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John Roland Clifford Yorke (born 9 July 1962) is a British television producer and script editor, who was head of
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
Drama 2003-2005, controller of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
drama production 2006-2012 and MD of Company Pictures (2013-2015). Outside of television production, Yorke authored ''Into the Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them (2014)'', a best-selling screenwriting guide that proposes a five act structure to film and television narrative and draws from Yorke's research and experience.


Career


Background

Yorke attended Newcastle University. He joined the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 1986, working initially in radio as a studio manager and then as a producer on BBC Radio 5.


Early career - the 1990s and ''EastEnders''

In 1994, he moved to television, working as a script editor on '' EastEnders'' before becoming the storyline consultant on ''
Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
''. In 1999, after a brief period as producer on ''Sunburn'', he took on the executive producer role on ''EastEnders''. During his time there, he was given the task of introducing the soap's fourth weekly episode. He axed the majority of the Di Marco family, and helped introduce popular characters such as the
Slater family The Slater family is an American philanthropic, political, and manufacturing family from England, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut whose members include the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution," Samuel Slater, a prominent ...
. As what
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 '' Brook ...
described as "two of ''EastEnders'' most successful years", Yorke was responsible for big ratings winners such as "
Who Shot Phil? "Who Shot Phil?" was a storyline of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' which began on 1 March 2001 and climaxed on 5 April 2001. Background The storyline centred around one of ''EastEnders longest-running characters, Phil Mitchell (played by Ste ...
",
Ethel Skinner Ethel Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 ''EastEnders'' special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which ...
's death,
Jim Branning Jim Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by John Bardon, first appearing on 29 April 1996 and became a regular character in 1999. He remained in the series until 2011. Jim was temporarily written out ...
and
Dot Cotton Dorothy "Dot" Branning (also Cotton) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', played by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in fl ...
's marriage, abusive Trevor Morgan, and
Kat Slater Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the sec ...
's revelation to her daughter Zoe that she was her mother. Yorke was also responsible for
Kim Medcalf Kim Louise Medcalf (born 8 December 1973) is an English actress and singer. She is best known for taking over the role of Sam Mitchell in the long-running BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', between 2002 and 2005 and from 2022 onwards. Career '' ...
being cast in the role of Sam Mitchell in January 2002, after
Danniella Westbrook Danniella Westbrook (born 5 November 1973) is an English actress, best known for originally playing Sam Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' on and off from 1990 to 2000 and 2009 to 2016. Away from ''EastEnders'', she has presented va ...
's drug addiction left her unsuitable for the role.


The 2000s

In May 2002, he left the soap for a senior position under Mal Young in the BBC's in-house Drama Series team, but soon after he left to work for
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
as the Head of Drama in 2003. At Channel 4, he commissioned series such as '' Shameless'', ''
Sex Traffic ''Sex Traffic'' is a two-part British-Canadian television thriller, written by Abi Morgan and directed by David Yates, that first broadcast on Channel 4 on 14 October 2004. The series, produced by Veronica Castillo and Derek Wax, stars John S ...
'' and the critically acclaimed '' Omagh.'' In 2005, it was announced he would return to the BBC, taking over Mal Young's position, as Controller of BBC Drama Series, and, in addition, Co-Head of Independent Drama Commissioning (i.e. programmes made for the BBC by independent production companies, rather than in-house). One of the reasons he returned was to set around reversing the fortunes of ''EastEnders'', which had been receiving low ratings in comparison to the past. The results were mixed. As Controller of Continuing Drama Series, he has been ultimately responsible for overseeing some of the most popular programmes on British television, including ''EastEnders'', ''Casualty'', '' Holby City'' and '' Doctors.'' In 2005, Yorke founded the BBC Writers Academy, a year-long training scheme for aspiring television writers. In 2009, he was made controller of the newly formed BBC Drama Production – a merger of Continuing Series and Series and Serials. While at the BBC, Yorke has been Commissioning Editor/Executive Producer for ''
Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...
'', ''
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
'', ''
Bodies Bodies may refer to: * The plural of body * ''Bodies'' (2004 TV series), BBC television programme * Bodies (upcoming TV series), an upcoming British crime thriller limited series * "Bodies" (''Law & Order''), 2003 episode of ''Law & Order'' * ...
'', ''
The Street The Street may refer to: Geographical *Wall Street in New York City's Financial District * The Street, Lawshall, Suffolk, England * The Street (Heath Charnock), a building and bridleway in Rivington, Lancashire, England Film and television * ''The ...
'', ''A Class Apart'', '' Waterloo Road'' and ''
HolbyBlue ''HolbyBlue'' (also known as ''Holby Blue'') was a British police procedural drama series. The show revolves around the daily lives of a number of police officers working at Holby South police station. The cast for series one included Jimmy Ak ...
'', as well as looking after various series of '' Spooks'', '' Hustle'' and ''
New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the ...
''.


