This was an event. An audience with Jimmy McGovern, staged at the Cornerhouse cinema. McGovern spoke openly about his script writing career and I found out a lot about what works for him as a writer.
Before this event I had forgotten McGovern was responsible for shows such as Cracker and Brookside, I knew only of The Streets, which I have never watched.
He spoke about how undervalued script writers of TV dramas tend to be, and I admit I am first to say I don’t watch telly because of all the crap that’s out there.
Though it’s easy to sneer TV scripts as being trite and uninspiring, McGovern reminded us all what a hard job it is to write, and in his own case, write well.
He is such a likeable chap, who has an incredibly responsive way of dealing with the world. He’s worked hard to get where he has and doesn’t fail to recognise this. McGovern doesn’t shy away from saying things that some would rather he didn’t, and talks openly about the TV drama he made of the Hillsborough disaster, and how much censorship came into play.
True to his spirit he seems to balance all aspects of himself remarkably, he was intelligent, witty, extremely perceptive and clued up on all aspects of the industry, he spoke honest and openly about his failures and showed us how he felt at the time, nothing screamed falseness about this man.
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