The second one, the one on nuclear power, took a lot longer because when it comes to docudrama you want to stick to the facts, and it takes a lot of drafts to get rid of the facts. Facts don't make drama. Just the bare bones as to what the issue is and put the books aside. I think writers for film can really over-research. Film is not about teaching.
Television is about teaching.
Film has to entertain. So if you're stuck with the facts, you can't entertain. There weren't an awful lot of us. There were about a dozen writers. We weren't on salary, but we worked all the time-John Hunter, Michael Mercer, Barry Pearson, it was a small, closed club.