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Bryan Kirkwood (producer)
Encyclopedia
Bryan Kirkwood is a Scottish
-born British
television producer
. He was the producer of teen Channel 4
soap opera
Hollyoaks
from 2006 until 2009 and has been the executive producer of the BBC
soap EastEnders
since 2010.
, Scotland. He also lived in East Kilbride
and Edinburgh
before moving to Brighton
, England at a young age. Openly gay, he was living in Liverpool
with his partner in 2006.
's Coronation Street
. He later took control as the producer for Channel 4
's Hollyoaks
between 2006 and 2009. After leaving the main Hollyoaks team, he produced the second series of the late-night spin-off Hollyoaks Later, shown in 2009 on E4.
On 2 November 2009 it was announced that he would become the executive producer of the BBC One
soap opera EastEnders
, replacing Diederick Santer
. He faced criticism from the media before he even assumed his role on EastEnders, with many reporting he planned to 'sex up' the show on arrival. His appointment came on 1 March 2010 as Santer stepped down from the role after the 25th anniversary celebrations. His first episode was broadcast on 4 June 2010 (moved from 7 June due to a schedule change), though he shares the executive producer credit with Santer for two weeks. His first big decision was the reintroduction of characters Kat
and Alfie Moon
, and his first new character is Vanessa Gold
, played by Zöe Lucker
.
In April and May 2010 he axed eight characters: Charlie Slater
, Minty Peterson
, Libby Fox
, Liz Turner, Adam Best
, Danny Mitchell
, Zsa Zsa Carter
and Leon Small
. In April it was announced he would be bringing back Lisa Fowler
for one episode. In June 2010, he brought back Sam Mitchell
and Kim Fox, and decided to recast Ben Mitchell, Lucy Beale
, and Lauren Branning
. In July 2010 he cast Steve John Shepherd
to play a new character, Michael Moon
, a cousin of Alfie.
He also axed Billie Jackson, and brought back Blossom
and Alan Jackson
for his funeral.
In January 2011, Kirkwood pulled EastEnders into its biggest ever scandal when a baby swap storyline regarding Ronnie Branning gained over 10,000 complaints. This resulted in the BBC ending the storyline earlier than planned.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-born British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
. He was the producer of teen Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
from 2006 until 2009 and has been the executive producer of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
since 2010.
Personal life
Kirkwood was born in BellshillBellshill
Bellshill is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, 10 miles south east of Glasgow city centre and 37 miles west of Edinburgh. Other nearby towns are Motherwell , Hamilton and Coatbridge . Since 1996, it has been situated in the Greater Glasgow metropolitan area...
, Scotland. He also lived in East Kilbride
East Kilbride
East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
before moving to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, England at a young age. Openly gay, he was living in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
with his partner in 2006.
Career
Kirkwood's first major role came as a storyliner for ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. He later took control as the producer for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
between 2006 and 2009. After leaving the main Hollyoaks team, he produced the second series of the late-night spin-off Hollyoaks Later, shown in 2009 on E4.
On 2 November 2009 it was announced that he would become the executive producer of the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
soap opera EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, replacing Diederick Santer
Diederick Santer
Diederick Santer is a British television producer and is best known for his work on the popular BBC television soap opera EastEnders, a post which he assumed on 23 October 2006 and left on 1 March 2010...
. He faced criticism from the media before he even assumed his role on EastEnders, with many reporting he planned to 'sex up' the show on arrival. His appointment came on 1 March 2010 as Santer stepped down from the role after the 25th anniversary celebrations. His first episode was broadcast on 4 June 2010 (moved from 7 June due to a schedule change), though he shares the executive producer credit with Santer for two weeks. His first big decision was the reintroduction of characters Kat
Kat Moon
Kathleen "Kat" Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jessie Wallace. She was also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001. She appeared in the show from September 2000 to November 2004, then returned in May 2005...
and Alfie Moon
Alfie Moon
Alfred William "Alfie" Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Shane Richie. He made his first appearance on 21 November 2002, and left on 25 December 2005...
, and his first new character is Vanessa Gold
Vanessa Gold
Vanessa Gold is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She is portrayed by Zöe Lucker, and has appeared in EastEnders since 4 June 2010. A "dynamic and assured" businesswoman, Vanessa was created by series consultant Simon Ashdown to be "a Zöe Lucker-type"...
