Luke Harding - Foreign Correspondent & Author

Best-selling thriller writer Lisa ("Then She Was Gone", "The Family Upstairs", "Watching You") shares clips that didn't make it into her books, and talks in fascinating detail about her unusually practical and no-nonsense writing technique. Clips performed by: Beth Chalmers, Christopher Kent and Rachel Atkins. Lisa Jewell is the Number 1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels (shortly to be 20), including The Girls and The House We Grew Up In, as well as Invisible Girl and I Found You.  Her first novel Ralph's Party, a book whose genre she describes as "flatmates and curry" was the highest selling debut novel of the year. She has written various other genres of fiction, and most recently she's topped the best-selling charts with her psychological thrillers. So far her novels have sold over 5 million copies internationally, and her work has been translated into twenty-nine languages.  Episode show notes and more details:  offcutsdrawer.com/lisa-jewell Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

"Dublin Trilogy" novelist and former comedian Caimh (CK) McDonnell shares his sitcom set aboard a ferry, a pre-Fleabag Fleabag and a comedy about what happens when multiple timelines meet. Offcuts performed by: Jake Yapp, Darrell Maclaine, Kenny Blyth, Lizzie Roper, David Monteith and Rachel Atkins. This episode contains strong language. Caimh McDonnell is the internationally bestselling author of the Dublin Trilogy which is set in his hometown. His debut novel 'A Man with One of Those Faces' – a darkly comedic crime thriller – was published in 2016 and nominated for best novel at the 2017 CAP awards. It went on to spawn the increasingly uncountable Dublin Trilogy (five books and counting) and the McGarry Stateside series, which have been translated into several different languages and optioned for television. He also writes ‘The Stranger Times’ series of books under the name of C.K. McDonnell which has been described as "a celebration of how truth really can be stranger than fiction" The former professional stand-up comedian and TV writer has performed all around the world, had several well-received Edinburgh shows and supported acts such as Sarah Millican and Gary Delaney on tour before hanging up his clowning shoes to concentrate on writing. His TV writing work has seen him work on some of the biggest topical comedy shows on British TV and has earned him a BAFTA nomination. Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/caimh-mcdonnell Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/  

A rap musical set in a US prison based on a Noel Coward play, a sitcom about IVF and a story about JFK faking moon landings - just 3 of the offcuts from comedy writer and US showrunner Georgia. Clips performed by: Desiree Burch, Beth Chalmers, Keith Wickham, Lizzie Roper and Jake Yapp. With additional music by Jake Yapp. Warning: This episode contains strong language. Georgia is a multi-award-winning comedy and drama writer, who has five Emmys, five Writers Guild awards, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Producer’s Guild award. She is currently a writer and co-executive producer on HBO's critically acclaimed show, Succession, now in its third season. Georgia was the co-executive producer and writer on the HBO multi-Emmy winning show Veep, which ran for seven series.  Georgia is show-running The Shrink Next Door: an adaptation of the hit podcast, starring Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and Kathryn Hahn, for Apple TV. She wrote three episodes of HBO's Avenue Five, Armando Iannucci’s space comedy starring Hugh Laurie. Georgia has written extensively for Miranda Hart and Tracy Ullman and the shows Have I Got News for You, Smack the Pony, Not Going Out and The Thick of It. She created, wrote and show-ran 2DTV for ITV as well as Quick Cuts starring Doon Makichan, Feel The Force and three series of Life of Riley - starring Caroline Quentin for the BBC. Georgia’s memoir My Mess is a Bit of a Life has just been published.  Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/georgia-pritchett Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

Raconteuse Miranda shares the bits of writing that didn't quite make it, along with tales of her former life as a sex worker, in a show that's definitely NSFW. Clips performed by Chris Pavlo, Bhavnisha Parmar and Emma Clarke.  Warning: This episode contains strong language and explicit material. Miranda Kane is a comedian, writer, and performer who garners inspiration from her previous career as a sex-worker and her more recent work in organising body positive events. She writes and stars in the Audible sitcom SLAVING AWAY, based upon her ‘utterly mundane life as a dominatrix’, which reached number one in the Audible charts and has had its third season recently released. She has also written sex blogs and co-hosts the ‘Good Sex/Bad Sex’ podcast for Metro. She is a sex-worker rights activist, raising money for charities which support sex-workers. She takes part in debates and public speaking events to promote the decriminalisation of sex-work, and in 2017 she was a TedX speaker where her ‘idea worth spreading’ was that comedy and storytelling can help change the public’s opinion of sex-workers to allow them to work in safety and without fear of persecution or prosecution. She currently runs Club Indulge – a range of Body Positive events aimed at providing a safe space for plus size people to enjoy being party animals. Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/miranda-kane Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

This is not a normal episode of The Offcuts Drawer but a taster of the excellent podcast In Writing With Hattie Crisell. Journalist Hattie visits the studies of writers of all kinds – novelists, screenwriters, poets, journalists and more – to find out how they write, why they write, and what they can teach us about doing it better and the special guest in this episode is Graham Norton. The Offcuts Drawer will be back with a brand new episode later this week but in the meantime you can find more details about Hattie's podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/in-writing-with-hattie-crisell/id1490412801 Listen to The Offcuts Drawer on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

An investigation into the Mole-man of Hackney, standup material about pond-dipping and a bit of angst-filled teenage poetry are just some of the offcuts shared by Isy. Clips performed by: Lynsey Murrell, Beth Chalmers, Darrell Maclaine, Shash Hira, Toby Longworth and Emma Clarke Isy Suttie is a comedian, actress and writer who started performing stand up in 2002. She trained as an actress and has written for the GUARDIAN, the OBSERVER, RED and GLAMOUR, and is a regular writer and performer on BBC Radio 4, where her show PEARL AND DAVE won a Gold Sony Award in 2013. This led to two series of her musical story show set in Matlock, ISY SUTTIE’S LOVE LETTERS. Her TV acting credits include Dobby in PEEP SHOW and Esther in SHAMELESS, Ally in MAN DOWN and Nat in DAMNED, and she has been nominated for three British Comedy Awards. She’s written 2 books – THE ACTUAL ONE, a comedy memoir which came out in 2016 and her first novel JANE IS TRYING has just been published in 2021. Episode show notes with offcuts track listing and more details about Isy and the actors:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/isy-suttie Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

Scotland's "Queen of Crime" shares some stonking bits of early writing, including her attempt at a bonkbuster and the short story that prefigured her move into thrillers. Clips performed by: Christopher Kent, Beth Chalmers, Leah Marks, Kenny Blyth, Emma Clarke and Rachel Atkins. Val McDermid has sold over 17 million books to date across the globe and is translated into over 40 languages. She is perhaps best-known for her Wire in the Blood series, featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan, which was adapted for television starring Robson Green and Hermione Norris. She has written three other series: private detective Kate Brannigan, journalist Lindsay Gordon and, most recently, cold case detective Karen Pirie. She has also published in several award-winning standalone novels, books of non-fiction, short story collections and a children’s picture book, My Granny is a Pirate. As well as books she has also written for stage, radio and screen. In early 2017 Val’s latest BBC Radio 4 drama series, Resistance, aired to great acclaim. And in the last couple of years, she has returned to writing for the theatre with Margaret Saves Scotland as well as the primetime TV series Traces based on her original idea. ITV have subsequently announced the commissioning of a new drama Karen Pirie based on Val’s eponymous series character. Episode show notes and more details:  offcutsdrawer.com/val-mcdermid/ Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

The "Horrid Henry" creator gives us an out-take from her successful opera, unpublished articles and some other children's book ideas that despite her stellar international reputation still didn't get picked up. Clips performed by: Beth Chalmers, Emma Clarke, Leah Marks, David Holt, Rachel Atkins and Keith Wickham. Francesca Simon is universally known for the staggeringly popular Horrid Henry series. These books and CDs have sold over 22 million copies and are published in 29 countries. Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman won the Children's Book of the the Year award in 2008 at the British Book Awards. She is also the author of Costa-shortlisted The Monstrous Child for older readers, and Hack and Whack, her first picture book. To date she has published over 50 books for children of all ages including picture books, early readers and a young adult trilogy based on norse mythology. Collaborating with composer Gavin Higgins, Francesca recently wrote the libretto for The Monstrous Child turning it into an opera which received rave reviews when it was staged at The Royal Opera House, London in 2019. Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/francesca-simon Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

"Friday Night Dinner" writer Popper shares some truly bizarre offcuts including the fake CV that landed him his big break in comedy, a prank community woodland notice and a sitcom about a wasp. Clips performed by: David Holt, Alex Lowe, Toby Longworth and Lizzie Roper. Warning: This episode contains strong language. Robert Popper is an award-winning writer, producer, performer, and bestselling author.  He is the writer and producer of all 6 series of Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner, he co-created and starred in BBC 2’s Look Around You with Peter Serafinowicz, produced the Bafta-winning Peep Show, wrote on season 14 of South Park, and script-edited British TV comedies The Inbetweeners, The IT Crowd and Him & Her. More recently he co-wrote several episodes of Channel 4's Stath Lets Flats. Under his pseudonym, Robin Cooper, he wrote the bestselling The Timewaster Letters and the follow-up, Return of The Timewaster Letters, and an audio compendium of both has just been released on Audible read by Popper himself and featuring the voices of Serafinowicz and Dawn French.  Episode show notes:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/robert-popper Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer:  https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/

A grab-bag of television and film scripts that didn't quite make it including a drama about GI brides and a psychological mystery set in the Scottish Highlands from screenwriter Andrea. Clips performed by: Kate O’Sulivan, Kenny Blyth, Lizzie Roper, Shash Hira, Emma Clarke, David Monteath, Rachel Atkins and Beth Chalmers. Warning: This episode contains strong language. Andrea Gibb is an award winning Scottish screenwriter who has worked extensively in both film and television. Her feature length screenplays for ‘Dear Frankie’ and ‘Afterlife’ won her the Scottish Screen Filmmaker of the Year award and the Women In Film and Television script award in 2005. Her adaptation of classic children’s novel ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (BBC Films) was released in cinemas in 2016 and won the Grand Jury prize at the New York Children’s Film festival and the family film award at Seattle Film Festival. She was nominated for the Carl Foreman award at the Bafta film awards for ‘Afterlife’ and has just been nominated for a Bafta television award and two Bafta Scotland awards for ‘Elizabeth Is Missing’, adapted from the novel into a single television film for STV starring Glenda Jackson. This film also won her the writer’s award at the 2020 RTS Scotland awards. She has written four episodes of ‘Call The Midwife’ for Neal Street and the BBC and an episode of ‘Sanditon’ for Red Planet and ITV. Episode show notes and more details: https://offcutsdrawer.com/andrea-gibb/ Listen to us on whichever podcast app you prefer: https://offcutsdrawer.com/insta-links/ or if you don't usually listen to podcasts you can hear all the episodes here: offcutsdrawer.com/episodes/