One of the best dramas I’ve watched on television in a long time was The Drowning on Channel 5. Full of twists and turns, it had me and my Val hooked from the very first minute.

You may remember last year I interviewed Sally Dynevor from Coronation Street in this column, well this week I’d like to introduce you to her husband Tim Dynevor who also happens to be the writer of The Drowning!

I asked Tim where the concept for came from and here’s what he had to say.

‘Two writers Luke Watson and Francesca Brill came up with the idea. After Channel 5 commissioned it I was brought on board by the fantastic team at Unstoppable Film and TV to help storyline it and eventually write the episodes. Once they pitched the story - ‘A woman who lost her young son, presumed drowned nine years earlier, suddenly sees him on a bus’, I was totally hooked’. 

I wanted to know how Covid-19 had affected Tim’s work and home life?

‘I feel incredibly lucky to be able to say in this terrible pandemic that I’ve never been so busy. I’ve got a couple of exciting TV projects in development, but I can’t really share any details yet’. 

‘Covid has had a huge impact in terms of work. Filming of ‘The Drowning’ was stopped halfway through for around five months. I was worried that Cody (who plays Tom/Daniel) would come back with a beard and two feet taller. It was touch and go whether the show would ever be completed, but luckily the brilliant cast and crew just managed to finish it before the second lockdown came.

‘I feel incredibly blessed that, unlike hundreds of thousands of others, it’s only my working life that’s been affected. As for relaxing, having all the family at home has been wonderful, we’ll go for long walks with the dogs, play board games, do jigsaws, and after a lot of browsing to find something we all like, watch Netflix’. 

To finish, there are many talented young people in Trafford who would love to have a career in writing. What advice would you give to them?

‘Firstly, to read and watch as much as possible. If you want to write for the screen look online for scripts of things you’ve loved and see how they’re put together. The same with novels, the more you read, the more you get a feel for structure and the shape of stories and character development.

‘Secondly, and this is really important, start writing something, and no matter how hard you’re finding it, finish it. The sense of achievement is huge. And once you have a completed story, it’s much easier to go back, see what’s wrong and make it better.

Then, when you think you’ve made your work as good as you can, put it out into the world and see what happens’. 

The Dynevors are a multi talented family and it was a pleasure to interview Tim who is a true gentleman. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for our future viewing pleasure and wish him and his family all the very best.

See you next week!