Anita Turner is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

script editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wi ...

and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

. From 2008 to 2009, Turner was the

series producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon a ...

of the British television

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

''. She left the role after it was reported that her leadership on the soap had resulted in cast morale dropping, as well as being criticised for the controversial sacking of a child actor. Turner has since gone on to produce a series of the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

series ''

Rocket's Island ''Rocket's Island'' is a British television series, created by Nick Leather about a family taking care of foster children. It stars Jordan Benjamin, Samuel Bottomley, Jack Hartley, Tom Coliandris, Helen Daniels and Joe Gallucci. It was produced ...

'', as well as working as a script editor on various CBBC projects.

Career

Turner initially worked as a script editor for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

soap opera''Emmerdale'' and held that role for three years. She eventually replaced

Kathleen Beedles Kathleen Beedles is a British producer, who has worked on a total of over 2500 episodes of various British soap operas to date. She grew up in Rogart and now resides in London. British soaps From 1999 to 2001, Beedles worked as a story associa ...

as the series producer of ''Emmerdale'' in early 2008. She quickly "made her mark by axing characters and changing storylines", and later that year, it was reported by

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

that cast morale was down since Turner had become the series producer. She also received criticism for firing a child actor, Benjamin Shooter, who portrayed

Samson Dingle The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'' in 2006, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the soap's executive producer, Keith Richardson. Samson Dingle Samson D ...

, for crying on set. Shooter's mother felt that her son had been treated like a "prop" and criticised Turner for allowing her young child to be in "horrifying scenes" including armed robber

Sam Dingle Sam Dingle is a fictional character from the British television soap opera '' Emmerdale'', played by James Hooton. He made his first appearance in the episode broadcast on 14 February 1995. Storylines Sam arrives in Emmerdale village followi ...

(

James Hooton James Hooton (born 13 July 1973) is an English actor, best known for his role as Sam Dingle on the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', a role he has played since 1995. Early and personal life Hooton was born and raised in Carlton, Nottinghamshire, w ...

) turning himself in to the police. On 15 January 2009, it was announced that Turner would leave her role as series producer of the show. In 2015, she was a producer on the

series ''

'', as well as producing an episode of '' Jamie Johnson''. She also worked as a script editor on several CBBC series including ''

Stepping Up ''Stepping Up'' is a five-part drama shown on the CBBC Channel from 3 to 7 September 2012. It is a series of one-off dramas about children making the move from primary to secondary school. Music was composed and performed by Steve Wright, who also ...

'', ''

The Sparticle Mystery ''The Sparticle Mystery'' is a British science fiction television series written and created by Alison Hume Alison Hume is a British television writer, known for her work as creator and executive producer of the CBBC series ''The Sparticle ...

'' and ''

So Awkward ''So Awkward'' is a sitcom series on CBBC following the lives of a group of friends in secondary school. It stars Cleo Demetriou as Lily Hampton, Ameerah Falzon-Ojo and Emily Burnett (in series 6) as Jas (Jasmine) Salford, Sophia Dall'aglio as ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Anita Living people British television producers British women television producers Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)