'EastEnders' executive producer Lorraine Newman leaving soap

[Perdita]

EastEnders' executive producer Lorraine Newman has announced that she is leaving the soap after 16 months in charge.

Newman has been part of the BBC show since joining as a script secretary 23 years ago, rising through the ranks to take on the top job in 2012.


Lorraine Newman


EastEnders' former series story producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins will be taking over as executive producer.

Revealing her decision, Newman said today (July 29): "I have loved every moment of my time at EastEnders, but it is finally time to leave Walford.

"Over the past 23 years, I have been involved in some of the best moments on British television, from 'Who Shot Phil?', to 'You Ain't My Mother!', to the 25th live anniversary episode and in the past year, the Olympic Torch episode has also been a proud highlight.

"Over the past year, I have also had the pleasure of planning and implementing the revival of many of the EastEnders clans who should always be at the heart of the show. I am confident that I am leaving the show in a stronger place and am sure that Dominic will continue to build upon this, taking the show to a new level.

"I am delighted to be joining BBC Drama Production as an executive producer and look forward to the new opportunities and projects this will bring."

More to follow.

[lizann]

i would be up for the job

[thestud2k7]

i would be too

[alan45]

No doubt whoever they get to replace her will be the greatest Executive Producer ever.They will bring in explosive new storylines set to rock the square.. They certainly need to do something as the viewing figures are appalling. Bringing back the Poison Dwarf will hardly help matters.

[tammyy2j]

I wonder which characters are up for the chop first?

*Coughs* Kirsty, Alice, Carl and Whitney please

[tammyy2j]

.

[flappinfanny]

i bet there are a lot of (and i use this word lightly) fans who are putting up the bunting and baking their cup cakes for the street party.

it will be like the jubilee again.

[flappinfanny]

slightly off topic, i know eastenders is doing rather badly( for their standards in the ratings and audience share,) and the drop is larger than the other soaps. eastenders and emmerdale are neck and neck in the ratings, yes emmerdale is ahead and has been for 2 weeks, but not by much. so why is it a disaster for eastenders, yet emmerdale is doing well? is it we expect more from eastenders?

[alan45]

EastEnders' executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins has spoken about his plans for a number of the show's characters, promising that there are "massive stories" ahead over the next year.

Since taking office at the BBC soap in August, the show's new boss and his team have been busy mapping out storyline plans until February 2015.

EastEnders' longest-serving cast member Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale) will be among those taking centre stage with a big story next year, while Ronnie Mitchell will be heading in a new villainous direction.

Speaking at an EastEnders press event, Treadwell-Collins commented: "We've got massive stories for the Masoods, for Denise, for Kat and Alfie - and maybe our biggest stories for the Beale family. There's a big, big Beale story that will hit around Easter and keep going until the anniversary.

"It'll shock and entertain and hopefully make the nation weep. It will give Adam Woodyatt, who's a brilliant actor and a lovely man, a big chance to shine.

"The other thing is Ronnie will have a big story. The question with Ronnie is, 'Is she her father's daughter?' I think we're going to see with Ronnie how someone becomes a villain. I keep talking about Darth Vader - the making of a villain. Not a soap bitch, but a villain."

Discussing other characters, he promised: "Everyone will get a big story. There's big stories for Sharon, for Phil Mitchell, and for Carol.

"Lindsey Coulson is acting her socks off in her breast cancer story. It's a very important story and I've been sobbing in the edit suite a lot."

Treadwell-Collins also teased the upcoming exit of Janine Butcher, surprise return of Stacey Branning and arrival of Danny Dyer's Carter clan at the Queen Vic.

He explained: "You'll see Charlie Brooks's exit story. There will be a coda to that story. It's not going to be the last you'll see of Janine, but that's all I'll say at the moment.

"We've also got Lacey Turner's return as Stacey. [Story producer] Alex [Lamb] and I storylined the last time Stacey was on the Square. That was Act One. We know the character and we know where she's going to go.

"With the arrival of the Carters, stories are going to flow out of The Vic. But it's not going to be the Carter show and it's not going to be the Stacey Slater show - it's going to be EastEnders. This show works best when there's a bomb going off at The Vic, a bomb going off at the Beales' and a bomb going off at the Brannings'.

