Karl Neilson (born 1971 in Liverpool) has directed 181 episodes of EastEnders since September 2001, them including eight double episodes, three co-directed episodes with Sean O'Connor and one live episode. He took a minor break in 2008 but returned the following year. Beforehand in the late 1990s, Karl worked as the third, before graduating to the second, assistant director on the show. He also directed episodes three and five of the spin-off series Kat and Alfie: Redwater in 2017.
After initially working as a van driver, he returned to full-time education with a Media Production Bachelor of Arts course at Bournemouth University. He has worked on shows such as Family Affairs, Minder, The Bill, Casualty, Holby City, Hollyoaks and Coronation Street.
Episodes directed by Karl Neilson[]
2000s[]
2001[]
2002[]
- 1 April 2002
- 2 April 2002
- 4 April 2002
- 5 April 2002
- 8 July 2002
- 9 July 2002
- 11 July 2002
- 12 July 2002
- 16 September 2002
- 17 September 2002
- 19 September 2002
- 20 September 2002
- 5 November 2002 (*See notes below)
- 7 November 2002 (*See notes below)
2003[]
- 13 January 2003
- 14 January 2003
- 16 January 2003
- 17 January 2003
- 24 February 2003
- 25 February 2003
- 27 February 2003
- 28 February 2003
- 9 June 2003
- 10 June 2003
- 12 June 2003
- 13 June 2003
- 17 November 2003
- 18 November 2003
- 20 November 2003
- 24 November 2003
2004[]
2005[]
- 4 April 2005
- 5 April 2005
- 7 April 2005
- 8 April 2005
- 30 May 2005
- 31 May 2005
- 2 June 2005
- 3 June 2005
- 25 July 2005
- 26 July 2005
- 28 July 2005
- 29 July 2005
- 19 September 2005
- 20 September 2005
- 22 September 2005
- 23 September 2005
2006[]
- 16 January 2006
- 17 January 2006
- 19 January 2006
- 20 January 2006
- 24 April 2006
- 25 April 2006
- 27 April 2006
- 28 April 2006
- 15 June 2006 ⏱
- 16 June 2006 ⏱
- 24 July 2006
- 25 July 2006
- 27 July 2006
- 28 July 2006
2007[]
- 5 January 2007
- 8 January 2007
- 9 January 2007
- 11 January 2007
- 12 January 2007
- 24 September 2007
- 25 September 2007
- 27 September 2007
- 28 September 2007
2009[]
- 9 March 2009
- 10 March 2009
- 12 March 2009
- 16 March 2009
- 14 September 2009
- 15 September 2009
- 17 September 2009
2010s[]
2010[]
- 17 May 2010
- 18 May 2010
- 20 May 2010
- 21 May 2010
- 20 July 2010 ⏱
- 22 July 2010
- 23 July 2010
- 13 September 2010
- 14 September 2010
- 16 September 2010
- 17 September 2010
- 1 November 2010
- 2 November 2010
- 4 November 2010
- 5 November 2010
2011[]
- 12 April 2011
- 14 April 2011
- 15 April 2011
- 18 April 2011
- 14 June 2011
- 16 June 2011
- 17 June 2011
- 20 June 2011
- 15 August 2011
- 16 August 2011
- 18 August 2011
- 19 August 2011
- 18 October 2011
- 20 October 2011
- 21 October 2011
- 24 October 2011
- 13 December 2011
- 15 December 2011
- 16 December 2011
- 19 December 2011
2012[]
- 23 April 2012
- 24 April 2012
- 26 April 2012
- 27 April 2012
- 20 June 2012 ⏱
- 22 June 2012 ⏱
- 15 August 2012
- 16 August 2012
- 17 August 2012 - Part 1
- 17 August 2012 - Part 2
- 1 October 2012
- 2 October 2012
- 4 October 2012
- 5 October 2012
- 18 December 2012
- 20 December 2012
- 21 December 2012
- 24 December 2012
2013[]
- 29 July 2013
- 30 July 2013
- 1 August 2013
- 2 August 2013
- 31 October 2013
- 1 November 2013
- 4 November 2013
- 5 November 2013
- 25 December 2013 ⏱
- 26 December 2013
- 27 December 2013
2014[]
2015[]
- 17 February 2015
- 18 February 2015
- Episode 5017/5018 - Look Back in Anger (19 February 2015)
- 19 February 2015 ⏱
- 20 February 2015
2016[]
2017[]
- 15 May 2017
- 16 May 2017
- 18 May 2017
- 19 May 2017
- 17 July 2017
- 18 July 2017
- 20 July 2017
- 21 July 2017
- 25 December 2017 ⏱
- 26 December 2017
- 22 March 2018 - Part 2
2018[]
- 21 May 2018
- 22 May 2018
- 24 May 2018
- 25 May 2018
- 3 September 2018
- 4 September 2018
- 6 September 2018
- 7 September 2018
2019[]
- 24 June 2019
- 25 June 2019 - Part 1
- 25 June 2019 - Part 2
- 27 June 2019
- 2 September 2019
- 3 September 2019
- 5 September 2019
- 6 September 2019
2020s[]
2021[]
2022[]
2023[]
- 29 May 2023
- 30 May 2023
- 31 May 2023
- 1 June 2023
- 28 August 2023
- 29 August 2023
- 30 August 2023
- 31 August 2023
2024[]
- 15 July 2024
- 16 July 2024
- 17 July 2024
- 18 July 2024
- 23 December 2024
- 24 December 2024
- 25 December 2024 - Part 1
- 25 December 2024 - Part 2
- 26 December 2024
Notes[]
The below episodes Sean O'Connor was no credited but according to BBC Archives he Co-directed with Karl Neilson.
- 5 November 2002 (Co-directed with Sean O'Connor)
- 7 November 2002 (Co-directed with Sean O'Connor)
The below episodes Karl Neilson was no credited but according to BBC Archives he Co-directed with Sean O'Connor.
Kat and Alfie: Redwater[]
- Kat and Alfie: Redwater (Episode 3)
- Kat and Alfie: Redwater (Episode 5)