Frost & Beedles quit Corrie/Emmerdale roles

[eithne]

Two of ITV's biggest programmes are preparing for a shakeup as Steve Frost and Kathleen Beedles have quit their soap production roles after two years.

Frost and Beedles – Producer of Coronation Street and Series Producer of Emmerdale respectively – will have both vacated their offices by the beginning of next year.

A spokeswoman for the broadcaster said: "Producers normally work on successful dramas like Coronation Street and Emmerdale for two to three years so their departures are perfectly in keeping with the way soaps work."

The pair will remain with ITV in "new but unspecified roles".

Their successors have not yet been announced.

---

Source: Digital Spy

(Since this concerned both Emmerdale and Corrie I put it here!)

Interesting. Maybe the quality of Emmerdale and Corrie will improve now, with new people behind the desk. EE has vastly improved since Diederick Santer took over at the start of the year.

[RitaLittlewood]

Steve was with Emmerdale what? 4 years? He really turned that around after Kieran Roberts ruined it. But with Kieran breathing down his neck at Corrie (why did they get him back??) there was no way he could do the same there.

As for Kath Beedles, she's ruined Emmerdale so good riddance!

Patsy

[Deleted]

As for Kath Beedles, she's ruined Emmerdale so good riddance!

Quite agree - is there any slight hope that things might improve soon?

[RitaLittlewood]

Shouldn't think so. Took Steve Frost a year to turn it around after Kieran Roberts then Kath Beedles undid all that.

Patsy

[sallywebster]

I cant speak for Emmerdale apart from the fact I stopped watching after 12 years last year due to the drop in standards.

But I disagree about Corrie - Steve Frost has been excellent.

[eithne]

I used to be really into Emmerdale, but now I've turned against it as the storylines are gone so poor. As for Corrie it can still be good, but the bad bits very much balance out the good bits. It's 50/50, so its not really worth watching a lot of the time.

[RitaLittlewood]

They do, Eithne. It's rare for me not to be grabbed by a major spoiler and tune in to have a look. EE is tops, as proved with last night's corker of an ep.

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

Emmerdale does need a giant boot up the arse. I still watch it but not with the same sense of anticipation that I used to. If it wasn`t for Val, Diane, Zak, Lisa, Sam and a few others I probably wouldn`t watch at all. If all the Kings left tomorrow I wouldn`t miss them at all.

[Deleted]

But I disagree about Corrie - Steve Frost has been excellent

I agree Jez - and I think Corrie has managed to keep up a very consistent standard. There have been hardly any episodes I have actively disliked for some time now, and even the occasional ones which are dull usually contain a few bright moments.

Emmerdale is just rubbish - end of. It seems to have no saving graces whatsoever at the moment, which is a crying shame, beacuse there are still a few good characters/actors who could be much better employed with some decent material. I only watch it intermittently now, and never bother to record it.

[RitaLittlewood]

From Media Guardian:

ITV names soap supremos

Ben Dowell
Guardian Unlimited Thursday November 15 2007

ITV today appointed Kim Crowther to the top job on Coronation Street, while Anita Turner will take the helm at Emmerdale, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal.

Crowther, who began working on Coronation Street more than six years ago and left in 2004 to develop other projects for ITV, will take the top post of producer in the new year to allow a handover period with the current producer, Steve Frost.

Frost will bow out at the end of March after two-and-a-half years. Kieran Roberts, the controller of drama for ITV in Manchester, will continue his role as executive producer.

Meanwhile at Emmerdale, Anita Turner, a former script editor on the series who has been working at independent Lime Pictures for the past two years, will take over from series producer Kath Beedles in January and be based in Leeds.

Both Frost and Beedles will remain with ITV Productions taking on what the network calls "important new roles in the drama department".

One of Beedles' first projects will be an Emmerdale related spin-off, which she hopes to produce during 2008.

The controller of drama for ITV in Leeds, Keith Richardson, continues his role as Emmerdale's executive producer.

