One of four finalists in female script hunt

Four finalists have been announced for a script competition seeking comedy pilots written by women, and featuring female lead characters over the age of 45.

The scheme is run by UKTV and the Female Pilot Club initiative, who will both now offer development help  before a live reading in the New Year.

The finalists are:

Hayley Tamaddon, pictured, is best known for playing Delilah Dingle in Emmerdale, and Andrea Beckett in Coronation Street. She also won the fifth series of ITV’s hit show, Dancing on Ice and starred in the award-winning film Eaten by Lions.

Leigh Douglas is an actor, writer and stand-up comedian and trained at The Gaiety School of Acting: The National Theatre School of Ireland and her  one-woman show, Sacrament, has been produced at  theatres in Dublin and Lodnon.
Nikki Patel played Amber on Coronation Street as a teenager. She made her stage debut in a leading role at The Old Vic and starred alongside Derek Jacobi in Romeo & Juliet in the West End. Her first piece of writing, The Patels, is a love letter to  her mother.

Sydney Stevenson is a writer, actor and director whose acting credits include Misfits, Red Dwarf, Me and Mrs Jones and Doctors.

Female Pilot Club co-founder Kay Stonham said: ‘We were amazed and pleased to receive over 340 submissions from talented writers across the UK.’

Lindsey Rost of UKTV added: ‘We received an incredibly strong batch of submissions, which goes to show once again that female and diverse comedy writing talent is out there for anyone looking for it.

‘We have four fantastic, delightfully funny scripts all featuring female leads over the age of 45 that we can't wait to showcase in the new year.'

Published: 15 Dec 2022