Towards the latter end of 2007, you may remember me posting that I’d entered the Red Planet competition, a screenwriting competition that was pretty alluring on account of its broad brief (10 pages of a screenplay, any theme or genre) and its appealing prize (£5000 cash, representation and a commission – basically, everything a growing screenwriter needs).

As a shameless self-publicist egomaniac, you can be sure I would have said if I’d won, and as I haven’t (said I’ve won, that is), you can cheerfully surmise that I didn’t (win, that is). But last Friday the winner was announced, so it’s a definite shout of ‘Oh, Well Done!’ and raise of the glass (or, in my case, mug of tea) to Joanna Leigh, whose screenplay about Samuel Johnson sounds pretty darned interesting. Bravo, Joanna!

Tony Jordan and his colleagues at Red Planet have promised another competition for 2008, so it might be wisest to dust off the screenwriting-thinking-cap sooner rather than later…