But its fair to say that the strikes coincided with Kay having a serious moment.
The WGA are wonderful, but thats an American union, its not the whole world, he says.
Its the reason why he was happy to sit down with Deadline for this interview.
George KayITV
That and Kay has managed to surface for air after a manic period of writing.
I was doing those three series at the same time, he says.
Thats working full throttle for probably about two years, so Ive been grateful for a bit of calm.
Daniel Mays as Sydney Jackson inThe Long Shadow.ITV
Kay started out in documentaries as a development specialist.
In a nod to his unscripted days, Kay jokesCriminalis not dissimilar toTotal Wipeout, the anarchic physical gameshow.
The series was remade in Spain, France and Germany.
They happen in precincts audiences recognize.
There is a risk that we glamorize these people, Kay says when presented with the Dahmer contrast.
I was conscious of not wanting to glamorize Sutcliffe in any way…
I wouldnt want to make a serial killer my protagonist because I dont necessarily empathize or understand their thinking.
That shows the ambition in terms of the pacing and the size of it.
This is the long shadow of these crimes, Kay says.
It goes into the capillaries of society.
If it wasnt so glib, wed refer to it as a Yorkshire Ripple.
Its such a silly phrase, but thats exactly what it was.
It was part of the north of England and affected everyones lives.
He visited the community in Chapeltown, Leeds, on several occasions to interview people.
Kay remembers one interaction with Richard McCann, the son of victim Wilma McCann.
We said he was completely right, Kay says.
We needed to change that, react, learn, and grow in our creative process.
So, we changed it within a month of announcing.
If youre researching properly, youre learning.
Kay says there are dangers in factual dramas capturing events that have just happened.
He continues writing throughout the morning, leaving afternoons for read-throughs and meetings.
It is unlikely he will be involved, however, given he is under contract with Netflix.
After a frenetic spell of writing three projects, Kay is grateful for a quieter period of development work.
We all want to get started again on something else sooner or later, he says.
So yeah, Im itching to do the next thing.
His recent purple patch suggests that crime fans will be waiting and eagerly watching.
