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SCREENWRITING ALUMNI

We Catch Up with Sheffield Hallam Screenwriting graduates to find out what they’ve been doing since finishing their degree at SHU

Tom Beech Interview

What have you been up to since graduating in 2019?

Since graduating I’ve been in full time employment working nights at Sainsburys! It’s not glamorous and certainly far from the industry, but it allows me the freedom to pursue projects and have a financial ‘safety net’!

I’d also visited comic-cons with my friends and getting my foot in the door for places to apply for writing projects. My favourite of these was visiting London for the 2019 LFCC (London Film and Comic Con). My most recent of these was Valiant 2020, a Doctor Who convention down at the Showroom Workstation.

In between these I’d continued to write for an online ‘Doctor Who’ stories platform, publishing three full-length original stories titled: High Voltage, The Halfway House, and Wake Up Call. With Wired Hearts upcoming.

This helped with practising my writing beyond screenwriting to broaden my skills for projects that required prose. This has mostly been the routine for the past year other than being at home. A short story I wrote currently featured in the twelfth edition of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society fanzine: Cosmic Masque. It’s a sister publication of the Celestial Toyroom Magazine that has been running since the early 70’s. I got myself involved through a few friends that knew some friends. Which got me an audience with the editor of the magazine. I’d written the story in the summer during lockdown.

I also dabbled in ‘graphic design’ designing the poster/covers for these stories to publish for the site.  My story is titled: The Perils of the Picture House. It’s a 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo Grant story (Katy Manning) in which they have to investigate strange goings on in an abandoned picture house. It was a joy to write for this Doctor’s legacy as well as for Katy Manning’s character as I’d met them on multiple occasions and kept them up to date with how I was at University. I hope to one day meet them again to give them a copy of the story!

The magazine can be read online for free here:

I’m also going to be featured in the Unofficial Dr Who Annual 1989 due for release on the 23rd of November! This is another short story of mine titled: The Polybius Paradigm. It’s a 7th Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) story. The annuals are produced monthly by Terraqueous Distributors, a group of dedicated individuals that have a passion for the classic Doctor Who annuals of the past that were published from 1965-1986.

I first came to learn of them when they announced their very first Unofficial Master Annual which featured stories and articles about the Master as portrayed by Rodger Delgado. Upon seeing the cover I very much thought it was a parody image/fan art until I saw an official release date and an email to apply for the next book which was teased to feature the 7th Doctor (a personal favourite Doctor of mine) I got to work, organising my ideas which at the time were just a title and a quick two-line synopsis, hoping that they accept them and I could elaborate later. I emailed them and within a few days they readily accepted two of my ideas, I was ecstatic. This was my first ‘proper’ writing project. They were incredibly accommodating, giving me sound advice and pointers to improve my stories. I had written my submissions over the summer, while balancing my job and other writing commitments. I had also struggled with burn-out and anxieties about the pandemic as the situation grew worse and worse. Writing for the Annual was such an incredible opportunity as this is a full on print publication with exclusive artwork, articles, puzzles and more! I was very excited to pitch two stories and write both (however only one has made it to this annual!)

More information about Terraqueous Distributors can be found on their Facebook page where you can get links to their previous books and know when to order the 1989 Annual here:

As for next year - I’m due to feature in a Charity anthology project celebrating the Master’s 50th anniversary of their debut in the show called We Are the Master

How did the screenwriting degree help you with developing your writing and finding a career path?

The screenwriting degree has helped a great deal! From how to approach pitches, synopsises and getting over the initial hurdles of formatting. It’s helped immensely with confidence, just heading in with a degree under my belt helps a lot with my self doubt. It’s a reminder that I’m capable and not a ‘beginner’. In use beyond the industry, my degree has again helped with confidence, team working skills, social skills. It’s also a great talking point with my colleagues at work who engage with me about my degree, films, and my writing projects. It helps fill the time in a long night shift!