Julie Gardner
Encyclopedia
Julie Gardner is a Welsh
television producer
. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer
on the 2005 revival of Doctor Who
and its spin-off
shows Torchwood
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
. She worked on Doctor Who from 2003 to 2009 before moving to Los Angeles
to work at BBC Worldwide
.
, and grew up in the Pont Walby area of Glynneath
where her parents ran a local shop. She attended Llangatwg Comprehensive and Neath Port Talbot College
where she was an outstanding student of A level English, History and Drama. She read English at the Queen Mary College
, University of London
. She initially worked as a teacher at Rhondda College teaching English GCSE and A-Level, before in the mid-1990s she decided to switch to working in the television industry.
drama serial Our Friends in the North
(starring Christopher Eccleston
). Subsequently, she became a script reader and then a script editor
, before working as a producer on BBC dramas such as Silent Witness
and The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
.
In 2000, Gardner began working as a Development Producer at London Weekend Television
. There, she produced dramas including Me and Mrs. Jones
and an updated version of Othello
written by Andrew Davies
and starring Eamonn Walker
and Christopher Eccleston (in the Iago
role). While at LWT, Gardner began working with Welsh writer Russell T Davies on the period drama Casanova.
In 2003, Gardner returned to the BBC as Head of Drama for BBC Wales, bringing Davies' Casanova project with her. Gardner's first assignment from BBC Head of Drama
Jane Tranter
was to head up the revival of Doctor Who. Gardner immediately contacted Davies (who had previously expressed an interest in writing and producing Doctor Who) and began working with him on bringing the programme back to British screens. The new series of Doctor Who debuted in March 2005, to critical and popular acclaim.
Gardner was the BBC's representative in the production of the political romantic comedy The Girl in the Café
(2005), written by Richard Curtis
in conjunction with the Make Poverty History
campaign. Other network dramas commissioned by Gardner at BBC Wales included the multiple personality disorder drama May 33 (2004); domestic abuse-themed one-off Dad (2005); courtroom reconstruction The Chatterley Affair
(2006) and the time travel police series Life on Mars
(2006–2007), produced independently by Kudos Film & Television
.
Gardner and Davies also oversaw two Doctor Who spin-offs
: Torchwood
, an adult (post-watershed
) science fiction drama aired on BBC Three
and BBC Two
, and The Sarah Jane Adventures
, a children's fantasy thriller aired on BBC One and CBBC
.
In September 2006 it was announced that Gardner would succeed Jane Tranter
as the overall Controller of Drama Commissioning at BBC Television
, following Tranter's promotion to the new "Head of Fiction" role. However, Gardner remained in her position at BBC Wales, performing the two jobs simultaneously, until 2009; her roles at BBC Wales and with Doctor Who were then assumed by producer Piers Wenger
.
Gardner received credit for an increase in drama being made in Wales; in 2007, Cardiff-born writer Andrew Davies
called her "the best thing to happen to Welsh drama. Ever."
In March 2009, it was announced that Gardner was to join the staff of Los Angeles
-based BBC Worldwide America
, as executive producer in charge of scripted projects.
It was announced in late 2009, that Julie was five months pregnant and her first child with Doctor Who sound recordist Julian Howarth is expected in late spring/early summer 2010.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
on the 2005 revival of Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
and its spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
shows Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
. She worked on Doctor Who from 2003 to 2009 before moving to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to work at BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...
.
Early life
Gardner was born in NeathNeath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
, and grew up in the Pont Walby area of Glynneath
Glynneath
Glynneath , also spelt Glyn Neath, is a small town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in the historic county of Glamorgan...
where her parents ran a local shop. She attended Llangatwg Comprehensive and Neath Port Talbot College
Neath Port Talbot College
Neath Port Talbot College is a further education institution established as two campuses in Port Talbot and Neath in Wales, United Kingdom....
where she was an outstanding student of A level English, History and Drama. She read English at the Queen Mary College
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. She initially worked as a teacher at Rhondda College teaching English GCSE and A-Level, before in the mid-1990s she decided to switch to working in the television industry.
