Script Essentials 2026 Summary Notes - Session 2: Character with Andrew Burrell

Our wrap up notes for the second session in our 2026 Script Essentials Webinar series

Published: 29 May 2026

Our second session in our 2026 Script Essentials webinar series was hosted by Esther Jackson-Burton (Development Producer, BBC Writers) and features Andrew Burrell breaking down how to create compelling characters. Andrew Burrell has written across a variety projects including the likes of Eastenders, Danger Mouse, Disenchantment, and many more.

You can watch the full recording of our session on the Script Essentials page, accessible by clicking this link here. Or, you can read the summary notes below to get some key takeaways from Andrew's session!

What did the session cover?

Andrew's session covered how to create and develop lead characters - with an additional focus on crating compelling antagonists. Andrew also took time to look at how secondary characters can be useful in fleshing out your protagonist. And finally, we looked at how characters are linked with structure.

Plot Driven Stories Vs Character Driven Stories

When considering the type of show you are writing, you should consider digging into character motivations in order to make your overall story more engaging for the audience. Plot-driven stories can be entertaining, but really digging into your character can make the show engaging and provide you with a rich vein of dramatic plot points.

Some writing books worth looking into...

Some of the books which Andrew has found useful when crafting his own stories and characters were: Erik Bork's 'The Idea', John Yorke's 'Into The Woods', Blake Snyder's 'Save The Cat!', and Lisa Cron's 'Wired For Story'.

What are characters?

While the obvious answer is to say that they are just 'people in stories'; and, even when your character is not a 'person' in the conventional sense they need to feel like people.

However, for Andrew characters in stories are not people at all. Rather, they are simply tools to tell a story - with a story being something which is a way of looking at and understanding the world around us. Stories, in Andrew's writing process, are a way of compressing the complexity of reality into an ordered, 'chilled' communication of our knowledge and understanding of the world around us.

Understanding the difference between story and theme

When creating your characters it is useful to consider what the key thematic question of your writing is. By finding out what core question our story is asking you will be able to understand your character better.

One example Andrew used of a key thematic question was the key thematic question of 'What was I made for?', which is the key thematic question of Barbie. Another example would be 'What is the nature of true friendship' from Toy Story.

Once you understand the key thematic question you are asking, you can best identify and craft a protagonist to fit and operate within that story. Your protagonist will typically be the character which goes on the largest/hardest journey within your story. In Toy Story, for example, Woody goes on the biggest journey in relation to the key thematic question.

What 'lie' does your character believe about the world?

Once you understand who your protagonist is and what key thematic question they are rubbing up against - you can then ask yourself what lie/belief does your protagonist have about the world which encapsulates your story question? Using Toy Story as an example again, Woody believes that friendship is a zero-sum game, that if he isn't the 'best' friend he is nothing.

Once you have identified the 'lie/belief' which is going to be challenged for your character, you can work out your character's backstory by figuring out where this belief came from. Your character's flaw also comes from how this lie/belief manifests.

What are character flaws?

Character flaws are the foundation of your character's journey. Try considering what negative traits have developed in your character as a result of their 'lie/belief' of the world. Think of it like a physical sympton of believing a specific lie. Think of the most interesting reaction your character can have to different stimuli based on their flaws and their world view. Your protagonist typically needs to be punished for their flaws and learn a lesson as a result.

In Toy Story, Woody's flaws are he is insecure, dictatorial, and controlling - all of which are great for creating story.

Writing unlikeable characters

Writing unlikeable characters is a delicate balance as you need to make sure that they are flawed, but not 'complete arseholes'. Or, if your character is a 'complete arseholes', the audience needs to understand why they are the way they are based on an element of the character's backstory.

For example, we come to understand Woody's flaws as he has seen what happens to toys when they fall out of favour - they are thrown away/forgotten.

The danger of likeable characters

Likeable characters can also be tricky to write as they can fall into the trap of being boring. To try and avoid this, as opposed to asking yourself 'is my character likeable', try asking, 'how is the character LIKE us?'

Allowing an audience to recognise themselves, or a facet of themselves in a character is a great way to pull an audience in.

Understanding your character's WANTS

Emotional Wants

Understanding your characters wants and needs is crucial when finding ways of getting your character into moments of action. Always ask yourself, what does your character WANT on an emotional level? Woody, for instance, wants to sustain his position as Andy's favourite toy.

Your character's wants/desires will provide you with a practical question which can then focus and drive your plot.

Practical Wants

Try and find the practical thing in the story that your lead character wants in order to fix what they believe to be the problem. These can be perfectly legitimate things, but they should be a quick fix which ignores fixing their inherent need. In a very basic sense, in Toy Story, Woody wants to get rid of Buzz. Getting rid of Buzz is Woody's way of allowing him to defeat his perceived opponent.

What is the cost of the character's want/desire?

What will create conflict in your story? The cost for Woody is alienating all of the other toys once he does get rid of buzz - and, as a result, he must then go on another journey to rescue Buzz.

Understanding your character's NEEDS

Psychological needs

A psychological need is perhaps best thought of as a what your character needs to change in order to grow. In Toy Story, Woody needs to care about all of the toys, not just himself.

What do they need to do to positively impact the world?

This is a moral need that, shown through their actions, has a positive impact on their entire community. Most commonly, this positive impact can boil down to a character becoming selfless rather than selfish.

Thinking about antagonists...

There is no journey without a path offering resistance. Without an enemy, a scene is just information (exposition).

Your protagonist will only be as strong as the antagonist forces them to be. And, while antagonism can come in many forms (nature/supernatural/time), the focus here is on 'human' antagonists.

When considering antagonists in your story, it is important to remember that every character is the hero of their own story...especially the bad guys. One trick for creating antagonists is to think about an opposition character to your protagonist who wants the same thing as the protagonist, but from a different perspective. Your antagonist can then exploit the weaknesses of the protagonist to try and win.

Looking at Buzz Lightyear as an antagonist in Toy Story, Buzz wants to be the top toy whether he expresses that directly or not - his arrogance means he just assumes he is top toy.

Secondary characters

Once you have a protagonist and antagonist, one thing that Andrew finds useful for filling out your story with secondary characters is to use Jungian Archetypes to help generate secondary characters. However, you also need to remember that they should not just be there for fun and colour - rather, they should fulfil a vital role and help explore your central dramatic question/theme from a different angle.

Don't forget: characters exist in relationships

It is important to remember that characters are not an isolated individual - consider your character through the lens of the relationships they have with those around them.

A good question to ask yourself is 'What characters can best test the protagonist's belief (lie) about themselves and the world. Different perspectives on the thematic question will make your writing and characters much more interesting.

How does your character change by the end of the story?

How has/will your character overcome their flaw by the end of their journey? How did they managed to completely fix their flaw and become a better person?

RECAP:

These are a series of questions which can help you to create a compelling character and, in turn, story:

1 What's the story about?
2 Who is your lead character (protagonist)?
3. What ‘lie’ does the character believe about the world?
4. Where did this belief come from (Backstory)?
5. How does that belief manifest (as a character flaw)?
6. What symptom/negative trait has this belief created?
7. What does the character WANT on a general emotional level?
8. What does the character practically WANT to achieve?
9. What is the dramatic question?
10.What is the character’s plan to get what they want?
11.What is the cost of the character’s desire? What’s going to create conflict?
12.What do they NEED to change in order to grow?
13.What do they NEED to do to positively impact the world?
14.Who/What will oppose the protagonist’s desire?
15.Who are the Secondary characters and how do they test the protagonist’s lie about themselves and
the world?
16.How does the character change by the end of the story?