Brian Park is a Scottish television producer and executive. He was born in Fife but lived in Aberdeen’s Bucksburn between the ages of nine and 17. He acted when he was a child and joined the Aberdeen Children’s Theatre at the age of 13, appearing in an episode of ''Dr Finlay’s Casebook''. Park joined

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

after graduating from

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

. He rose through the television ranks and, after leaving for a two-year spell with

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stud ...

, he returned to Granada in 1992 as head of entertainment where he produced the award-winning ''

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...

'', ''September Song'' and the pilot for ''My Wonderful Life''. In 1997, Park was appointed executive producer of the long-running soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' following a decline in its ratings. Park became known as the "axeman" in the popular press after he sanctioned the removal of several long-running characters from ''Coronation Street'', including Andy McDonald (

Nicholas Cochrane Nicholas Marc Cochrane is an English actor, known for his role as Andy McDonald in the ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street''. Career Cochrane had appeared as an extra on TV for ''Coronation Streets production company, Granada TV, prior to hi ...

Bill Webster Bill Webster is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, '' Coronation Street'', played by Peter Armitage. The character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 6 February 1984 and remained in the show until 1985 when ...

(

Peter Armitage Peter Armitage may refer to: * Peter Armitage (statistician) (born 1924), British statistician * Peter Armitage (actor) Peter James Armitage (23 October 1939 – 30 November 2018) was an English television and stage actor best known for his r ...

) and

Maureen Holdsworth The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'' in 1993, by order of first appearance. Maureen Holdsworth Maureen Webster (also Grimes, Naylor, Holdsworth and Elliott) was played by S ...

(

Sherrie Hewson Sherrie Lynn Hutchinson (born 17 September 1950) is an English actress, television personality and novelist. She is known for her roles as Maureen Holdsworth in ''Coronation Street'' (1993–1997, 2006), Virginia Raven in ''Crossroads'' (2001– ...

). During Park's reign, three characters

Derek Wilton Derek Bernard Wilton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', portrayed by Peter Baldwin. He appeared in the show intermittently between 1976 and 1987, before becoming a regular from 1988 until the charac ...

( Peter Baldwin), Don Brennan (

Geoffrey Hinsliff Geoffrey Hinsliff (born 1937 in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor best known for his portrayal of Don Brennan in '' Coronation Street'' from 1987 to 1997. He had previously played other characters in the same programme, in 1 ...

) and

Des Barnes Des Barnes is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Philip Middlemiss. Storylines Des was deeply in love with Steph (Amelia Bullmore), but she did not seem to care as deeply for him, and eventual ...

(

Philip Middlemiss Philip Middlemiss (born Philip Sean Lloyd; 19 June 1963) is an English television, radio actor and businessman, best known for playing bookmaker Des Barnes in ITV's '' Coronation Street'' between 1990 and 1998. The character was killed off, or ...

) were killed off.

Mavis Wilton Mavis Wilton (also Riley) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Thelma Barlow. A long-running series regular, Mavis appeared in the show for 26 years from 1971 to 1997. Introduced for a ...

(

Thelma Barlow Thelma Barlow (''née'' Pigott; born 19 June 1929) is an English television actress and writer, known for her roles as Mavis Wilton in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and as Dolly Bellfield in the BBC One sitcom ''dinnerla ...

) left the programme in 1997, although this was due to Barlow's intention to leave. During 1997 and 1998, he introduced more sensational storylines such as

Deirdre Rachid Deirdre Anne Barlow (also Hunt, Langton and Rachid) is a Character (arts), fictional character from the Television in the United Kingdom, British ITV (TV network), ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Anne Kirkbride. She made her firs ...

(

Anne Kirkbride Anne Kirkbride (21 June 1954 – 19 January 2015) was an English actress, best known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in the ITV (TV network), ITV soap ''Coronation Street'', which she played for 42 years from 1972 to 2014. For this ...

)'s wrongful imprisonment. A range of new characters were introduced such as soap’s first

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

woman,

Hayley Cropper Hayley Cropper (also Hayley Patterson) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'', played by Julie Hesmondhalgh. The character first appeared in the episode first broadcast on 26 January 1998. Hayley was the ...

(

Julie Hesmondhalgh Julie Claire Hesmondhalgh (born 25 February 1970) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her role as Hayley Cropper in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' between 1998 and 2014. For this role, she won Best Serial Drama Perfor ...

) and the

Battersby Battersby is a village in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the edge of the North York Moors National Park and within the historic boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, south east of Middlesbrough. See also *Battersby railway statio ...

family, in a bid to capture a younger audience and reinvent the show. Some of his storylines were ratings successes while others were criticised for being unrealistic and sensationalist. He left the role after one year. Park left ''Coronation Street'' in 1998 to start

Shed Productions Shed Productions, part of Warner Bros. Television Productions UK, was an independent UK television production company, specialising in contemporary, original drama programming and content. It was established in 1998 by Eileen Gallagher, Brian P ...

with ''Coronation Street'' script executive Ann McManus, which produced TV shows such as '' Bad Girls'', '' Waterloo Road'' and ''

Footballers Wives ''Footballers' Wives'' is a British television drama about fictional Premier League Association football, football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 2002 to 2006. The show initially focus ...

''. Park was also producer on the Channel 5 soap ''

Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...

'', overseeing a revamp of the show that included killing off the entire Hart family in a canal boat explosion. In 2009, Park had a brain aneurysm while holidaying in Italy and underwent brain surgery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Brian Living people British television producers Soap opera producers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Year of birth missing (living people)