Long read: Abi Morgan UNCUT

"When Jake woke up, I was like 'great, he's back' and actually the shock of seeing somebody look at you and not know you, it's like a really bad drama exercise that you go ok, it’s funny, now stop, stop... then I realised he couldn't stop."

Abi, photographed this year by Ruth Crafer

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Hello and welcome to the very first of a new thing I’m trying exclusively for members of The Shift – Read The Podcast! Yes, I know, totally counter-intuitive. But quite a few people have told me that while they love a podcast in the car or on a run, they’d also love to be able to lie in the bath and read the interviews too occasionally. So! We’re giving it a go. Starting with one of the most popular recent episodes of the podcast, the screenwriting legend that is Abi Morgan.

Just a reminder: This is a transcript of a 40-minute podcast, not a Q&A written for print publication (you know how that goes, the editor has already decided on the headline and the whole interview is about getting that headline. You talk for an hour and only use four quotes... Everyone ends up pissed off!). I want it to be as true as possible to the conversation Abi and I had, so it hasn’t been cut other than for repetition and to remove fillers, like, you know... (I have to say, transcribing this and seeing this written down has been a fascinating exercise for me. So that’s something!)