Kate Harwood is a British television producer. She became managing director of the revived

Euston Films Euston Films is a British film and television production company. It was originally a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from 1971 to 1994, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV networ ...

in summer 2014.

Early life

Kate graduated from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

with a degree in

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

and Theatre Arts in 1981 before becoming an Arts Council Trainee director with Century Theatre, Keswick, then Literary Manager of the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal ...

in London.

Television career

Harwood moved from the Royal Court to spend over 15 years working at the BBC, including as Script Editor and Script Executive, before becoming an executive producer in the BBC Drama Serials department. As a producer, she has worked on dramas including '' The Beggar Bride'', ''Close Relations'', ''The Echo'', ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

'', '' Man and Boy'' and BAFTA winner '' Charles II: The Power and the Passion'' (released in the US under the title ''The Last King: the Power and the Passion of Charles II'', in a heavily edited version on the A&E cable network). In her role as executive producer in BBC drama serials, she was responsible for programmes including ''Crime and Punishment'', ''

Daniel Deronda ''Daniel Deronda'' is a novel written by Mary Ann Evans under the pen name of George Eliot, first published in eight parts (books) February to September 1876. It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the Victorian society ...

'', '' The Lost World'', and ''Final Demand''. Harwood was appointed the executive producer of '' EastEnders'' in February 2005, a position she retained until October 2006, when she was succeeded by

Diederick Santer Diederick Santer (born 3 July 1969) 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 was Chief Exec ...

. As well as being responsible for the introduction of several new families, such as the Brannings and the Foxes, she introduced such characters as Sean Slater and May Wright, as well as the departures of many popular characters such as

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

and

Dennis Rickman Dennis Rickman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Nigel Harman. He made his first appearance on 14 April 2003 at the funeral of his late mother, Paula, before going on to become one of the show's centra ...

, Chrissie Watts, Kat Moon and Alfie Moon, Sam Mitchell, Nana Moon, Jake Moon,

Little Mo Mitchell Maureen "Little Mo" Slater (previously Morgan and Mitchell) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Kacey Ainsworth from 18 September 2000 to 26 May 2006. Little Mo originally appeared with a turbulent marriag ...

, Johnny Allen and

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 ...

and oversaw numerous high-profile storylines, such as

’s murder; Billy and Honey’s wedding and daughter being born with

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with child development, physical growth delays, mild to moderate ...

; and the domestic abuse storyline between Denise Fox and Owen Turner as well as the discovery of

Den Watts Dennis "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den". Den was the original landlord of The Queen Victoria public house ...

' body under the Queen Vic. She was also responsible for such ratings-winners as

’s stabbing and the critically acclaimed return of the Mitchell brothers, which drew respective audiences of 12 and 13 million viewers. Other storylines, however, such as a brief lesbian affair between Sonia and Naomi, "

Get Johnny Week "Get Johnny Week" is a week-long storyline in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', which was first screened at the end of March 2006. The storyline refers to the character of Johnny Allen ( Billy Murray), the show's main antagonist, and also fe ...

", and the handling of

's departure were not as well received, and prompted further media criticism; in July 2006, ''EastEnders'' fell to just 3.9 million viewers, its lowest-ever viewing figure. Her final episode aired on 4 January 2007. In December 2012, Harwood took the position of BBC Head of Drama, replacing John Yorke. In March 2014, it was announced that Harwood was to leave the BBC to take up a position as managing director of

, previously a successful producer of British television drama from the 1970s to the early 1990s, then being revived as a company by owners Fremantle Media.

Family

Her grandfather, Admiral Sir

Henry Harwood Admiral Sir Henry Harwood Harwood, KCB, OBE (19 January 1888 – 9 June 1950), was a British naval officer who won fame in the Battle of the River Plate. Early life Following education at Stubbington House School, Harwood entered the Ro ...

, KBE, OBE (as Commodore) was commander of Force G during the pursuit that resulted in the scuttling of the German 'pocket battleship' '' Admiral Graf Spee'' after the

Battle of the River Plate The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, command ...

, off Uruguay, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

(these events were later the basis of the 1956 film '' The Battle of the River Plate''). His sons Henry and Stephen both served as officers in the Royal Navy. Her brother, Anthony Harwood, as of 2006 was Head of News at the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ci ...

'', a British newspaper.Trivia sectio
Internet Movie Database
Accessed 19 September 2006

References

External links

BBC appoints new Executive Producer for EastEndersBBC reshuffles top drama execs
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harwood, Kate British television producers British women television producers Soap opera producers Living people Alumni of the University of Birmingham Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)