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DAVID QUANTICK – Rejected Scripts, Lost Projects & Lessons Learned

David Quantick - The Offcuts Drawer

Quantick, the swiss army knife of the writer world, has worked on some of the most iconic comedy creations this century, not including numerous films, novels, short stories and journalism, but now’s your chance to hear his earlier, less successful writing work, plus the first ever online sitcom – about heroin addicts – that preceded his later triumphs.

From punk fanzines to TV satire, David Quantick has written it all—and thrown much of it away. In this episode, he shares bizarre short stories, unfilmable sketches, and unused scenes from *The Day Today*. He discusses what makes comedy truly subversive, how to pitch the unpitchable, and why some of his strangest ideas were the most meaningful. A weird and wonderful dive into the writing mind behind some of Britain’s sharpest satire.

This episode contains strong language and adult content.

Cast: Alex Lowe, Toby Longworth, Chris Pavlo, Keith Wickham, Rachel Atkins and Beth Chalmers.

OFFCUTS:

  • 02’06’’ – The Junkies; pilot for a TV sitcom, 2000
  • 08’45’’ – Britpop Forecast; radio sketch, 2006
  • 12’59’’ – No Dolls for Devereaux; extract from a novel, 1982
  • 19’02’’ – The End of the World; scene from a TV script, 1986
  • 26’52’’ – No More Mr Nice Guy; scene from a film script, 2009
  • 34’07’’ – Shitgibbon; treatment for a TV series, 2017
  • 39’41’’ – Other People; short story, 2019

David is a much-admired comedy writer, cultural commentator, acclaimed best-selling author and an occasional music journalist. He works regularly with Armando Iannucci, including on the new HBO series, Avenue 5. He won an Emmy as part of the writing team on Veep, a BAFTA for Harry Hill’s TV Burp and a Writers’ Guild Award for The Thick Of It. David has written for everyone from Dangermouse to the Duke of Edinburgh. His books include The Grumpy Old Men series and the thriller The Mule. His recent books include All My Colours (Titan books), How To Write Everything and How to be A Writer’ (both published by Oberon). He has written and appeared on a multitude of BBC radio shows, including The Now Show, The 15 Minute Musical, The Blagger’s Guide and 52 First Impressions. His latest novel Night Train will be published shortly.

More about David Quantick:

Watch the full episode on youtube

This podcast is for writers, screenwriters, novelists and story lovers who are interested in the creative process, with an emphasis on the false starts and early failures. Useful search terms: podcast for aspiring writers, writing inspiration, screenwriting podcast, unfinished scripts, podcast with actors, writing rejects, behind the scenes writing, dramatic podcast, writing process podcast.