Netflix spy thriller Black Doves was renewed for a second season four months before season 1 debuted, so fans may have assumed that the concepts for both runs were devised as a piece. Not so, according to creator and writer Joe Barton.
"We made the first series so quickly," he explained. "It went from not existing at all as an idea, to us filming it within about eight months. I always describe it as that bit in Wallace and Gromit when Gromit's on the train putting the track in front. It was like that the whole way.
"We didn't have time to even consider a second series, but when we got the renewal, there were so many possibilities and options. We ended up trying a lot of different things and rewriting the first episode quite a lot, and we sort of organically found it. But yeah, we were slightly starting from the beginning again, which was exciting."
"But also, you have to actually think of what's going to happen," he laughed.
Think of it he did, as Barton was speaking to us about the second season as our latest guest for The Radio Times Writers' Room, in which we get to know what makes screenwriters tick. You can watch his interview in the video above.
Barton wanted to be involved in TV and film production from an early age, originally believing he would become a director. After studying Film and Television Production at university, he moved into screenwriting, getting the opportunity to write episodes of an online series, Freak, in 2009. He notes that the team behind the show were explicitly looking for "young writers who are cheap".
After working on other people's creations such as Our World War and Cuffs, he went on to write a number of films in 2017, and create his own series in 2019, the critically acclaimed BBC drama Giri/Haji. That opened up "a lot of doors".
Since then, Barton has created the series Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, The Lazarus Project and Black Doves, and has even adapted Amadeus as a series for Sky, all projects he spoke about working on across his conversation for The Radio Times Writers' Room.
"Don't do that," he advises aspiring writers when it comes to the latter project.
While Barton said he "didn't feel daunted" by adapting the much-staged play, which was previously made into an acclaimed film by Miloš Forman, that changed once the project was announced.
"Everyone got really angry about it," he said. "Everyone was like, ‘Why are you re-making this film?’ They announced it, and it on the internet I got a lot of angry messages about. I just thought of it as, obviously the film, which is amazing, but I was coming at it from that it's a stage play, and I think it's one of the most frequently restaged plays in the world or whatever."
He also revealed the "slightly bolder take on it than we were eventually quite allowed to do", and teased his work on a potential upcoming Jason Bourne film with Matt Damon.
Of course, Barton also delved into the second season of Black Doves, and spoke about the potential for a third season - and indeed, the show's long-term future beyond that.
"We're doing a writers' room for it at the moment," he said of a potential Black Doves season 3. "We haven't been officially greenlit, but Netflix are really behind it, and I think there's a lot of willingness and hope that we can carry on doing it. I’d love it to run and run, really. We're in the process of coming up with the further adventures of Helen and Sam."
Want to see this content?
This page contains content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.
You can watch the full video at the top of this article right now, and look out for more trips to The Radio Times Writers' Room soon.
In the meantime, you can catch up with our previous chats with Mark Gatiss, Harry and Jack Williams, Noah Hawley, Neil Cross, Steven Knight, Chris Chibnall, Jack Thorne, Sarah Quintrell, Stefan Golaszewski, Richard Gadd, James Graham and Sophie Goodhart.
Black Doves seasons 1-2 are available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Add Black Doves to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.