Crowther, who joined Coronation Street as script editor in 2001 and quickly progressed to the role of series editor, said: "From my time as series editor while Richard Hillman gripped the nation, through to the current meltdown of David Platt, Corrie has proved it does things differently, having the ability to move, amuse and excite its audience all at the same time.

"I'm looking forward to building on the show's recent successes while creating must-see storylines for 2008 and beyond."

Turner has worked in television for 20 years, during which she has worked as script editor on Emmerdale and Coronation Street. She has also script edited Holby City.

Most recently, Turner was the development editor and script editor on a new drama, Apparitions, produced by Liverpool-based indie Lime Pictures.

"Thirty-five years and Emmerdale is still fantastic. Being given the chance to help it go from strength to strength is such an honour - I can't wait," she said.

The director of ITV Productions, John Whiston, said: "It's a time of change for the soaps. In the last couple of years under Steve and Kath and their teams, both soaps have defied gravity and held on to their massive audiences while all around were losing theirs.

"Both Steve and Kath are a terribly tough act to follow. That's why we are all thrilled that we've got Kim and Anita to step into their shoes. These jobs require passion, judgment, diplomacy, invention and above all superhuman stamina.

"I'm also just as excited that we've persuaded Steve and Kath to stay within the company. We will be unleashing them soon into the wider drama arena where I know they will deliver great new shows for ITV Productions."

[eithne]

This article was originally written and posted by a DS member called MarkCEdwards. It grabbed my attention, so I've gotten special permission from him to copy it over here. So this is not by me, its by him but should get you all talking...

---

From the ITV statement, it is clear to anyone who knows ANYTHING about the industry that Steve Frost and Kathleen Beedles were (at the very least) 'nudged' aside... and may well (certainly in Frost's case) have been SACKED...

I know from my own sources that there has always been tension between Kieran Roberts and Steve Frost, anyway...I am certain that Kieran will have looked at the way EE is delivering the goods...and realised that if Corrie was to stand ANY chance of competing, a radical 'revamp' would be needed to freshen things up and clear out deadwood characters.

THAT is his job. Carolyn Reynolds did EXACTLY the same as Kieran has probably done, back in 2001, when she held the post he now occupies, i.e. ITV NW Head of Serial and Continuing Drama...if you cast your minds back to 2001, specifically to October 2001, Corrie had had a 'weak' twelve months and had failed (exactly like it did a few weeks back) to pick the NTA for 'best soap'. In 2001, Carolyn Reynolds realised what Kieran Roberts has realised NOW...that she had to 'edge out' or even 'fire' the then producer, Jane MacNaught, if the show was to be able to 'renew' and win back (not ratings, because it always tends to be slightly ahead of EE, historically, anyway) the 'headlines' and get people believing in the show again.

So as I predicted on here last week, the Corrie failure at the NTA made Kieran Roberts sit back and realise that Corrie must 'change' or risk storing up ever-greater structural problems for next year and beyond.

And so only one outcome was possible...Frost's departure. I am pretty sure that he was taken to one side and quietly told that he should 'step aside' having had a 'decent crack' at the job for two years, in the light of the continuing resurgence of their main rival soap, EE.

Whether Roberts actually had to SACK Frost or not is irrelevant, really. The fact is, he was going to have to go, either voluntarily or by sacking...from the moment of that NTA failure, and coupled with all the negative rumblings from ever-more Corrie fans, Frost's fate was sealed.

I said yesterday that I had been told it was a question of 'WHEN' and not 'IF' it was announced that Frost was going. And I was right (if I may blow my own for a minute or two! Ohhh, err, missus!).

The announcement comes today, via Media Guardian.

This is a route they used for both Kieran's and Tony Wood's departures, at the end of their respective reigns...at least they are nothing if not predictable at ITV, these days.

As for who will replace Steve Frost...well, I still favour a bold choice like reforming, modernising 'Park-ite' producer Alison Davis, or maybe the current HollyOaks boss who has proved he favours big, meaty dramatic storylining and strong characters...and he is ruthless enough to be brave and get rid of all that Corrie deadwood which is ruining the show just now.

