Iain MacLoed (Emmerdale Producer)

[Telly Watcher]

Iain MacLeod takes the helm at Emmerdale at the end of the year and initially will inherit a raft of storylines courtesy of outgoing Producer Kate. Raised in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, Iain studied Psychology at Manchester University before training as a journalist. From journalism he made the switch to a career in television.

Iain moves to Emmerdale from his position as Series Producer at Hollyoaks, a role he has held since 2013. A former Coronation Street researcher and Story Editor from July 2009 until 2013, Iain has previously worked on some of Corrie’s most momentous storylines including the death of iconic character Jack Duckworth, the 50th anniversary tram crash and the rape of Carla Connor. Iain left Coronation Street in 2013 to join Hollyoaks and was promoted to Series Producer shortly afterwards.

"Taking the reins of a programme in such rude health is both highly exciting and a mouth-watering challenge, and I could not be more delighted to be tasked with taking Emmerdale forward,” said Iain. “To work on a show with such pedigree, such brilliant characters and storytelling, and with such a talented team already in place is a dream for anyone in my line of work and I can't wait to get cracking."

Managing Director, Continuing Drama John Whiston commented:

“When Iain left ITV in 2013 we knew one day he would be back to run one of our shows. With a strong story head and an innate feel for what makes soaps tick, Iain will be a brilliant next Producer of Emmerdale. He inherits a great team and a great show, both of which he will nurture and have fun with when he joins the team at the end of the year.”

Source:
http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press...-new-producers

[Perdita]

Emmerdale producer Iain MacLeod has opened up about the pressures of taking over from Kate Oates on the show.

MacLeod joined from Hollyoaks back in September, and says he's loving being a part of the ITV soap.

"I just wanted to express how thrilled I am to be part of such an amazing show," he told Digital Spy and others.

"Yes, there's a lot of pressure following up on somebody like Kate [Oates] who's done such a good job and inheriting a show that's not got anything obviously wrong with it.

"But that's a brilliant pressure to be under and to work with such an amazingly talented team of people, from the cast to the crew to the writers to the editorial team, is just a huge, huge privilege.

"I just hope to continue the great work that they've all been doing before I got here and give them great stories to tell and give the viewers great stories to view basically… just brilliant characters and big stories is my watchword."

When asked if he was missing Hollyoaks, he said: "Only insofar as the people there are great.

"They are a lovely bunch of people. At the risk of sounding slightly disparaging of my immediate neighbours, it feels like being given a new box of toys to play with."

MacLeod added: "You get this collection of characters that are so well drawn and so well played and they're in the middle of stories that are so exciting it's a total blessing to be able to come into that set up.

"So no, in that sense there was never a moment's hesitation in my mind. It's an amazing show and I'm really, really lucky to be a part of it."

[Telly Watcher]

When a show has been doing well and riding high on the success of standout performances, blockbuster storylines and talked about moments, it’s natural for fans to become even more protective. The better something becomes, the more you want it to remain that way.

So the fear of hearing that a new producer was taking over from Kate Oates shook some Emmerdale viewers up a bit, with some immediately declaring that they were boycotting the programme in dramatic outbursts of terror at change on social media.

Iain MacLeod is now in his boss’ seat at the village, having made the move from Hollyoaks, and press including Metro.co.uk were given the chance to meet him properly in his new capacity of the man who is taking on a bit of a golden goose in the soap schedules.

After hearing him speak and chatting directly to him, we are confident that Emmerdale is in safe hands – here are nine reasons why fans should just relax and continue enjoying their show.

1. He isn’t going on a cast cull

He hasn’t come in sharpening a blooded axe, to see which big names he can chop in order to make a big name for himself. There is no massacre on the cards for masses of the familiar faces we know and love. In fact, Iain places the cast among the show’s biggest current strengths.

He told us: ‘To work with such an amazingly talented team of people, from the cast to the crew to the writers to the editorial team, is just a huge, huge privilege.’

2. Nor is he planning on making ANY significant changes

He acknowledges that the show is extremely strong and so you won’t see Emmerdale losing any of its current sparkle, charm or excitement any time soon.

He said: ‘I just wanted to express how thrilled I am to be part of such an amazing show. Yes, there’s a lot of pressure following up on somebody like Kate who’s done such a good job and inheriting a show that’s not got anything obviously wrong with it.’

MORE: Emmerdale spoiler preview: New producer teases dramatic new storylines including returns, new faces and a wedding twist

3. He won’t be randomly dropping any stories

It’s sometimes standard for a new boss to want to burst in with all of their own plot ideas and sometimes that can lead to them just shelving existing plots on the quiet. That isn’t the case here. Iain spoke of his excitement at the current ongoing storylines left for him to continue and gave assurances that plotlines such as Ashley’s dementia and Aaron and Robert’s relationship still had a long way to play out.

