John Michael "Mike" Gibbon (born 27 January 1942) is an English 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...

 and director

Television director

A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...

. Gibbon married Moya McCarthy in July 1976 and they have a daughter, Sophie.

He directed and produced 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...

 televised 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,...

, 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...

. He began directing the programme in 1985 and began producing the programme in 1988. He became the show's new boss following the departure of show creator and series producer Julia Smith

Julia Smith

Julia Smith was an English television director and producer.- Early career :London-born Smith became involved in television production when she directed the series Suspense in 1962...

. Due to personal conflict with the series' head, Peter Cregeen

Peter Cregeen

Peter Cregeen is a British television director, producer and executive. He is possibly best known for being the original director of ITV's successful police drama, The Bill, and his substantial contribution to the serial thereafter...

, he was replaced by Michael Ferguson

Michael Ferguson (director)

Michael Ferguson is a British script writer, television director and television producer. Ferguson has been described as a “long term champion of realistic popular drama”. Ferguson was executive producer of the BBC soap opera, EastEnders between 1989 and 1991...

. It has been reported that Gibbon controversially called for the killing of at least 10 long-running characters in a bid to boost ratings. According to writer David Yallop, acting ability was a key factor in deciding which members of the cast to get rid of. Cast lists were marked with black asterisks, signifying an death for their character. One of the penned plots saw characters die in an IRA

Irish Republican Army

The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...

 bombing. However, the plots never came to fruition, as Gibbon was demoted and then resigned from the serial.

He is also deviser and adaptor, with David Yallop, of Herbert Jenkins

Herbert Jenkins

Herbert Turner Jenkins was the longest serving police chief of Atlanta.- Early life :He was an automotive pioneer in Atlanta, working at its earliest car dealership.That experience led to his last book.- Policing :...

's Bindle book series.

Filmography

• New Scotland Yard (1972) - Director
• Helen: A Woman of Today (1973) - Director
• Thick as Thieves (1974) - Director
• Within These Walls
  Within These Walls
  Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison...
  
  (1974) - Director
• Intimate Strangers (1974) - Director
• Emmerdale Farm
  Emmerdale
  Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
  
  -Director
• The Brack Report (1982) - Director
• Airline -Director
• Fair City
  Fair City
  Fair City is an award-winning Irish television soap opera on RTÉ One. Produced by Radio Telefís Éireann, it was first broadcast on Monday, September 18, 1989...
  
  (1988) - Director
• City of the Rich - Executive producer
• The Log of the Ark - Producer
• Remains To Be Seen
• The League Against Christmas

External links