Lorraine Newman

Lorraine Newman (born 1978) is a British scriptwriter, television producer, and the executive producer of the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2012 to 2013. Newman was also the executive producer of Babs, a BBC biopic about Dame Barbara Windsor.

Career

EastEnders

Newman first began working on the BBC soap opera EastEnders aged 19 as a script secretary and, according to John Yorke (Controller of BBC Drama Production and New Talent), is the first executive producer to have "occupied every editorial role on the show".

In March 2012, it was announced that the then current executive producer of EastEnders, Bryan Kirkwood was to step down, with "experienced series producer" Newman taking over the role on a temporary basis.

As Executive Producer One of Newman's first key tasks as temporary executive producer was to oversee production of a special episode featuring a live segment in which the character of Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) carries the Olympic Torch as an official torch bearer in the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay. Carl Doran, creative head of the BBC’s Torch coverage, revealed the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and EastEnders production team had worked for two years to organise this. The episode was part of the official torch relay, meaning the torch made a special detour from London to the EastEnders set at the BBC Elstree Centre, Borehamwood.

Billy Mitchell was also involved in one of Newman’s most controversial storylines, in which his granddaughter Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold) has her baby taken away by social worker Trish Barnes. Real-life social workers protested this "unhelpful portrayal",

Newman's first major cast change was reintroduction of Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) in August 2012, which Newman revealed had been a year in the planning. Upon her return, Dean said that Newman was "very good at character insight". Ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe) departed in the same month following the conclusion of the storyline of Heather Trott (Cheryl Fergison)'s murder storyline, with Newman confirming the departure of Anthony Moon (Matt Laspinskas) soon afterwards. Newman later introduced Ava Hartman (Clare Perkins), the secret daughter of Cora Cross (Ann Mitchell), and Ava's son Dexter (Khali Best), and also upgraded Poppy Meadow (Rachel Bright) from a recurring to a regular character. Major departures under Newman’s tenure include Syed Masood (Marc Elliott) and Christian Clarke (John Partridge) in November 2012 and villain Derek Branning (Jamie Foreman), killed off in the Christmas Day episode.

On 29 July 2013, Newman left the post, with Dominic Treadwell-Collins taking over. Her final episode aired on 5 December 2013 In 2018, she returned to EastEnders as a writer.

Filmography Television Year Title Role Employer 1997 EastEnders Script Editor/Secretary BBC1998 City Central EastEnders: The Mitchells - Naked Truths 2000–2001 EastEnders Script Producer 2000 Thin Ice Script Editor 2001–2003, 2005–2012 EastEnders Series Producer 2002 Producer2003 Perfectly Frank Slaters in Detention 2010–2011 EastEnders: E20 Series Producer 2012–2013 EastEnders Executive Producer 2012 Billy's Olympic Nightmare 2016–2017 Babs