Executive Producer

A executive producer oversees the work of the producer on behalf of the studio, the financiers or the distributors. They will ensure a film or television programme is completed on time, within budget, and to agreed artistic and technical standards. They are one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product.

EastEnders has had twenty-two individuals who have held the role of executive producer. John Yorke has held this position on two occasions firstly from 2000 to 2002 and secondly from 2017 to 2019. Some have served on different titles but all been responsible for the same role. For example, the current executive producer of EastEnders is Kate Oates who is currently serving under the title Senior Executive Producer. Another example is Mike Gibbon whom throughout his whole reign was credited as just the producer although he had more of a significant role than a producer would typically have.

Note: From February 1985 to February 1987 the creator of the show Julia Smith was only credited under the title producer although she was the executive producer. From then on she was credited as the Series Producer until February 1989. The same goes for her successor Mike Gibbon, his role is stated above. In John Yorke's second stint as executive producer, he was credited as the executive consultant although he had the same privileges as an executive producer and the same goes for his successor Kate Oates which her role is also stated above. It wasn't until Michael Ferguson served under the title that the individual was credited as the executive producer.

Another notable thing is that from 1991 to 1992 there were five people all working under the same title there were no other than Corinne Hollingworth, Pat Sandys, Helen Greaves, Leonard Lewis and Barbara Emile in which three of them went on to serve the title individually as the years passed on. The reason for so many people working under the same title was because the show was developed into a new regime in which the writers of the schedule would drive the series. Individual stories would be written and agreed or discarded at regular story conferences, and the progression of those stories would be the responsibility of the individual episode writers, with the script department providing guidance rather than prescriptive episodic storylines.