters come up, including the woman actually hitting the man then apologizing profusely, when it becomes clear that she has a problem with violence which is jeopardising the relationship.

Characterization from the inside

The important thing in terms of characterization generally is that you understand each character from the inside. Remember, character is what character does – you have to demonstrate your characters through what they actually do - so plan and chose what they actually do carefully. In terms of character interaction – a big issue between the two detectives as they interact and in the stories of the four suspects - you need to be inside each character during the interaction, jumping from inside one of them to inside the other. Plan the interaction. If there’s a confrontation, work out where the relationship is going to go after this scene and beyond, rather than just wing a quarrel. You have to pack as much as you can into each scene while knowing where you are going next in the relationship and the across the remaining episodes.

Getting the Series Plan (the big picture)

Create first in notes then on index cards (just a few sentences) a very rough plan of the whole season. Take heart from the very rough episode plans on the wall in the Breaking Bad writers’ Notice how many gaps there are. Remember, it's work in progress.

Detailed Episode Plans

This of course is the result of a lot of work – I’m just giving you an overview here.

1. Many writers proceed to episode plans as follows - albeit in sometimes in a less structured way than I do. Construct each of your storylines/ strands in its three-act form (or if it’s a two act story or one act story, in that), working it out in beats (beats are steps in the story – there may be several scenes in a beat)
2. Turn your beats into scenes
3. Get a pack of old-fashioned index cards and write a one sentence summary of each scene on one card, number them.
4. Set them out on a table and study them, interweaving them as you visualize the episode in your head.

So that's an overview of the way you proceed. I haven't included any mention here or last week about the fact that a lot of these series, while mostly linear and chronological, will often involve flashbacks of various kinds. That's a step too far at the moment. Get your heads around the chronological types first (also, if I write anymore this week about flashbacks and complex nonlinear TV series structure - as I'm doing in writing the book - my head will explode. Very nice to have a break)

Postscript: Group story breakdown

Unforgotten is a group story, a multiple protagonist story. Last week I explained that Police Detective Series are usually group stories and involve a set of storylines. I gave you a list of all the storylines you need to create in typical multiple protagonist story. So here are Unforgotten’ s storylines and strands in that group model. Compare this detailed version to the simpler version above

1. The Group’s ‘adventure’ in the present In Unforgotten , the macro, that is, the main action line story (which in multiple protagonist stories is always a quest, reunion or siege and is what you pitch) is a quest, it’s the solving of the crime. (Remember, the macro is very useful because it is the story spine. It arrives with a time line, you work out all the other storylines in relation to this).
2. What each group member does in the Group Adventure in the present (that is, what each police officer, senior or junior does in finding out how and why the dead woman ended up inside the chimney. You will have a story strand for each police officer, some very small, for the two Detectives, major. Each detective, junior and senior has to contribute towards the crime solving, leading, giving orders, deducing facts, investigating, interviewing etc as they untangle the mystery
3. If relevant, the Group’s ‘adventure’ in the past (this is important in group stories about a gang reforming for ‘one last job’ etcetera) In Unforgotten Series 5 the adventure (adventures) in the past are not involved in detail in this season but there is a format that you need to follow and serial content that you have to keep on the boil. The audience knows and loves the series because of the following

• a. Fascinating suspenseful intricate cold case
• b. Compelling characters in police and suspects
• c. interesting police procedure,
• d. interesting personal relationships so make sure you reference the interpersonal relationships and stick to the police investigation procedures.

4. If there is group adventure in the past, what each group member did in it (see above)

5. Each character’s personality and relationship to each of the others in the present and the past. Hence, character A has an attitude to character B but we also have to see character B’s relationship to character A – and so on). These attitudes may be based on unfinished business from the past. In Unforgotten, past relationships are particularly relevant for the team regarding the death of a much-loved department head last series and their attitude and dealings with their new and unpleasant department head.

6. The personal life of each member of the group. In Unforgotten this is restricted to the home life of the two detectives, Sunny and Jessie, who are both having trouble with their partners.

7. The Criminals Not all police detective stories involve detailed studies of the criminals. Unforgotten does. It includes both the personal life in present and past of each of the four suspects and their part in the crime

Practical Work

Have a go at thinking about and maybe even having a go at creating Series 6 of Unforgotten using the tips here. Series 6 is apparently in the making, so you can compare it with your version.

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So there you go.., I hope that was useful. TV writing is complicated at first, but the more you practice the faster you get and the more confident you feel. My all-you-can-eat Real World TV Writing Course will give you much more detailed teaching and practice you in creating and writing a pilot to order, which is great if you can do it, however, if it’s not for you, follow the advice above.

Above all, practice! Keep watching, keep analyzing, keep working out what the pros are doing. And keep applying your Creativity Under Pressure skills – you need to get them up to speed so you can work under difficult conditions, which is often the reality.

Next time I’ll see if I can do something on common pitfalls in pilots. I was brought in to fix a few in my time and there are clear patterns of error. Could be a while before the next newsletter, but I’ll do my best. I hope all these links work.

And now back to flashbacks, fracturing nonlinearity and the whole can of parallel narrative worms!

Thanks to you all for giving me a break!

Warm wishes,

Linda