Rather than give me notes he suggested we meet up or talk on the phone. Arranging a meet was difficult so we arranged a phone call. He explained that he prefered to tell it live and explore options for developing the script further.

I was a bit unsure about the no-notes thing but he says that he’s looking at what the writer has done and what the writer wants to do or can do rather than a standard script report template where you can miss what the writer wants to bring to the table. So the nature of the discussion can vary each time. It’s the difference between static and dynamic. He makes notes for himself which the writer can have if they want. But like everyone else, in the end, I didn’t feel I needed them.

He started off by finding out my reference points and what writers I like. He named Jimmy McGovern – yes, Paul Abbott – yes, Mike Leigh – not really, Shane Meadows – No, not at all.

Now I understand that theme is important and thought I had one when I was writing but when I tried to explain it to Adrian it was vague and woolly. It was clear from the script I wasn’t sure of the theme and he felt I should be able to state the theme with confidence.

Adrian went on to say that I was too polite with the characters and the world and asked if I had heard that before and actually I had heard something similar but it didn’t make sense. He said that the characters were too nice and there was not enough conflict which went back to what Lucy was saying about the idyllic sibling relationship. But there was clearly a life and death conflict there and, you know, some people are nice.

Adrian then quoted Paul Abbott who said that you want the story to be the biggest story of the character’s life. I needed to engineer characters by putting them in the worst situation and putting them through hell. You want them to have a terrible time, to have a tidal wave of emotions.

Just as I knew about theme but failed to act on it properly, I know about conflict and making things hard for your main character but didn’t take it far enough. I realised that, for whatever reason, I actually enjoyed writing the fantasy family. Yes, I’m sure they must exist but that isn’t the issue. The issue is that, however brilliantly written it is, it’s going to be too dull and too boring.

Adrian said that my story was a nice tune and a nice melody but was like Smells Like Teen Spirit played by the James Last Orchestra. Ouch. But the music analogy drove the point home. (Although I really like Paul Anka’s version…)

The other key point was that it can be controversial and doesn’t have to be a Public Information Film, it can be from a radical perspective.

Adrian then tried various ways of getting me to look at the characters differently including trying to imagine how McGovern or Abbott might have treated the story and stunt-casting – imagining a famous actor in the role and what they would bring to the role.

Adrian felt my main character should be more of a rock-star and be drinking heavily earlier then he does in the script. We brainstormed reasons why he might be drinking heavily earlier – as I couldn’t just have him doing it for the sake of it. I rejected one particular dramatic suggestion as it didn’t feel right and was taking it too far away from why I was writing the piece. However it sparked off an ideal solution. Just by making the younger sister into an older step-sister, it added extra conflict between them and the dad and step-mom.

45 minutes later we were done. Adrian checked my confidence levels and to be honest the rewrite seemed like a big ask and Adrian encouraged me to chill and have confidence, even going through a useful relaxation exercise.