He enthused: ‘You get this collection of characters that are so well drawn and so well played and they’re in the middle of stories that are so exciting it’s a total blessing to be able to come into that set up.’

4. He is passionate about the show

Hearing Iain talk about his new role and joining the team at Emmerdale was a welcome relief to any fan – the confidence and the manner in which he discussed the storylines both directly to us and to the crowded room spoke volumes. He clearly loves Emmerdale and confided in some of the cast he was sitting with that he was really looking forward to talking to them about what was coming up.

If that passion comes across on screen, then it will be a winner for fans.

5. He is a completely new face

As one cast member acknowledged (we won’t give away who attended the press conference so as to preserve storyline secrecy), Iain is completely new to a team, which is unusual as producers normally move up from within.

Sometimes, when a producer is already really familiar with everyone and the way things work, they can get complacent as they are always in the same bubble. Iain is fresh blood to the team and that looks set to turn out to be a good thing.

6. The cast have faith in him

You can tell almost immediately if the artists who are playing out a producer’s ideas lack confidence in their boss. This is certainly not the case here. Everyone we have spoken to has described their excitement at working with Iain and seeing his ideas unfold. At the press conference, he came across as just another long standing member of a close knit team.

7. He won’t turn it into Hollyoaks

Iain told What’s On TV: ‘When I got the job, I did look up the Emmerdale hashtag on Twitter and there was quite a lot of people going, “I’m never watching Emmerdale again – he’s going to ruin it”. But I’m absolutely not going to change it into something viewers don’t recognise.’

Writers can move between shows and change their approach dependent on the audience and the type of show. After all, Chris Chibnall is moving to Doctor Who from Broadchurch and no-one is expecting him to kill off a child on the beach and have the Time Lord investigate a mysterious community.

Bear in mind that Iain also worked on Coronation Street – and no-one seems to have tweeted their fears that he will be laying cobbles in the village. Emmerdale won’t become Hollyoaks as they are vastly different shows. End of.

8. He listens to fans

He knows what the fans are talking about. He knows there is a big Robron fanbase, he knows that people have been pretty upset with Paddy recently and he knows how much Ashley’s story is touching people. By his own admission, he sometimes reads Twitter to gauge feedback.

While no producer should make any decisions based on Twitter fanbases (who, at the end of the day, make up a small minority of the entire 6-7 million strong audience), Iain already has a handle on what is being talked about so won’t ignore what fans have to say. He spoke more than once of creating ‘stories for fans’ not stories for TV, ITV, Emmerdale or himself. The fans are at the forefront of his mind.

9. He’s not about making his mark – he is about building on success

At the end of the day, he is a producer who has come in to a strong show. While many use this as an opportunity to make a name for themselves, Iain has very deliberately avoided announcing major cast changes, new theme tunes, a big cast culling stunt and a whole host of new faces.

He is using the characters and stories he has been left with to continue Emmerdale’s success and will, over time, weave in his own ideas. From what we have seen and heard, the only real way you would know there is a new producer in a few months time is if you read the credits closely.

That is by no means a good thing. Fans love Emmerdale right now – so it is Iain’s job to maintain that. He looks like he will be the right man for the job.

Online opinion poll: "Do you have faith in Emmerdale's new producer?"

YES - Bring it on!, 72%
Too early to tell, 24%
NO - Not at all, 4%

By Duncan Lindsay, Metro.co.uk
http://metro.co.uk/2016/02/07/9-soli...ducer-5667234/

[bbradshaw]

My biggest fear was him making the show as bad as hollyoaks is so hopefully he sticks to his word. But we'll see how it goes

[Perdita]

Emmerdale's new boss Iain MacLeod wants the show to get more recognition at the bigger award ceremonies.

The long-running show has earned itself the Best Soap title at the Inside Soap Awards, Broadcast Awards and even Digital Spy's own reader poll in the past few months. There's still room for improvement, though, with EastEnders coming out on top at last year's British Soap Awards and this year's National Television Awards.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds today (February 18), MacLeod commented: "We won the Broadcast Award the other night, so I should say a very big well done to everyone who works on the show. I am thrilled for them all.

"I can't take any of the credit for that, because I've only just arrived! But everybody over there richly deserves that and may there be many more.

"It has won awards over the years, [but] historically it seems like the London soap, as I like to call it, or EastEnders seems to clean up at most of the bigger award ceremonies, which I think is desperately unfair.

"Anyone that loves Emmerdale, watches Emmerdale, would agree that it's the best show on the television, really. We'd like to have a bigger pile of awards this time next year."

MacLeod took office at Emmerdale in January following the departure of Kate Oates, who's moving over to Coronation Street. He previously worked as a series producer on Hollyoaks and a storyliner on Corrie.

Discussing his new job, he laughed: "It's like Spiderman - with great power comes great responsibility! To be honest, I feel a really healthy pressure to put a shift in and make sure I don't drop the ball.

