Strabane author takes a walk down ‘Hope Street’

A WELL-known crime writer from Strabane has spoken of his delight at penning several episodes of the hit BBC TV daytime cop show, ‘Hope Street’.

Set in the fictional seaside village of Port Devine, it has recently returned for a second series much to the delight of fans.

Speaking to the Chronicle from his writing desk, Brian McGilloway, pictured,  said, “I’ve written one episode so far and I’m actually in the process of writing my second. I got picked up by the producers of the show off the back of a spec script I had written. They invited me along for a chat and I was elated to be asked to write something for it.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity to write something for television, it’s a brilliant opportunity. I’m fortunate that the producers are making a point of employing writers from the local area, giving local talent a chance.

“I’ve really enjoyed doing it so far, I can tell you.”

Already an accomplished novelist thanks to his Ben Devlin series of books, ‘Hope Street’ represents Brian’s first screenwriting credit, something which he said was a “very steep learning curve”.

“Writing for TV is vastly different than writing a book. For one, when I’m sitting down to write a novel, I have no idea where the story will take me or how it will end; each day brings new twists and turns.

“With a show such as ‘Hope Street’, I have an established set of characters and personalities to deal with and I need to get a sense where the characters are at the beginning of the episode, where they need to be at the end of it as well as incorporating the ‘crime of the week’ plot into the mix.

“There’s quite a bit of plate-spinning involved but I’ve learned a lot.”

As he sits down to begin his second episode, while also juggling a new book and his studies, Brian admits it was nice to write something ‘light’ for a change.

“As anyone who has read any of my books will know, they can be very dark. In the case of ‘Hope Street’ I’m writing for daytime television so can’t go down that route; it’s called ‘Hope Street’ for a reason.

“I really enjoy the lightness and humour I was able to bring to my writing and feel extremely lucky for any opportunities which come my way.”

Here’s ‘Hope’-ing it won’t be Brian’s last visit to Port Devine!