"Not a literal bomb! I think when you're stuck for story, you blow things up. I'm not saying I'm never going to blow anything up, but I don't care - let another soap win Most Spectacular Scene. I don't think soaps should be about blowing things up, I think they should be about characters, people and they should move you. I don't cry at houses getting blown up!"

Treadwell-Collins succeeded Lorraine Newman in the post of EastEnders' executive producer. He previously worked on EastEnders for four and a half years from October 2005, initially as senior story editor before later securing the post of story producer.

[alan45]

EastEnders' new executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins spoke out about his future plans for the soap this week while addressing journalists at a press event on the show's set.

As you'll see in our EastEnders news and spoiler section, we've picked out the key highlights with some individual stories. Here though, Soap Scoop delves deeper by presenting his speech in full.

Taking over EastEnders and Dominic's history with the show
"We've all been working really hard behind the scenes over the past few months and hopefully it all shows on screen. There's an amazing team here who all really love this show. I personally remember getting my Radio Times commemorative pull-out for the first episode. I was born ten minutes up the road and I used to put my head through the gates like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and said, 'One day I want to work here'.

"I was then story producer for three years, went away, missed it every day and obviously came back at the end of August. So I'm a fan and I know the show, but because I've been away, I can look at it hopefully with fresh eyes and see what works and what doesn't work.

"With the rest of my team, we're going to take the show forwards into the 21st century. Some things are changing. There's a new car lot, there are a few more sets, and there's even more sets to come. We're shaking up the show a little bit. However, I think you have to be careful not to get overexcited and be like a boy with a new toybox - you don't want to shake your favourite toy too much and make it break!"

Dominic's vision for EastEnders
"We're taking EastEnders into the 21st century and also hopefully showing a bit more of East London on the outskirts as well. We'll be showing real East London and reflecting real life.

"EastEnders itself is not a warm bath - it's not a show that gives you a cuddle. It's a feral, untamed animal. It's the show that I wasn't really allowed to watch when I was little. I used to sneak down and watch it secretly, because it's naughty! It's a naughty, angry show about life.

"Everybody says EastEnders is miserable - it's not miserable. Life, though, is difficult and EastEnders reflects that. EastEnders shows that when life is difficult, you pick yourself up, brush yourself down, paint on a smile and keep going. If EastEnders was all cuddly and warm and comedy hi-jinks, no-one would watch it.

"Our aim is to give EastEnders its balls back. It's about ordinary people living extraordinary lives. I've got an amazing, amazing team who are working so, so hard. Our new series producer is Alison Davis, who used to run The Bill and Family Affairs, which is the first soap opera I ever worked on. She taught me how to edit in the edit suite, and now I'm her exec.

"That's lovely actually, because I've got someone who taught me who's working with me. I trust her implicitly and she's a friend as well. My story producer is Alexander Lamb, who was my story editor last time I was here."

EastEnders storylines
"Story is one of the hardest things that you can possibly do. Having done it before, I know. I learned so much from Diederick Santer when he was running the show - that you are so reliant on your team.

"Alex has the best story head of anyone I know. We got drunk at a wedding about a year ago and we sat in a corner saying, 'Right, what would you do with EastEnders?!' We went through it all together and then we looked at each other and Alex said, 'Go on, you need to go back' - and I did!

"Manpreet Dosanjh, who was the best script editor when I was here last time, is now our script producer and is fantastic. I have an amazing, amazing team who are so, so supportive and clever. They love this show. Everyone behind-the-scenes loves this show - no-one's doing it because they have to.

"Story-wise, I think the danger with any soap opera is to do cover versions of greatest hits. I think a lot of shows sometimes fall back on that. Our aim is to sing new songs. To take things you expect and then twist them. We all watch a lot of telly and we want to surprise the audience. We want to shock them, we want gasps, we want to tell stories in different ways.

"We want more secrets throughout the year. I love it when I watch American shows like True Blood and go, 'Wow!' and you're thrown by the storytelling. Alex and his team are going to be doing that with all their stories."

Aims for EastEnders
"EastEnders should be and will be the best drama on the telly, and that's what we're aiming for. We're aiming high but that's what we want. We've trimmed down the cast a bit. The reason for that is to bring in new characters, but I firmly believe that every character has to fight for their place on the show.

"I've said to the cast, 'You will all play Hamlet, but you will all play Spear Carrier #3'. This is a company of actors, so one day you're going to be having the big monologue, the next minute you'll be saying, 'I want a packet of crisps'. That's the way this show is going to work. I love our extras, but I want to see the characters I know more. I want to see those characters in The Vic, and that's what we're getting back to.

