Diederick Santer (born 3 July 1969) is a British television producer and is best known for his work on the popular

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'', a post which he assumed on 23 October 2006 and left on 1 March 2010. He was Chief Executive of production company Kudos from 2015 to 2019, and is currently Chief Creative Officer of BritBox International. He is the son of the late Anglican Bishop

Mark Santer Mark Santer (29 December 1936 – 14 August 2024) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the father of television producer Diederick Santer. Early life and education Santer was educated at Marlborough College and Queens' College, Cambridge, be ...

Early life

Santer graduated from the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

with a degree in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and the History and

Philosophy of Science Philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. Amongst its central questions are the difference between science and non-science, the reliability of scientific theories, ...

. He attended Burlington Danes School in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, where he played keyboards in Crazy Luke with Simon Stafford, whose band The Long Pigs made it into the UK Charts in the 1990s.

Television career

His TV career began in 1996 as a freelance script reader for United Productions before becoming

script editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programs, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wit ...

on the first two series of '' Where the Heart Is'', and assistant script editor on

Paul Abbott Paul Abbott (born 22 February 1960) is an English screenwriter and producer. He became one of the most successful television writers in Britain following his work on popular series such as '' Cracker'' (1995, 1996, 1999) and ''Coronation Street ...

's ITV series ''

Touching Evil ''Touching Evil'' is a British television drama serial following the exploits of a crack squad on the Organised & Serial Crime Unit, a rapid response police force that serves the entire country. The serial was produced by United Productions f ...

''. Santer moved to

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

where he script-edited the first two series of '' A&E'' and '' The Last Train'' before joining BBC Drama Series and Serials in 2000, where he produced the first three series of

Debbie Horsfield Debbie Horsfield (born 1955) is an English theatre and television writer and producer. Early life and career Horsfield was born in Urmston and she attended Eccles Grammar School and Eccles College before studying at Newcastle University, wh ...

's hairdressing drama ''

Cutting It ''Cutting It'' is a BBC television drama series set in Manchester, England, focusing on the lives and loves of the team running a hairdressing salon. It ran for four series between 2002 and 2005. The show features a number of actors who subsequ ...

'', starring

Sarah Parish Sarah Parish (born 7 June 1968) is an English actress. She is known for her work on television series including '' The Pillars of the Earth'', '' Peak Practice'', '' Hearts and Bones'', ''Cutting It'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Mistresses'', ''Merlin'' ...

and

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English media personality, actress and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent competition show '' Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the national ''H ...

. He also produced ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'', the

Bafta The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-nominated ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

'' for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

, and a lavish adaptation of ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

''.

''EastEnders''

Santer became Executive Producer of ''EastEnders'' on 23 October 2006, his first episode airing on 5 January 2007, replacing

Kate Harwood Kate Harwood is a British television producer. She became managing director of the revived Euston Films in summer 2014. Early life Kate graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts in 1981 before becoming an ...

. He introduced several characters to the show, including

ethnic minority The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

and gay characters to make the show 'feel more 21st Century'. Characters he introduced include

Zainab Masood Zainab Masood (also Khan) is a character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Nina Wadia.

, Shabnam Masood, Masood Ahmed, Tamwar Masood, Christian Clarke,

Whitney Dean Whitney Dean (also Carter) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Shona McGarty. The character is the ward of established character Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) and was introduced on 1 April 2008 when Pa ...

Tiffany Dean Tiffany Butcher (also Dean and Butcher-Baker) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Maisie Smith. Tiffany is the daughter of established characters Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) and Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen), ...

Ronnie Mitchell Ronnie Mitchell (also Branning) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Samantha Womack. She and her younger sister Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) were introduced by executive producer Diederick Santer in July 200 ...

Roxy Mitchell Roxy Mitchell (also Slater) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Rita Simons.Archie Mitchell Archie Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Larry Lamb. He first appeared on 8 July 2008 as a newest member of the Mitchell family—who had first appeared on the soap in 1990—and became the show ...

, Danielle Jones,

Jack Branning DI Jack Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Scott Maslen. He made his first appearance on 29 October 2007. He is the youngest child of Jim ( John Bardon) and Reenie Branning (Joy Graham) and the ...

