Jon Sen (born 9 October 1978) is a British television and film director, writer and producer. After working as the executive producer of the

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 ...

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 ...

'' from 2019 to 2022, Sen began working as the executive producer of the BBC medical drama series ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' in 2022.

Career

In 2000, Sen was awarded his first BBC drama commission to write and direct ''The Love Doctor''. His second low budget television film, a short called ''Reignited'' was made for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's '' Coming Up'' strand and met with critical success. In 2003, Catherine Wearing employed Sen to direct Channel 4's £2 million flagship drama '' Second Generation'' starring

Parminder Nagra Parminder Kaur Nagra (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Jess Bhamra in the film ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002) and Dr. Neela Rasgotra in the NBC medical drama '' ER'' (2003–2009). Her other television r ...

. Despite being a ratings flop, the drama was critically acclaimed. Nagra won an EMMA for her lead performance and the programme was named in the Observer's top ten television of 2003. Sen continued to direct other dramas including ''Frances Tuesday'' starring

Tamzin Outhwaite Tamzin Maria Outhwaite (; born 5 November 1970) is an English actress, presenter and narrator. From 1998-2002, and again from 2018-2019, she played the role of Mel Owen in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. She has also starred in a number of ...

. ''Frances Tuesday'' was a success for ITV when it became the highest rated single drama of 2004 and went on to sell in over 43 countries worldwide. In May 2006, Sen completed ''Stan'' for

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

about the final meeting between

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...

and

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his ...

, starring Jim Norton. As a writer, his work includes ''4.4.68'', a radio play about the assassination of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, an adaptation of the

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

novel ''

Two on a Tower ''Two on a Tower: A Romance'' (1882) is a novel by English author Thomas Hardy, classified by him as a romance and fantasy. It is regarded as one of his minor works. It is one of Hardy's Wessex novels, set in late Victorian Dorset. Epigraph Har ...

'', ''Vanunu: A Time To Be Heard'', a drama about nuclear whistle-blower

Mordechai Vanunu Mordechai Vanunu (; born 14 October 1954), also known as John Crossman, is an Israeli former nuclear technician and peace activist who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program ...

, and ''The Man Who Wore Sanitary Pads'' about the Indian social entrepreneur, Arunachalam Muruganantham. The play was nominated for a BBC Audio Drama Award in the Best Scripted Comedy Drama category. Sen is an occasional contributor to newspapers and magazines, including ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' and ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

''. On 10 December 2018, Sen was announced as the new executive producer of the BBC soap opera ''

''. Sen's first credited episode as executive producer on EastEnders is episode 5954, originally broadcast on 15 July 2019. In November 2021, Sen stepped down as executive producer of ''EastEnders'' to lead the fellow BBC continuing drama ''

''. His final credited episode as executive producer of ''EastEnders '' aired on 10 March 2022. During his tenure, he received a mixed response from critics for his decisions on the show. He received a positive reception for his storylines involving the Carter and Panesar families, as well as reintroducing historical cast member

Charlie Brooks Charlene Emma Brooks (born 3 May 1981) is an English actress, best known for her role of Janine Butcher in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Brooks has also performed in British television shows ''The Bill'', ''Wired'' and ''Bleak House'', ...

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 ...

. However, he was criticised for various decisions including killing off characters seen as key to the show’s future such as Dennis Rickman Jr, mishandling

Chantelle Atkins Chantelle Atkins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Jessica Plummer. She first appears in episode 5991, originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2019. Chantelle is introduced as the eldest da ...

' ( Jess Plummer) abuse storyline by having her abuser

Gray Atkins Gray Atkins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Toby-Alexander Smith. He was introduced by executive producer Kate Oates in episode 5893, broadcast on 29 March 2019, as the patriarch of the Atkins family, whi ...

become a serial killer, making long-time character

Sharon Watts Sharon Watts (also Mitchell, Rickman and Beale) is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders'', played by Letitia Dean. Sharon was one of ''EastEnders'' original characters conceptualised by creators Tony Holland and Jul ...

try to poison her oldest friend-turned husband

Ian Beale Ian Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Adam Woodyatt. He is one of four remaining original characters, the others being his mother, Kathy Beale ( Gillian Taylforth), his long standing best friend an ...

, breaking up

Linda Linda is an English feminine given name, derived from the Spanish word , meaning "pretty." Linda may also refer to: Names * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) ...

and Mick Carter’s long-term marriage by having Linda start an affair with long-time resident

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 a lack of aftermath within storylines and introducing

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

that viewers found to be "jarring".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Jon 1973 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British soap opera producers British writers of Indian descent English film directors English male dramatists and playwrights English male screenwriters English people of Indian descent English soap opera writers English television directors Mass media people from Bradford People educated at Bradford Grammar School Writers from Bradford