91Èȱ¬

Before '' I would never have dreamt of writing a crime drama or thriller. I thought I was too much of a coward, the kind that hides behind a cushion with her fingers in her ears, someone who would rather ignore the darker sides of humanity than explore it. And with so much real danger and violence in the world, the idea of creating more as entertainment had always been something of an anathema to me.

Then, a few years ago, I was fortunate enough to be invited on a 91Èȱ¬ Writersroom residential to encourage more women writers to create crime drama, and over the course of three days in deepest darkest Kent, all the traits which had previously turned me off the genre began to form the kernel of an idea. 'From Darkness' is a crime drama that is as much concerned with the psychological and mental effects of the darkness of crime, as it is by the twists and turns of conventional crime narrative, a drama where the horror of a violent event is left to our imaginations, rather than displayed on screen.

After the residential, the idea was taken into development by and at , and together, we began to think about the central character who had been gradually morphing in my head: , or ex-Detective Constable Claire Church, to give her her full title. Who she was, what the particular darkness was that she ran from all those years ago, and how best to populate her world and chart her journey through it. The show is all centered on Claire’s journey and it’s in her that I wanted to create an honest, morally complex and modern female lead. She is not the ball breaker of the late 80’s - fearless and single-minded, nor the domestic goddess-shopaholic who for a while seemed to take her place on screen. She doesn’t have a personality disorder that allows her to look danger in the face, oblivious. She is like us – well, most of us - flawed, compromised and scared stiff: scarred by her past and on the run from it. But I also wanted to make her brave – a satisfying lead character – by confronting those fears.

Together, Hilary, Simon and I started to map out a series bible – expanding the other characters, the worlds they inhabit, exploring the tone of the show and looking at where the story might lead over four hours; at Claire’s gradual pull back into the world she fled, and the key moments we wanted to hit every episode.

In terms of the other characters, I’d always had the idea of two main men in Claire’s life – (from her past) and (from her present) – two opposing forces who both wanted to be her future. I’ve loved writing both. DS John Hind, a man made increasingly vulnerable as the world shifts around him and he struggles to find his place in it; and Claire’s partner, Norrie, a man who seemingly has it all sorted, but when you scratch beneath the surface, is doggedly hanging onto some very restrictive ideas without which he’d fall apart. Then there’s – the ying to Hind’s yang – a metrosexual Oxbridge graduate who couldn’t have more different working practices to John, but yet is desperate for his boss to like him. He also brings some great moments of humour and light relief.

Once we were clearer on our characters and our world, we looked at in more forensic detail, culminating in a scene-by-scene beat sheet which then lead to an Episode 1 script. One of the things that came up time and time again when we were storylining was trying to avoid cliché – to think about what conventional crime drama might do and then try and undermine it or subvert it in some way; for the personal to always take precedence over the procedural. The crime story is there, but it’s woven deep into the lives of our main characters. It’s a psychological thriller, character led. Claire, and through her the audience, feel their way through the story. Unashamedly emotional, everything is told from Claire’s very personal perspective as she is pulled back into a past she’d run away from and is forced to confront a world of darkness she had hoped never to see again.

Once we had an Episode 1 that we were all happy with, we submitted it, along with the series bible to the drama commissioner, and after another set of notes, were fortunate enough to win a full commission. Then the real work started. Over the next few months and with the addition of producer, , and our director , we continued to map out the next three episodes and turn our thoughts to cast and crew. When the final cast was announced: , , and , we couldn’t believe our luck. We’d got our dream team. In fact, the way the entire cast and crew have responded to the scripts has been amazing. I think we are all very proud of the show.

Writing 'From Darkness' has been an extraordinary process: creative, collaborative and a voyage of discovery from start to finish. One of the great joys has been discovering just how much a stonking great crime story allows you to explore the minutiae of life, small moments between characters that otherwise might not make it to screen. Then there are the big issues: the role of women as victims in crime drama, how real-life female victims of crime are fictionalised by society; and also changing gender roles and how these affect both men and women at home and in the workplace. At its heart though, 'From Darkness' is all about fear: fear of the past and its ability to overwhelm us, fear of violence, fear of our desires and mistakes and the shame that they breed.

Having such a big story that explodes into the present from the past really gives you room to open up your characters, and the more you mine them the more they give. Who would have thought the world of crime would be so much fun and maybe even morally justified, and I certainly hope entertaining.