Television career
Her first job was as a producer's secretary on the second production block of the acclaimed BBC TwoBBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
drama serial Our Friends in the North
Our Friends in the North
Our Friends in the North is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC Two in early 1996...
(starring Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
). Subsequently, she became a script reader and then a script editor
Script editor
A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas with writers, ensuring that scripts are suitable for production...
, before working as a producer on BBC dramas such as Silent Witness
Silent Witness
Silent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...
and The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries is a British television drama series, produced in-house by the BBC for broadcast on the BBC One channel, based on the character created by detective writer Gladys Mitchell...
.
In 2000, Gardner began working as a Development Producer at London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
. There, she produced dramas including Me and Mrs. Jones
Me and Mrs. Jones
"Me and Mrs. Jones" is a soul song written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. It describes an extramarital affair between a man and his lover, Mrs. Jones. It has been recorded by Billy Paul and Michael Bublé, amongst others.-Billy Paul version:"Me and Mrs...
and an updated version of Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
written by Andrew Davies
Andrew Davies (writer)
Andrew Wynford Davies is a British author and screenwriter. He was made a Fellow of BAFTA in 2002.-Education and early career:...
and starring Eamonn Walker
Eamonn Walker
Eamonn Walker is an English film, television and theatre actor. In the United States, he is known for playing Kareem Said in the HBO television series Oz, for which he won a CableACE Award, and elsewere as Winston, the gay, black thorn in Alf Garnett's side in In Sickness and in Health and John...
and Christopher Eccleston (in the Iago
Iago
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...
role). While at LWT, Gardner began working with Welsh writer Russell T Davies on the period drama Casanova.
In 2003, Gardner returned to the BBC as Head of Drama for BBC Wales, bringing Davies' Casanova project with her. Gardner's first assignment from BBC Head of Drama
BBC television drama
BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom...
Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter is an English television executive who has been the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base since January 2009...
was to head up the revival of Doctor Who. Gardner immediately contacted Davies (who had previously expressed an interest in writing and producing Doctor Who) and began working with him on bringing the programme back to British screens. The new series of Doctor Who debuted in March 2005, to critical and popular acclaim.
Gardner was the BBC's representative in the production of the political romantic comedy The Girl in the Café
The Girl in the Café
The Girl in the Café is a British made-for-television drama film directed by David Yates, written by Richard Curtis and produced by Hilary Bevan Jones. The film is produced by the independent production company Tightrope Pictures and was originally screened on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 25...
(2005), written by Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
in conjunction with the Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History is the name of a campaign that exists in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark , Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Ireland...
campaign. Other network dramas commissioned by Gardner at BBC Wales included the multiple personality disorder drama May 33 (2004); domestic abuse-themed one-off Dad (2005); courtroom reconstruction The Chatterley Affair
The Chatterley Affair
The Chatterley Affair is a BBC television drama, produced by BBC Wales and broadcast on BBC Four on 20 March, 2006. It is an account of the obscenity trial surrounding the publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover in 1960...
(2006) and the time travel police series Life on Mars
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
(2006–2007), produced independently by Kudos Film & Television
Kudos (production company)
Kudos Film and Television is a British independent film and television production company. It has produced television series for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, and its productions include Spooks , Hustle, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard and M.I. High...
.
Gardner and Davies also oversaw two Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
: Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
, an adult (post-watershed
Watershed (television)
In television, the term watershed denotes the time period in a television schedule during which programs with adult content can air....
) science fiction drama aired on BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
and BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, and The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
, a children's fantasy thriller aired on BBC One and CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
.
In September 2006 it was announced that Gardner would succeed Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter is an English television executive who has been the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base since January 2009...
as the overall Controller of Drama Commissioning at BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
, following Tranter's promotion to the new "Head of Fiction" role. However, