Writing about the TV industry after working in it.

I had seen a full page newspaper advertisement for vacancies at the soon to be launched TV-am breakfast station. The ad said: Join us and make history.

I applied and three interviews later (really, it was a drawn out process) I was told I had a job as a junior features journalist at the station. I was thrilled to be part of the birth of breakfast TV in the UK.

Well, the reality turned out to be very different from my expectations. TV-am’s Good Morning Britain launched two weeks after BBC Breakfast Time began broadcasting. TV-am was highbrow, more Guardian and The Times, whereas BBC Breakfast Time was cosy and populist with Frank Bough in jumpers. The BBC did well and TV-am crashed in the ratings.

Our programme editors scanned the ratings every morning and the sense of panic was rising daily. Editors screamed at young journalists who would sob in the toilets. Other ambitious and thicker-skinned journalists responded by grabbing their chance to get in front of camera. Back-stabbing was rife. Established presenters were junked and new faces fought their way to the top. Live TV seemed to bring out the worst in people and loyalty counted for nothing.

This is the world of my main character Liz Lyon and the subject of both Behind Her Back and Woman of the Hour. So how is writing about the TV industry different to working in it?

The workplace is full of dramatic possibilities and throws up all kinds of ethical dilemmas, competitive behaviour, secrets and betrayals. Perhaps the biggest difference in writing about this world was the pace at which things happen in my novel. In telling Liz Lyon’s story I racked up the pace at which conflict and strife occurred so that Liz was under almost constant pressure.

Liz Lyon is both confidante and team leader. She is the person tasked with controlling the conflicts and tantrums that flare up off-air. She finds herself in situations where characters lie to her, or plot against her, and she has to overcome these challenges. Liz is the only person who knows the identity of the father of Fizzy Wentworth’s baby. Fizzy is the star of StoryWorld TV and the father is married so this is an explosive secret. Its revelation would cause a scandal for the station. This secret oppresses Liz throughout the book and culminates in a crisis. 

I loved writing the character of presenter Fizzy Wentworth. She is self-absorbed, frequently unreasonable and contrary in her behaviour. Fizzy is used to being in the limelight and this has accentuated her egotistical traits. For example she thinks the royal photographer should take shots of her baby son! I could see Fizzy’s house, her clothing, her taste in food and decor so clearly and it was a pleasure to write her. People have asked me whether Fizzy was based on any of the TV presenters I worked with. She wasn’t directly, but she was influenced by a number of on-screen presenters I had observed in my years in TV.

As for my heroine Liz, I wanted her home life with her daughter Florence to be a strong contrast to her work life. They live in a garden flat in Chalk Farm which is Liz’s haven. Whereas work-Liz is (usually) calm, capable and in control, home-Liz is far more emotional. I was keen to show both sides of her.

Television is a seductive industry. You feel you are at the centre of things because you hear of news and events before most people. I worked as a TV producer for fifteen years and was also a lone parent to my daughter. It was a pang to give this up. But it is a burn-out industry. You are expected to work until the show is ready. The hours are never predictable and this made it difficult for me as a lone parent. I left my career in TV when my daughter Amelia was nine-years-old because I knew I was not spending enough time with her.

But in Behind Her Back I really enjoyed writing about the TV industry as opposed to working in it. 

Behind Her Back 

Woman of the Hour 

                               This piece first appeared on the blog Swirl & Thread