Heather Trott Heather Trott (also Peterson) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Cheryl Fergison. She made her first appearance on 26 June 2007. The character was introduced as a guest character, but later became a regu ...

Lucas Johnson Lucas Johnson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Don Gilet. He made his first on-screen appearance on 3 April 2008. Lucas is introduced as a reformed drug addict and criminal-turned-preacher who appears a ...

, Ryan Malloy and Syed Masood. He also reintroduced a number of previous characters to the programme, including

Janine Butcher Janine Butcher (also Evans, Malloy and Carter) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', introduced in 1989. The character is played by Rebecca Michael, Alexia Demetriou and Charlie Brooks respectively. Brooks initially d ...

Bianca Jackson Bianca Jackson (also Butcher) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders,'' played by Patsy Palmer. The character was introduced by executive producer Leonard Lewis and appeared initially from 1993 to 1999, when Palmer opt ...

Steven Beale Steven Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Edward Farrell from 1989 to 1990, Stuart Stevens from 1992 to 1998, Edward Savage from 1998 to 2002, and Aaron Sidwell from 2007 to 2008 and again from 20 ...

, Louise Mitchell and Sam Mitchell. He also axed a number of characters, such as Kevin Wicks, Deano Wicks, Carly Wicks,

Mickey Miller Mickey Miller is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Joe Swash. He first appeared on 15 April 2003 as a guest character. Mickey proved popular and the executive producer Louise Berridge made him a full-time mem ...

Keith Miller Keith Ross Miller (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent m ...

, Yolande Trueman,

Garry Hobbs Garry Hobbs is a fictional character in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Ricky Groves. He made his first appearance on 18 September 2000, alongside the Slater family. It was announced on 26 March 2009 that Groves and co-star Kara ...

and

Dawn Swann Dawn Swann is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Kara Tointon, who first appeared on 26 September 2005. It was reported on 26 March 2009 that Tointon and co-star Ricky Groves, who plays Garry Hobbs, would be w ...

. He was also responsible for recasting the role of Bobby Beale. Santer presided over numerous highly successful storylines during his time as executive producer, such as the aftermath of the demise of

Pauline Fowler Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between the first episode on 19 February 1985 and 25 December 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland an ...

, the Christmas 2007 episode, which saw the reveal of

Max Branning Max Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006. Wood took a four-month break from the show in 2011 and the character was absent between August and Nov ...

and

Stacey Slater Stacey Slater (also Branning and Fowler) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Lacey Turner. She first appears in episode 2826, originally broadcast on 1 November 2004. The character is introduced as a feis ...

's affair, attracting 14 million viewers, and the "who killed Archie" storyline of Christmas 2009 was also widely acclaimed. Following the show's 25th anniversary live episode, Santer stepped down on 1 March 2010 and

Bryan Kirkwood Bryan Kirkwood (born November 1975) is a British television producer. He was the producer of the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' from 2006 until 2009 and was the executive producer of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 2010 until 2012. H ...

took over.

After ''EastEnders''

After stepping down from ''EastEnders'', Santer continued to work at the BBC, executive producing in a special position developing "new shows that can be internationally co-produced". In May 2010, he left the BBC after ten years to set up his own production company called Lovely Day. In 2014, Lovely Day's crime series ''

Grantchester Grantchester () is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta (river), Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge. Name The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Granteset ...

'' was ITV's highest-rated new drama series of the year. In 2015, Santer become joint CEO of

Kudos Kudos may refer to: * ''Kudos'' (computer game), a life simulation game produced by Positech Games * Kudos (production company), a UK-based film and television production company * Kudos, a fictional currency used by the Dwellers in '' The Alge ...

, with Lovely Day becoming absorbed into Kudos. In 2016, he became sole Chief Executive. Santer executive produces a number of the Kudos shows, including ''Grantchester'', ''

Flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

'', and '' Tin Star''. In 2021, Santer joined

BritBox BritBox is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Video on demand#Subscription models, video on demand Streaming television, streaming service founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, ITV which operates in eight countries across Australi ...

as their first chief creative officer.

References

External links

BBC reshuffles top drama execs
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santer, Diederick 1969 births Living people Alumni of the University of Leeds British soap opera producers English businesspeople People from Camden Town