Simon Ashdown is a British television writer, best known as being a BAFTA award-nominated '' EastEnders'' writer.

Career

From 1995 to 2013, Ashdown was series consultant and lead writer on ''EastEnders''. He was involved in the creation of the

Slater family The Slater family is an American philanthropic, political, and manufacturing family from England, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut whose members include the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution," Samuel Slater, a prominent ...

, and along with other writers, developed the characters around the actors themselves, rather than the other way round. He created the character 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 N ...

and was responsible for numerous key episodes such as

Ethel Skinner Ethel Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 ''EastEnders'' special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which ...

's death,

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

's bipolar and the "

Who Killed Archie? "Who Killed Archie?" is a storyline from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. It began on 25 December 2009, Christmas Day, when the character Archie Mitchell, played by Larry Lamb, was murdered by an unseen person. Events leading up to and followin ...

" storyline. In 2010 he wrote the twenty fifth anniversary live episode, " ''EastEnders'' Live". More recent episodes that he has written include Pat Evans' death,

Mandy Salter Mandy Salter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Nicola Stapleton. Introduced on 12 March 1992 by producer Leonard Lewis, Mandy was portrayed as a teenage tearaway. She was featured in storylines about t ...

's second exit,

Janine Butcher Janine Carter (also Butcher, Evans and Malloy) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', introduced in 1989. The character was played by Rebecca Michael from 1989 to 1993, Alexia Demetriou from 1993 to 1996, and Charli ...

's temporary exit, the aftermath of

David Wicks David Wicks is a fictional character from the BBC TV soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Michael French. David originally appeared from 23 December 1993 to 21 November 1996. He returned to the show on 1 January 2012 and departed two weeks late ...

' return and the

Jake Stone Jake Stone is the name of: * Jake Stone (singer), member of Bluejuice * Jake Stone (''EastEnders''), fictional character {{Hndis, Stone, Jake ...

and

Sadie Young The following are characters who first appeared in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' during 2013, listed by order of first appearance. New characters were introduced by Lorraine Newman, executive producer until December 2013, when Dominic Trea ...

reveal. He returned to ''EastEnders'' to write the Christmas 2017 episode which saw

Tanya Branning Tanya Cross (also Branning and Jessop) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', played by Jo Joyner. She made her first appearance on 27 June 2006. Joyner left the show temporarily on 25 December 2009 for maternity leave ...

return and

Abi Branning Abi Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Lorna Fitzgerald. She was introduced by executive producer Kate Harwood on 3 July 2006 as an extension to the Branning family, along with father Max ...

and

Lauren Branning Lauren Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. The role was originated by Madeline Duggan, who first appeared on 3 July 2006. Duggan played the role for four years until her exit on 23 June 2010. Three months l ...

fall from a rooftop. He then returned to write the Christmas 2018 episodes, in which

Hayley Slater The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' in 2018, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the show's executive consultant, John Yorke. Madhav Sharma and Indira Joshi ...

pushes

Alfie Moon Alfie Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Shane Richie. He made his first appearance on 21 November 2002, and left on 25 December 2005. He returned to ''EastEnders'' on 21 September 2010, following t ...

down the stairs and he then kidnaps their daughter, Cherry Slater. He returned to EastEnders in December 2019 and in September 2020, to write the climax of

Linda Carter Linda Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Kellie Bright. She first appeared on 19 December 2013 and her casting was announced alongside her on-screen partner, Mick Carter (Danny Dyer). Linda was ...

's battle with alcoholism and

Chantelle Atkins The following is a list of characters introduced to the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' in 2019, by order of first appearance. The characters are introduced by the show's executive consultant, John Yorke, or his successors, senior executive pr ...

's death at the hands of husband

Gray Atkins The following is a list of characters introduced to the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' in 2019, by order of first appearance. The characters are introduced by the show's executive consultant, John Yorke, or his successors, senior executive pr ...

, respectively. In January 2021 he wrote the episode of

Ian Beale Ian Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the drama's longest-serving main character and, following the departure of Pauline Fowler ( Wendy Richard) in 2006, became the only one ...

's departure and the following month, he wrote the departing episode of

. Alongside his work on ''EastEnders'', he also wrote and co-created, with

Jeremy Dyson Jeremy Dyson (born 14 June 1966) is a British author, musician and screenwriter who, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is one of the League of Gentlemen. He also created and co-wrote the West End show ''Ghost Stories' ...

of ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

'', the innovative drama '' Funland'' which was nominated for the Best Drama Serial BAFTA in 2006. He wrote the two-part drama ''Kitchen'' starring

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

and ''Perfect'' for Film Four, directed by

Rankin Rankin may refer to: Places Australia *Division of Rankin, an electoral district in the Australian Federal House of Representatives, in Queensland Canada *Rankin Inlet, Nunavut *Rankin Inlet Airport, Nunavut * Rankin River, Ontario * Rankin Locat ...

and starring

Marc Warren Marc Warren (born 20 March 1967) is an English actor, known for his British television roles. His roles have included Albert Blithe in '' Band of Brothers'', Danny Blue in ''Hustle'', Dougie Raymond in ''The Vice'', Dominic Foy in '' State ...

. He has worked on numerous other drama series including ''City Central'', ''Casualty'' and has acted as story consultant on numerous productions including ''Crash Palace'' for Sky and '' Come Fly With Me'' for the BBC. He recently adapted Franz Kafka's ''The Trial'' with Jeremy Dyson for the BBC. The

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

series '' Raw'' is based on ''Kitchen'', it is currently in its fourth season.

Writing credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashdown, Simon Year of birth missing (living people) Living people BAFTA winners (people) British male television writers