Hot Shots 2022: Jamie Davis

Jamie Davis’s first original TV script landed in Russell T Davies’s inbox out of the blue in 2019. It was “a thunderbolt”, says the celebrated It’s A Sin writer. Coming to ITVX next year, Happy Prince’s You & Me is a contemporary and uncompromising love story and Davies says he has been amazed by Davis’s “dedication and survival instinct”.

He adds: “Jamie is smart, funny and wise, with a keen eye for production. Production can be tough, and he took blows, but he stayed smart and adaptable.”

Davis started out as an actor, appearing on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company and on screen in shows such as ITV’s Footballers’ Wives and C4’s Shameless.

He joined the BBC Studios Writers Academy last year and has since written for EastEnders and Casualty – having previously appeared regularly as an actor in the latter for more than five years.

Happy Prince execs Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alexander Lamb say they have been impressed by how Davis has handled the steep learning curve of TV writing with “humility, heart and great jokes”.

Collaborative and eager to learn, Davis’s acting background was an asset in pitching and developing You & Me, and in gifting its cast with dialogue and scenes to sink their teeth into.

Treadwell-Collins and Lamb also point to Davis’s working-class background and his desire to represent and champion people from more deprived areas in a positive and life-affirming way in the projects he has in development with Happy Prince, BBC Studios and beyond.

But let’s leave the last word to Russell T Davies: “It’s an honour to be there at the start of a career that, I’m certain, will blaze.”