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Mal Young (born 26 January 1957) is a British television producer,
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
and
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
.


Career


Mersey TV

Young began his career in
graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...
. At age 27, he began working in television on the
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 ...
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
'' Brookside''. Over nearly a decade, he worked his way up from extra to become the show's producer in the early 1990s. His tenure was criticised for taking the show away from its social realist roots towards a more sensationalist, ratings-chasing format. He oversaw the iconic Jordache Body Under The Patio storyline, as well as conceiving the first lesbian kiss on pre-watershed British TV achieving record ratings for the series and for Channel 4. He also co-created and produced his own successful drama series for Channel 4, ''And The Beat Goes On''.


Pearson TV

Young moved on to become head of drama at the independent production company Pearson Television, where he oversaw work on ITV police drama ''
The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...
'' and another soap opera, Channel 5's '' Family Affairs'', which he created, and was executive producer on C5's legal drama series, 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 '' Wing and a Prayer''.


BBC

From 1997 to 2004, Young moved to 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 ...
to become the Controller of Continuing Drama Series for the corporation's in-house production arm. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the organisation's in-house continuing episodic drama series. Programmes he oversaw for the BBC included the 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 ...
''; medical dramas '' Doctors'', '' Casualty'', and the latter's spin-off series ''
Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...
'', which he co-created; police dramas '' Dalziel and Pascoe'', '' Waking the Dead'', and '' Merseybeat''; anthology shows '' The Afternoon Play'' and '' Murder in Mind''; legal drama '' Judge John Deed''; rural-set '' Down to Earth''; comedy-drama ''Being April''; and the revival of the science fiction series ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'', although he had left the BBC by the time the new version of ''Doctor Who'' aired in March 2005.


19Television

At the end of 2004, Young became head of drama at independent production company 19Television Limited, part of
Simon Fuller Simon Robert Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer. He is the creator of the Idols (franchise), ''Idols'' TV format, including the British series ''Pop Idol'' and the American ser ...
's 19 Entertainment. Along with former BBC Head of Development Serena Cullen, he was charged with developing new drama formats for the UK and US markets, and split his time between the US and UK. He co-created, wrote, and produced a drama pilot for Fox in March 2007, ''Born in the USA''. He then co-wrote and sold another pilot to The CW in the US, ''Austin Golden Hour'', a real-time medical drama series format for the 2008–2009 season.


''The Young and the Restless''

On 31 December 2015, Young cryptically said on his
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
about what is next for him in 2016, "This year I'm going to be Young and I'm going to be Restless." A few days later, Young sent several other tweets to the Twitter account of the American soap opera, ''
The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...
'', announcing his hiring on the show. It was confirmed by CBS Daytime that Young had been hired as a producer. Young's first episode as a supervising producer aired on 1 February 2016 and his last episode aired on 12 July 2016. On 8 June 2016, after news of the firing of Y&R executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, came confirmation that Young had replaced Phelps as executive producer of the American soap. His first episode as executive producer aired on 13 July 2016. On 31 July 2017, Daytime Confidential announced that both Kay Alden and Sally Sussman Morina would be departing from the show, with Young being named as the new head writer. In December 2018, reports were released saying that Young had departed the show as executive producer and head writer. Young's departure was later announced, as was the news of Josh Griffith and Tony Morina taking over his positions as head writer and executive producer, respectively. In May 2019 at the 46th Daytime Emmy Awards, Young picked up the award for Best Show and Best Writing.


Personal life

Young is married to singer Mari Wilson, whom he met at a charity function in 2001.


Recognition

In September 1999, Young gave the Huw Weldon
Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
lecture at their Cambridge convention. In July 2004, in a poll of industry experts conducted by ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'', he was voted the 9th-most powerful person in television drama. In May 2005, he received a special award for his contribution to television from ITV's Soap Awards. He was the producer of the widely derided '' Desperate Scousewives''. In November 2019, he received a Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from Glasgow Caledonian University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to British television and his support of and commitment to GCU's MA TV Fiction Writing students, where he is a visiting professor.


Positions held


Executive producer


Head writer


References


External links

*
19 Television
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Mal 1957 births Living people BBC executives BBC television producers Broadcast mass media people from Liverpool Channel 4 people British soap opera producers