Do's and Don'ts

Sketch Factor challenged you as a writer to come up with ideas for a format.

The focus was modern life, communication and mis-communication, which covers a wide range of areas from advertising, TV, the internet, radio and journalism.

What we wanted to see

'Recorded for Training Purposes' has been devised as a broad format, so if your idea roughly fitted into the territory of communications, modern nonsense or mis-communication then it was probably suitable.

You could use characters or situations from the pilot to create new sketches or write a completely new idea which you believe fits the format of the show. You were free to use the existing formats of the pilot.

We wanted you to keep it simple and concentrate on a strong central idea, preferably based on a small number of characters.

Surprising us and making us laugh was the main challenge for you as a writer.

What we didn't want to see

Because we were asking you to come up with ideas for a format, that meant there were restrictions, such as:

No impressions or sketches that relied on famous people as key characters. For example, ideas that revolve around Tony Blair, George Bush or David Beckham were not suitable.

No comic songs - they wouldn't fit into the series brief.

No topical gags - it's a sketch comedy show, so everything needed to be presented as a self-contained idea.

There are quickie formats in the pilot, the American newsreader, the bored software support response and the bizarre train announcements. So you could submit short form sketches, quickies, but you needed to find a framing device.