But knowing ITV, they may spring a surprise on us that NO-ONE had thought of. Let us just hope that it is the RIGHT choice for Corrie. We cannot afford another Frost-esque period of 'blandness'.

---

So what do we all think?

[RitaLittlewood]

I heard Steve didn't even want the job and was ordered to take it. Also with Kieran breathing down his neck, how could he do what he wanted? He had a hell of a job getting Emmerdale back on track after Kieran left it full of misery and sensational storylines but he succeeded and stamped his own mark on the show, which Kath Beedles has now undone. Kieran is obsessed with sensationalism. Corrie was at its least humourous under him (as was Emmerdale). There was a marked difference at the end of 2003 in Corrie. The humour returned and it became enjoyable to watch again and it's obvious that was down to Carolyn Reynolds. Kieran went around August even though his name was still on the credits (as was Jane McNaught's) until Tony Wood took over. Kieran started this focusing on certain characters week in, week out. It was all Richard Hillman under his tenure and once he'd gone you could see Corrie had lost its way and forgotten how to write for the others. Sadly that trend has continued. I had high hopes Steve would turn the show around but as soon as Kieran was announced as his boss I said he wouldn't stand a chance. As for Steve being sacked, I don't believe that. His contract was 2 years which is precisely what he'll have done. It had nothing to do with not winning Best Soap. Jane McNaught on the other hand was made a scapegoat. She had been under orders to include issues and other things while they experimented with more episodes a week and got the blame when it went wrong. Her episodes during 2000 were excellent. Pathos and comedy, just the right blend which Kieran erased from the show. It beggared belief they had him back at all. Tony Wood made a promising start but then even he gave up trying. All the while Kieran's there nothing can change. So that poster is talking out of his backside as he didn't even know the tenure of Steve's contract. It's coming to an end and Steve is getting out of a job he never wanted.

Patsy

[sallywebster]

I agree it has nothing to do with not winning awards. I doubt the execs at ITV take any notice of whether Corrie win or not.

I also agree that Jane MacNaught's first year was excellent. It went depressing in 2001 with rape, cancer, internet perverts etc but that was because she was told to do 1 sensational story a month as Patsy said.

We will have to see how the new producer does - personally I dont have a problem with Steve Frost. THe show has improved loads compaired to when Tony Wood was producer.

[RitaLittlewood]

The problem with issues is people pay attention for the duration of the storyline then forget about it. How many times have the dangers of carbon monoxide been mentioned since they did it with Reet in 1998? How many times are parents warned about the danger of paedos on the Net since Sarah's storyline? How many woman are still not going for regular smears since Alma? There is just no point to them. Under Steve Frost's tenure, Emmerdale became what Corrie used to be. Unfortunately he was never given the chance at Granada to make Corrie what it used to be. If Carolyn Reynolds or someone like her was his boss I think he would have done it. But Kieran is so crap no one stands a chance all the while he's there calling the shots.

Patsy

[SharonHarvey2]

Too be honest it is getting worse, and I am stopping watching it. I mean you have Debbie Dingle now being bessie mates with Scarlett just to get her hands on her inheritance (Like mother like daughter) only a different way of doing it.

And then you have got Jimmy who is trying to seduce his half sisters mother, who is quite happy to allow him, for his money after all she has been with all the King's men except Matt.

They are getting like the flamin Dingles, they have made a mess of the King Family.

[RitaLittlewood]

This new boss will really have her work cut out to turn it around.

Patsy

[chewy]

Kim Crowther is definatley in charge now, with the deadwood such as Paul and Lauren suddenly 'leaving' and a big storyline coming up (The Fire) and with Liam leaving it looks like the Connor's will finally be out of the limelight.

[RitaLittlewood]

Fire? Another one?

Patsy

[sallywebster]

How many fires is that now?

[chewy]

Still less than the other two's

[RitaLittlewood]

So what's burning down THIS time?

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

It`s Leannes restaurant innit? I recall reading somewhere that Paul burns it down for the insurance to pay some heavies.

[RitaLittlewood]

Oh that one. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Patsy