, played by Zöe Lucker
Zöe Lucker
Zöe Elizabeth Lucker is an English actress best known for playing the roles of Tanya Turner on ITV's Footballers' Wives and Vanessa Gold in EastEnders.-Career:...
.
In April and May 2010 he axed eight characters: Charlie Slater
Charlie Slater
Charles "Charlie" Slater is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Derek Martin, making his first appearance on 4 September 2000. He is played by Jason McGregor in flashbacks broadcast in 2001. He also makes a cameo appearance in the second series of the...
, Minty Peterson
Minty Peterson
Richard "Rick" Peterson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Cliff Parisi. He made his first appearance on 11 March 2002. His nickname was given to him because he was always late for work, turning up "after eight" when he was an apprentice mechanic...
, Libby Fox
Libby Fox
Elizabeth "Libby" Fox is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, EastEnders, played by Belinda Owusu. She made her first appearance on 22 May 2006 and left in 2010. She is the daughter of Denise Fox and Owen Turner, and half sister of Chelsea Fox. The Fox family were introduced by executive...
, Liz Turner, Adam Best
Adam Best (EastEnders)
Adam Best is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by David Proud, the first adult actor with a visible disability to appear regularly in the soap. Both Proud and his character live with spina bifida...
, Danny Mitchell
Danny Mitchell (EastEnders)
Daniel Nicholas "Danny" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by soap newcomer Liam Bergin, who appeared from on 21 January 2010 to 18 June 2010.-Storylines:...
, Zsa Zsa Carter
Zsa Zsa Carter
Zsa Zsa Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders and its Internet spin-off EastEnders: E20, played by Emer Kenny. She made her first appearance in EastEnders on 5 January 2010 and appears in all twelve episodes of the first series of EastEnders: E20...
and Leon Small
Leon Small
Leon Small is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders and its Internet spin-off EastEnders: E20, played by Sam Attwater. He made his first appearance in EastEnders on 5 January and appears in all twelve episodes of the first series of EastEnders: E20...
. In April it was announced he would be bringing back Lisa Fowler
Lisa Fowler
Lisa Deborah Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lucy Benjamin from 1998 to 2003 and in 2010. Lisa was instrumental in one of EastEnders most highly publicised and anticipated storylines, dubbed Who Shot Phil? in 2001, where she gunned down her former...
for one episode. In June 2010, he brought back Sam Mitchell
Sam Mitchell (EastEnders)
Samantha Margaret Priscilla "Sam" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders. The third member of the Mitchell family to be introduced, Sam entered as a 15-year-old school girl in July 1990, played by Danniella Westbrook. Westbrook quit in 1993, but was reintroduced...
and Kim Fox, and decided to recast Ben Mitchell, Lucy Beale
Lucy Beale
Lucy Katherine Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Eva Brittin-Snell from 1993 to 1996, Casey Anne Rothery from 1996 until 2004, Melissa Suffield from 2004 to 2010 and Hetti Bywater from 2012 onwards. Lucy was introduced in December 1993 as the newborn baby...
, and Lauren Branning
Lauren Branning
Lauren Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She first appeared in the show on 3 July 2006 played by Madeline Duggan, was absent from 23 June to 27 September 2010, and returned as played by Jacqueline Jossa.-Storylines:...
. In July 2010 he cast Steve John Shepherd
Steve John Shepherd
-Career:Shepherd first became known in 1996, when he played the role of Jo, the law clerk, in the critically acclaimed BBC drama This Life. He remained in the role for two series...
to play a new character, Michael Moon
Michael Moon (EastEnders)
Michael Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Steve John Shepherd. The character is a second cousin once removed of Alfie Moon , who first appears on 1 October 2010 after Alfie's return. He is also the father to Tommy Moon, whose mother is Alfie's wife Kat...
, a cousin of Alfie.
He also axed Billie Jackson, and brought back Blossom
Blossom Jackson
Blossom Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Mona Hammond. The character originally appeared from 1994 to 1997. Hammond was installed as a matriarchal figure of the Jackson clan but quit the role in 1997, reportedly because she was suffering from nervous...
and Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson (EastEnders)
Alan Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Howard Antony. He originally appeared between 1993 and 1997, and returned on 12 October 2010 for three episodes....
for his funeral.
In January 2011, Kirkwood pulled EastEnders into its biggest ever scandal when a baby swap storyline regarding Ronnie Branning gained over 10,000 complaints. This resulted in the BBC ending the storyline earlier than planned.