"It's an amazing show, it's been going for such a long time, so many people love it - [so] I just want to make sure that we get it right and keep making it brilliant."

[Telly Watcher]

Emmerdale's new boss Iain MacLeod has admitted that some of the cast have visited his office fearing for their jobs.

It's been all change at the ITV soap this year with MacLeod taking over from Kate Oates in the top job, and stars of the show are understandably nervous about what this could mean for their futures.

Speaking at an Emmerdale press event about how he deals with the cast uncertainty, MacLeod insisted that he just prefers to be honest rather than keeping them on their toes.

"I've been quite straight with any actor who has come into my office to do the 'Hi, I'm BLANK, I'm pleased to meet you. Am I getting fired?' kind of speech, which I've had a few times," he explained.

"I've always been honest with people, really: 'This is my view in terms of your character, this is my honest opinion of your current performance, these are my notes for you in terms of what you need to do more of or less of', or indeed stay exactly as you are in some cases. I'm trying to be quite straightforward, really."

Asked whether the cast now hate him for his honesty, he laughed: "You'd have to ask them, they're not going to tell me! No, I really hope they don't. Look, I've been around the industry to know that generally, if not exclusively, you get the best out of people if you tell them the truth.

"If they're trying to second guess what you want, then everything can go off down the rabbit hole of guessing and Chinese whispers and all the rest of it. I try to be quite straightforward with people where I can and hopefully, most of the time, that's the right call."

MacLeod has been working at Emmerdale since January after a stint producing Hollyoaks. He is still currently overseeing scripts and storylines that were put in place by Oates before she left in December.

The new boss isn't taking a hands-off approach, though, and has already tweaked a top-secret upcoming storyline for David Metcalfe to put his own stamp on it.

"In terms of my first on screen credit, that will be in June I think and those are the first storylines that I've seen through from inception to on-screen," MacLeod explained.

"Obviously at the minute I'm working on scripts of stories that were in train before I got here, so they were started by Kate and in some cases even before Kate as they are so long-running. So the stuff I have started from scratch, that won't be on screen until June.

"Kate and I have known each other long enough to trust each other's judgement. I hope that she still agrees when she watches her episodes that I've edited. So I have worked on scripts that she's brought through and obviously there will be notes on those.

"As far as possible, I have preserved the integrity of what Kate has started, but if I see an opportunity for a joke here or a heartbreaking line there, or a set piece of some description that wasn't there prior to that, I will put it in if I think that I can add any value to what is already there.

"I'm not employing a hands-off approach where I am just sitting back and letting everything go off and straight on the telly. I like the show and respect it too much not to try and improve it where I think I can."

By Daniel Kilkelly, Digital Spy
http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emme...-to-fire-them/

[Telly Watcher]

Emmerdale could become a nicer place to live - with new producer Iain MacLeod revealing that he wants the show's characters to be friendlier to each other.

The soap's top boss has asked scriptwriters to incorporate warmer moments into the episodes, keen to strike a better balance between high-stakes drama and close-knit community scenes.

"What I've found myself saying to a lot of writers and directors since I've got here is that I like people being nice to one another," MacLeod explained.

"It sounds perhaps undramatic. Obviously the kind of crazy, helter skelter plot is brilliant and that's why our viewers come back night after night, because it's unmissable and you've got to see the next chapter in any story.


© Lime Pictures
Emmerdale producer Iain MacLeod

"But if you didn't have your Paddys and Marlons and you didn't have those moments of warmth in stories like the Ashley and Laurel one, it can become a bit clinical really. I love Paddy and Marlon - awkward, male friendship bromances, I love.

"I do find myself giving a lot of notes saying: 'These two people should be nice to each other here. Why can't they give each other a hug or why can't they say a reassuring thing?' It doesn't all have to be punches and slaps and crashes and explosions, as much as I love all of that.

"Sometimes it's nice when you go: 'Aww, that's the sweetest thing I've seen all day and I'm really glad I watched tonight'."

Determined not to stray too far from the show's roots, MacLeod added that he won't neglect to include smaller incidental scenes which don't necessarily drive a major storyline forward.

"I started on Coronation Street, which was your typical, archetypal kitchen sink drama on the television. That kind of 'taste of honey' end of the spectrum - I love that and there's always going to be a place for that in soap," he said.

"I reminded myself the other day that I think Coronation Street did their first tram crash in something like 1964. Soaps have always done spectacle, high drama and death. Minnie Caldwell dying in the booth in the Rovers Return again would have been the 60s, so you need both.

"But there's always going to be a place for domestic nonsense - two people shooting the breeze about the price of fish, I love a bit of that. It's the stuff the writers sometimes to my frustration love writing the most. If they had their own way, they'd write whole episodes about jaffa cakes!

"You get the best out of any writer when you're allowing them what they want to do to a degree, so there'll always be a place for that in my heart and in the show."

By Daniel Kilkelly, Digital Spy
http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emme...hes-and-slaps/