After Dinner Speakers: Carla Lane, John Sessions, Judith Chalmers

Carla Lane is one of Britain's best-loved television women writers. She was born in Liverpool and grew up in a staunchly united family Spurred on by the thought of being able to have a dog, Carla married when she was in her teens. She had two sons, a nice husband, and she lived in a nice home in a nice road. But each night, while her family slept, she sat and wrote. Success broke in 1970 when her first scripts were accepted and The Liver Birds was born. Having 'done the marriage, done the children, done the cooking, done the fruitless journeys across miles of carpet with that bloody Hoover', Carla was determined to succeed as a writer. Spurting out ideas like a Roman candle, she went on to write many such successful series including Solo, Mistress, Bread, Screaming and Luv.