Work
Linda Bassett and Andrew Simpson in Nick Nickleby, BBC1.
Hattie Morahan in The Life and Loves of a She Devil, BBC Radio 4.
Britain’s Best Recruiting Sergeant, Unicorn Theatre.
Teatro Elfo Puccini’s revival of Afghanistan: The Great Game.
Film
One of Den of Geek’s ’50 Brilliant Screenwriters to Watch Out For’.
Selected as a Screen International Star of Tomorrow.
Selected for the iFeatures development slate with sci-fi comedy project BLOW UP DOLLS.
Currently developing several feature projects with independent film producers, including the comedy ENTER THE DRAGONS, which was selected for the Brit List and awarded development funding by Creative England/BFI, an adaptation of THE DARK INSIDE by Rupert Wallis (backed by Ingenious Media), and thriller KILLER RÉSUMÉ (Jeva Films, selected for the Brit List).
Selected for the prestigious Guiding Lights scheme and paired with mentor Sir Kenneth Branagh. Also selected for the Birds Eye View Filmonomics programme and the Vipers Nest group for first-time feature film-makers. Recently featured in this piece on the BFI NET.WORK.
Shortlisted for BAFTA Breakthrough Brits, Trigger St/Jameson First Shot, and C4’s Coming Up.
TV
Nick Nickleby (BBC1/Kindle Entertainment) five-part modernisation of the Dickens classic, starring Adrian Dunbar, Linda Bassett and Andrew Simpson. More details and clips available here.
Press for Nick Nickleby:
“Dickens done right… It is not the obvious place to look for innovation or fresh thinking, but BBC daytime has served up an autumn surprise with Nick Nickleby.” The Guardian
“a brisk, bold treatment that deserves an audience.” The Independent
“the story flows effortlessly. A hidden gem” TV Times
“ambition and imagination… an exhilarating, enjoyable ride” The Stage
Critic’s Choice, Independent, Scotsman
Pick of the Week, Radio Times, TV Choice
Pick of the Day, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Daily Telegraph, TV Times
Graduate of the BBC Writers Academy. Other credits include Land Girls, Casualty, Holby City and Doctors. Full details here.
Currently developing original TV dramas with various independent production companies.
Theatre
In 2017, Now is the Time, Joy’s play from the Tricycle’s Afghanistan: The Great Game season, has been revived by Teatro Elfo Puccini in Milan and will be touring, alongside plays by Lee Blessing, David Greig, Ron Hutchinson and Stephen Jeffreys. More details on the production here.
Britain’s Best Recruiting Sergeant, a play with music about the life of male impersonator Vesta Tilley, was produced at the Unicorn Theatre in 2015. More details here.
Press for Britain’s Best Recruiting Sergeant:
“This rousing music hall-style kids’ play about a First World War entertainer raises some important questions… quietly excoriating and ethically-charged” ★★★★ Time Out
“It’s an adults’ story, told for children: a refreshing reversal worthy of the ‘dark fairytales’ which sell children’s stories to adults.” ★★★★ Exeunt Magazine
“Excitement and exhilaration from start to finish” ★★★★ Everything Theatre
“Ingenious and stylish… written with flair” Observer
“A serious play… embedded in rich entertainment that is great fun” British Theatre Guide
Joy is a winner of Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award, the International Student Playscript Competition and has been shortlisted for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and Theatre Centre’s Brian Way Award.
Plays include: Now is the Time, part of the Olivier Award-nominated ‘Afghanistan’ season (Tricycle Theatre, US Tour), Acting Leader (‘Women, Power and Politics’ season, Tricycle), Fair (Finborough Theatre, West End, UK tour), Felt Effects (Theatre 503), Compression (Brockley Jack), and The Sweet Science of Bruising (National Theatre Studio).
Her work has also been performed at Soho Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre, Arcola Theatre, Birmingham Rep, Manchester Royal Exchange, Liverpool Everyman, the Pleasance Courtyard at Edinburgh Festival, New York’s Jewel Box Theater, and as part of Old Vic New Voices.
Joy has been on attachment at the National Theatre Studio, created and toured new work with Islington Community Theatre, and developed plays through workshops with groups and in collaboration with multi-disciplinary artists.
The Tricycle plays are published by Oberon. Fair & Felt Effects are published by Nick Hern.
Radio
Recent productions for BBC Radio Drama include adaptations of Don’t Cry, Tai Lake, Red Mandarin Dress, The Mao Case and Death of a Red Heroine by Qui Xiaolong, Miss Marple’s Final Cases by Agatha Christie and Havana Gold and Havana Black by Leonardo Padura.
Original commissions include No Two Days, part of a week-long cycle of afternoon plays about the global oil industry, and an on-air pilot for an original drama series called Urban Myth.
The Life and Loves of a She Devil – 2×60″ adaptation of Fay Weldon’s feminist classic, for Radio 4’s Riot Girls season, starring Hattie Morahan. “A joy to the ears” Radio Times. Joy’s article on subversive heroines in film and literature in the Telegraph here.
Borgen: Outside the Castle – adapted this 5×45″ conspiracy thriller, a companion to the hit Danish TV drama, into an English version for Radio 4. “Any fan of the show should welcome this adaptation, translated by Joy Wilkinson” Telegraph (‘Pick of the Week’) review.
And Then There Were None and other feature-length/multi-part Agatha Christie adaptations for BBC Radio 4, starring Hugh Bonneville, Anna Maxwell-Martin, Rory Kinnear, Patrick Baladi, Anna Chancellor, Judy Parfitt, Marcia Warren and many others. Recordings available here.
The Aquatic Ape, original afternoon play for R4, starring Matthew Kelly and Carolyn Pickles.
Joy originally trained and worked as a journalist, and sometimes uses those research skills to inform her work. She also has a Masters degree in Prose Fiction.
Joy has spoken on panels at industry events and appeared on Radio 4’s Start the Week with Andrew Marr. Occasionally, she posts on the BBC Writersroom Blog, and elsewhere – most recently here.