"Story-wise, we have planned between now and February 2015, our 30th anniversary. Alex has an amazing idea for next Christmas, which we've got planned as well. So we know what we're doing. Things will change in the middle, but we've planned the show and I think a show that is really well-planned is an amazing show to watch - it doesn't feel like we're just making it up as we go along."

EastEnders characters
"All the characters, especially the Carters, have secrets of course because it's a soap! They've got secrets that are planned, and the reveals will come with twists and turns. We've planned everything meticulously.

"Everyone will get a big story. There's big stories for Sharon, for Phil Mitchell, for Carol. Lindsey Coulson is acting her socks off in her breast cancer story. Our angle is that it's about the Jackson family as a whole.

"We're looking at cancer not as a story device, but forensically. Half of my audience are women and half of my audience are going to have breast cancer scares or know somebody who has breast cancer. It's a very important story and I've been sobbing in the edit suite a lot.

"We've got massive stories for the Masoods, for Denise, for Kat and Alfie - and maybe our biggest stories for the Beale family. There's a big, big Beale story that will hit around Easter and keep going until the anniversary. It'll shock and entertain and hopefully make the nation weep. It will give Adam Woodyatt, who's a brilliant actor and a lovely man, a big chance to shine.

"The other thing is Ronnie will have a big story. The question with Ronnie is, 'Is she her father's daughter?' I think we're going to see with Ronnie how someone becomes a villain. I keep talking about Darth Vader - the making of a villain. Not a soap bitch, but a villain.

"You'll see Charlie Brooks's exit story. There will be a coda to that story. It's not going to be the last you'll see of Janine, but that's all I'll say at the moment.

"We've also got Lacey Turner's return as Stacey. Again, Alex and I storylined the last time Stacey was on the Square. That was Act One. We know the character and we know where she's going to go."

Balance of screen time
"With the arrival of the Carters, stories are going to flow out of The Vic. But it's not going to be the Carter show and it's not going to be the Stacey Slater show - it's going to be EastEnders. This show works best when there's a bomb going off at The Vic and a bomb going off at the Beales' and a bomb going off at the Brannings'.

"Not a literal bomb! I think when you're stuck for story, you blow things up. I'm not saying I'm never going to blow anything up, but I don't care - let another soap win Most Spectacular Scene. I don't think soaps should be about blowing things up, I think they should be about characters, people and they should move you. I don't cry at houses getting blown up!"

The Carters taking over from Kat and Alfie at The Vic
"We love the Carters. We needed to do something a bit audacious. In the way that last time we were here, we brought Ronnie and Roxy into the pub, we needed to shake up The Vic. Kat and Alfie, who have big stories next year, needed to lose money. They needed to be brought down again to tell stories to bring them up again.

"What I did when I got the job was go back and read Tony Holland and Julia Smith's book about the origins of EastEnders and what they did when they first put the show together. Tony Holland looked at his family, and Linda and Mick were in my head about a year and a half ago. I talked about them at the wedding to Alex! They're influenced a little bit by my mum and dad - which my mother will eventually kill me for!

"We've got massive, massive stories for them, for Danny [Dyer], for Kellie [Bright], for Sam Strike, Maddy Hill, Luisa Bradshaw-White and most importantly Linda Henry.

"Shirley Carter is one of the first characters we created last time we were here. She's a soap icon and she hasn't been used as much as she should have been. Her family not only are going to provide loads of exciting stories for the Square, but they will make us understand Shirley a lot, lot better - what makes her tick and why she walked out on her kids years ago. That's a little teaser there!"

Expanding the cast
"I think we've got our strongest ever cast. There's more people to come. We want to reinvigorate our older cast. We need some older people - we don't want too many young people. I want to see children through the eyes of their parents, not parents through the eyes of their children. I think it's a fine line.

"We've got Timothy West coming, we've got Annette Badland, and more to come."

Christmas episodes and beyond
"It's a very special Christmas. Simon Ashdown has written a beautiful, beautiful episode. You've got Michael French performing his socks off, and Lindsey Coulson, Danny Dyer and Patsy Palmer. We want to make the best drama on the telly. EastEnders is about life and life can be difficult. I think the message is that we're fighting and we're fighting back."