The 2010s

In 2010, Yorke's job title was changed to that of Controller Continuing Drama Production Studios. He was the executive producer of the Internet spin-off '' EastEnders: E20'' and BBC daytime drama, '' Land Girls''. In March 2012, Yorke became acting editor of radio soap ''
The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural sett ...
'' while Vanessa Whitburn took long service leave. He left the BBC again later in 2012. In 2013, he was an executive producer of ''
Truckers A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...
'' and '' Skins'', and the following year, '' The Missing''. He was a regular writer on '' Red Rock'', writing six episodes between 2015 and 2016. He also wrote two episodes of ''
Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'' between
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
and
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
.


Return to ''EastEnders''

In June 2017, it was announced that ''EastEnders'' executive producer Sean O'Connor had stepped down and would be temporarily replaced by Yorke as executive consultant. Yorke announced that he would be staying with the show for a year, longer than his original three months he was contracted to. Under Yorke ''EastEnders'' won its first BAFTA for Continuing Drama in three years – and the last one to date.


TV shows commissioned by Yorke


''Waterloo Road''

Waterloo Road was commissioned by Yorke on his arrival at the BBC from Channel 4. Briefed to find a new returning pre-watershed drama, Yorke approached
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 ...
– makers of Bad Girls and Footballers Wives who had never before had a show on the BBC. During conversations Yorke hit on the idea of a School Precinct and Anne McManus and
Maureen Chadwick Maureen Chadwick is a British screenwriter, dramatist and television producer responsible, alone and with her writing partner Ann McManus, for a number of popular award-winning and sometimes controversial British television series including '' Ba ...
quickly wrote a pilot episode. Waterloo Road was launched to huge commercial – if not critical success.  After the first series Yorke asked Anne Mensah – then assistant commissioning editor – if she would take over, and under Mensah the show moved to BBC Scotland. The show aired from 2006-2015. In September 2021, it was announced that Waterloo Road was to be revived after six years.


Father Brown

The initial idea for
Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intui ...
, a series based on the books by GK Chesterton, came from Yorke after he heard a Radio 4 programme on Chesterton’s creation the previous evening. Liam Keelan, then controller of BBC Daytime, commissioned the first season and Yorke asked two of his former BBC Writers Academy students to create the show – Rachel Flowerday and Tahsin Guner. It aired in January 2013 on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
and Yorke stayed as Executive Producer for the show for two seasons. With a ninth series in production for 2022, it’s the second longest-running daytime drama series broadcast on BBC Television.


Life on Mars

When Yorke became head of
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
Drama one of the first shows he wanted develop was
Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...
, but according to show writer Ashley Pharoah, broadcasters had been ‘very anxious about it as a concept’. Although Yorke redeveloped the original script over 18 months so it became less violent and with a greater emphasis on ‘story of the week’, it was ultimately turned down by director of programmes Kevin Lygo. Yorke eventually left Channel 4 to become controller of BBC Drama Production where the show was green lit by
Julie Gardner Julie Ann Gardner (born 4 June 1969) is a Welsh television producer. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer on the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off shows ''Torchwood'' and ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. ...
, BBC Wales Head of Drama. Yorke acted as joint commissioning editor for the show’s entire run (2006 – 2007).


The Street

Yorke worked with Brookside writer
Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...
on the idea that became
The Street The Street may refer to: Geographical *Wall Street in New York City's Financial District * The Street, Lawshall, Suffolk, England * The Street (Heath Charnock), a building and bridleway in Rivington, Lancashire, England Film and television * ''The ...
. While rejected by Channel 4, Yorke was able to take the project with him when he returned to the BBC.


References


External links


EastEnders: Faith, Morality and Hope in the Community, Speech by John Yorke
*
''Into The Woods'' Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yorke, John 1962 births Living people Alumni of Newcastle University British television producers British instructional writers English television producers Screenwriting instructors Soap opera producers Writers of books about writing fiction