Coutts Woman

Made for TV – SHED productions

When viewing figures for the third episode of prison drama Bad Girls slumped, the ‘room just swam’ for Eileen Gallagher, chief executive of Shed Productions, so she did the only sensible thing – she went to the pub and made it swim a bit more.

But, while her hangover may have lingered, Bad Girls’ setback was merely temporary. The viewing figures began to rise steadily, and the first series, back in 1999, won the coveted Most Popular Drama category at the National Television Awards.

‘It was a fantastic high,’ explains Gallagher, who resigned as managing director of LWT to found Shed. ‘I was bored with corporate life,’ she explains. ‘My motivation was ‘could I make it on my own? Could I create something of value?’.’

She persuaded three associates – the head of entertainment at Granada and two successful scriptwriters – to found an independent production company. ‘I had an idea for a female prison drama. Prisoner Cell Block H might have had dodgy sets, but there were some good story lines and it had a following,’ explains Gallagher.

The team understood both what audiences wanted, and what broadcasters needed. Gallagher presented their idea to ITV; it commissioned ten episodes, promising to pay £5m on delivery.

"It was the biggest amount the bank manager had ever made to a small company. He went white"

Shed borrowed start up funds. ‘It was the biggest amount the bank manager had ever made to a small company. He went white,’ she recalls. The expertise within Shed meant the team did not require much outside help, which kept costs down and protected their 10 per cent profit margin.

When the first episode of Bad Girls aired it was ‘so exciting, terrifying, an utter rollercoaster’, says Gallagher. ‘It was our idea being judged by a million people. I kept thinking ‘why did we do this to ourselves?’.’ Almost eight million people tuned in, and the reviews were positive.

‘The best thing I have ever done was to form the company,’ says Gallagher. ‘But I wouldn’t advise anybody to make such a move blindly. We were risking our reputations. You need to plan well ahead, see the opportunity and then make a move. And you need to be sure that your lifestyle can support it initially.’

Shed recently announced the demise of Footballers’ Wives, which it launched in 2002. It had been a phenomenal success, but Gallagher believes its time had passed. Ironically, the WAGS escapades are now becoming more exciting than those of the fictional wives.

The BBC has just commissioned a second series of Waterloo Road, Shed’s drama about an inner city comprehensive school. ‘You need a good idea, but success in this business is really down to execution and delivery,’ explains Gallagher. ‘You have to walk through the broadcaster’s door and solve their problem.

‘The BBC had a specific problem with Thursday night schedules. It needed a series but it couldn’t be about a hospital, because of Casualty and Holby City, or police, because of The Bill. We thought about combining a kids’ education drama and a relationship drama, and setting the whole thing in a comprehensive.’

Shed produced the treatment in three weeks, and a script three weeks later. It was commissioned last summer to produce eight hours of Waterloo Road to air last January.

‘Some themes are difficult to make work, and we only produce dramas that we would like to watch ourselves,’ says Gallagher. She dislikes shows about autopsies or forensics, and is not interested in producing a costume drama. So what is her favourite TV programme? ‘I tend to watch lots of stuff,’ she says diplomatically. ‘The Apprentice was good.’ But what about drama? ‘No,’ she hesitates, ‘I’m really struggling with an answer.’