Central Junior Television Workshop

British training organisation

The Television Workshop, formerly known as the Central Junior Television Workshop, is a British organisation that offers training for young people in performance skills for television, film, radio and theatre. Open to anybody between the ages of 7 and 21, the selection process takes place via an audition which is held each spring.

## History

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The Central Junior Television Workshop was originally set up by Central Independent Television in 1983 to act as a casting pool for young talent in their broadcasting region in the English Midlands.[1] The Workshop has two branches, the original one based in Nottingham and another based in Birmingham, which opened a year later in 1984.

The Workshop has been known as several different names, including the Central Junior TV Workshop, Carlton Junior TV Workshop, ITV Junior TV Workshop and most recently simply the Television Workshop.

## Birmingham Workshop

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In late 2008, the Birmingham workshop, run by director Colin Edwards and his assistant Ross Berkeley Simpson, lost funding from ITV due to the recession and so the Birmingham branch went 'dark'. At the same time Edwards retired.

In 2009, Simpson started a new, separate group called First Act Workshops to ensure that the work continued in Birmingham. Colin Edwards helped on a consultant level. First Act Workshops trains young actors in weekly sessions from Moseley Dance Centre.

The Nottingham branch of the Central Television Workshop still continues under the name the Television Workshop, under the helm of Alison Rashley.

## Notable people

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### Nottingham

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* Jessie Mae Alonzo[2]
* Finn Atkins[3]
* Rosie Bentham
* Tom Blyth[4]
* Harriet Cains[5]
* Chanel Cresswell[6]
* Joe Dempsie[7]
* Perry Fitzpatrick[7]
* Harry Gilby[7]
* Rebecca Grant[7]
* Louis Greatorex[8]
* Florence Hunt[9]
* Oliver Huntingdon
* Toby Kebbell[5]
* Erin Kellyman[10]
* Oscar Kennedy[11]
* Aisling Loftus[12]
* Vicky McClure[6]
* Ewan Mitchell[13]
* Anjli Mohindra[14]
* Samantha Morton[6]
* Safia Oakley-Green[15]
* Jack O'Connell[6]
* Kia Pegg
* Bella Ramsey[6]
* Mica Ricketts[16]
* Lauren Socha[6]
* Eliot Otis Brown Walters[17]
* Molly Windsor[18]

### Birmingham

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* Bethany Antonia[19]
* Donnaleigh Bailey[20]
* Alison Hammond[21]
* Felicity Jones[6]
* Helen Monks[22]
* Lorna Want[23]

### Unspecified

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* Eve Austin[24]
* Arian Nik[25]

## Awards

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* The Royal Television Society Midlands Award (1988)
* The British Film Institute Children's Award (1995)
* The Children's BAFTA in recognition of its outstanding development of young talent for film and television (2006)

## References

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1. ^ Bhagat, Adrian; "Adrian Bhagat put some questions to Ian Smith" LeftLion.co.uk (retrieved: 13 August 2009)
2. ^ Wilson, Jared (16 March 2020). "Theatre Review: Emilia". Left Lion. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
3. ^ "From Cannes to Walford for Clifton's Finn" Archived 2009-07-07 at the Wayback Machine ThisIsNottingham.co.uk, 4 February 2009 (Retrieved: 21 July 2009)
4. ^ "Nottingham-Born Actor Tom Blyth on His Journey from the TV Workshop to HBO's The Gilded Age". Left Lion. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
5. ^ a b Fox, Zachary (3 April 2013). "Interview: Harriet Cains". LeftLion. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
6. ^ a b c d e f g "Our success". The Television Workshop. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
7. ^ a b c d White, George (9 September 2023). "40 Stars of Television Workshop To Celebrate Its 40th Birthday". Left Lion. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
8. ^ Harkin, Phoebe (22 July 2014). "Nottingham's Television Workshop presents "life-changing" play at Nottingham Contemporary". Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
9. ^ "Who's Burning Up Lady Whistledown's Papers? Meet the 'Bridgerton' Season 1 Cast". Netflix. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
10. ^ "Stars of Tomorrow 2018: Erin Kellyman (actor)". Screen. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
11. ^ "Oscar Kennedy". tresamagazine.com. October 25, 2021.
12. ^ "Far Away up close". The Irish World. 6 February 2020. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020.
13. ^ "Cast". 31 May 2015.
14. ^ "James Pulford went to see the Central Drama Workshop perform Scary Play by Judith Johnson". Retrieved 11 December 2009.
15. ^ "The Derbs: Television Workshop Launch Their First Online Play". Leftlion.co.uk.
16. ^ Barber, Nicholas (26 June 2024). "Stars of Tomorrow 2024: Mica Ricketts (actor)". Screen Daily. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
17. ^ Carter, Claire (2008-12-10). "Youngsters dedicates Bafta to family and acting workshop". Nottingham Evening Post. Archived from the original on 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
18. ^ "Talent 1st". Retrieved 17 May 2018.
19. ^ Young, Graham (24 April 2018). "A star is born - girl's brilliant way of landing film role". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
20. ^ Laws, Roz (22 July 2011). "Doctors star Donnaleigh Bailey sets up drama workshops for kids". Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
21. ^ "Big time after Big Brother". BBC Birmingham. November 2004. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
22. ^ Laws, Roz (15 March 2015). "Channel 4's Raised By Wolves: Meet the Birmingham actress playing Caitlin Moran". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
23. ^ "Lorna Want 'Stage and Screen'". Pizza Express Live. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
24. ^ "Eve Austin". British Independent Film Awards. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
25. ^ "October Spotlight -Arian Nik". Karolina Heller. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2022.

## External links

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* The Television Workshop
* First Act Workshop (Birmingham Workshop)