Daran Little (born 11 May 1966) is a BAFTA-winning and Emmy Award-nominated British television writer. He is the only writer to pen more than 100 episodes of both ''

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 ...

'' (from 2000 until 2010) and ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' (from 2010 onwards).

Career

Early career

While at

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

, he wrote his dissertation about Coronation Street and

Tony Warren Anthony McVay Simpson (8 July 1936 – 1 March 2016) publishing under pen name Tony Warren, was an English television screenwriter and actor, best known for creating the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. He created other television dramas a ...

who became his mentor and insisted the Producers gave him a job. After graduating, he was taken on by

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 ...

as an archivist. He has written eleven books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the show and its characters and co-wrote

Betty Driver Elizabeth Mary Driver, (20 May 1920 – 15 October 2011) was a British actress and singer, best known for her role as Betty Williams in the long-running ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'', a role she played for 42 years from 1969 to 2011, ap ...

's autobiography. Little left Granada in 2006 after writing 95 episodes of the ''Street'' and introducing the first gay character,

Todd Grimshaw Todd Grimshaw is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Coronation Street'', formerly played by Bruno Langley from 2001 to 2017, and now played by Gareth Pierce. The character's debut was broadcast on 14 January 2001. He was introd ...

. He created the characters

Sean Tully Sean Tully is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Antony Cotton. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 13 July 2003. Following that appearance, the character returned full-ti ...

Archie Shuttleworth The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in 2002, by order of first appearance. Hazel Wilding Hazel Wilding first appears on 23 January 2002 when cab driver Vikram Desai (Chris ...

Bev Unwin The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in 2003, by order of first appearance. Tony Stewart Tony Stewart made his first screen appearance on 2 March 2003. The character was origin ...

and Eric Gartside who was played by

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

. He created, wrote and produced a 20-part series called '' Hollyoaks: In the City'' for

Mersey Television Lime Pictures, formerly known as Mersey Television, is a British television production company, founded by producer and writer Phil Redmond in the early 1980s. They produce award winning drama, and entertainment shows, for the international mar ...

. The series was not recommissioned for a second series. He joined the

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

writing team, writing 12 episodes before moving to New York to work on "

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

American ventures

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime programming block on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game ...

hired him to be a creative consultant on ''

''. He worked closely with

Brian Frons Brian Scott Frons (born June 15, 1956) is an American television executive and the former president of ABC Daytime. Education Frons earned a master’s degree from Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1978. C ...

Barbara Esensten James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten are American television writers, primarily working on soap operas. The duo worked together for over 20 years, starting on the prime-time serial ''Dynasty''. Together, they created the soap opera '' The City'' ...

James Harmon Brown James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten are American television writers, primarily working on soap operas. The duo worked together for over 20 years, starting on the prime-time serial ''Dynasty''. Together, they created the soap opera '' The City'' ...

, Charles Pratt, Jr. and

Julie Hanan Carruthers Julie Hanan Carruthers (born January 30, 1960 in Sarasota, Florida. ) is an American soap opera producer and writer. Positions held '' All My Children'' * Executive Producer (October 27, 2003 - September 23, 2011) '' General Hospital'' *Senior Su ...

. He was an Associate Head Writer from 14 July 2008 to 2 November 2009. In 2018, Little was hired as story consultant on the

CBS Daytime CBS Daytime is a division within CBS that is responsible for the daytime television block programming on the CBS' late morning and early afternoon schedule. The block has historically encompassed soap operas and game shows. Schedule NOTE: All tim ...

soap opera ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

'', reuniting with

Mal Young Mal Young (born 26 January 1957) is a British television producer, screenwriter and executive producer. Career Mersey TV Young began his career in graphic design. At age 27 he began working in television, on the Channel 4 soap opera ''Brooks ...

. Little's first episode aired on 3 December 2018.

Back in Britain

In 2009 he returned to ''Coronation Street'', writing a further 9 episodes. On 2 March 2010 it was confirmed that Little had left ''Coronation Street'' and joined its rival ''

''. In September 2010 his drama ''

The Road to Coronation Street ''The Road to Coronation Street'' is a 2010 British drama first broadcast on BBC Four. It is a dramatisation of the creation of '' Coronation Street'', the UK's longest-running television soap opera, from conception to its first transmission in ...

'' was broadcast on BBC4, telling the story of ''Coronation Streets conception 50 years earlier, centering on

. The drama won Best Single Drama in the 2011 BAFTAs and Royal Television Society and Little won the Best Scriptwriter at the RTS North West awards. In 2013 Little wrote a comedy pilot "Kitten Chic" about a psychotic fag hag that aired on Sky Living and rejoined the writing team of "

". He rejoined ''EastEnders'' in 2013 as part of

Dominic Treadwell-Collins Dominic Treadwell-Collins (born 26 August 1977) is a British television producer, known for his work on the soap operas ''Family Affairs'' and ''EastEnders'', creating the ''EastEnders'' spin-off series ''Kat & Alfie: Redwater'' and Executive Pr ...

' team, receiving acclaim for an episode where Johnny Carter came out to his father Mick, played by

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'', with other notable roles as Mick Carter in EastEnders, Billy the Limpet in '' Mean Machine'' and as Tommy Johns ...

Reality

Little worked as story producer on the first series of ITV2 structured reality show ''

The Only Way Is Essex ''The Only Way Is Essex'' (often abbreviated as ''TOWIE'' ) is a British reality television series based in Brentwood, Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." Originally b ...

'' before helping to cast, set up and story produce all series of E4's BAFTA winning show "

Made in Chelsea ''Made in Chelsea'' (abbreviated ''MIC'') is a British structured-reality television series broadcast by E4. ''Made in Chelsea'' chronicles the lives of affluent young people in the West London and South West areas of Belgravia, King's Road, C ...

". To date he has worked as Story Executive on all 19 series and Summer specials. He is also an Executive Producer on ITV2's "

The Real Housewives of Cheshire ''The Real Housewives of Cheshire'' (abbreviated ''RHOCheshire'') is a British reality television series that premiered on ITVBe on 12 January 2015. Developed as the first British installment in ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired ...

Personal life

Little is a direct descendant of

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

and

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

, as well as famed Australian bush wrangler Daniel Priest. Little is gay but married a woman when he was younger, saying "I'm gay and I got married in a church... to a woman... because I feared being gay in a world that didn't accept me. That was 25 years ago." He currently lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with his husband.

Awards and nominations

*2006 - BAFTA nomination - ''

'' *2009 - EMMY nomination - ''

'' *2010 - EMMY nomination - ''

'' *2011 - RTS winner Best Single Drama - ''

'' *2011 - New York Film & TV Festival winner - Best International Programme - ''

'' *2011 - BAFTA winner: Best Single Drama - ''

'' *2011 - Broadcast Digital Awards: Best Scripted Program winner - ''

'' *2011 - RTS North West winner: Best Scriptwriter - "

" *2020 - EMMY nomination - ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Daran 1966 births Living people Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Writers from Manchester British soap opera writers LGBT writers from England 21st-century LGBT people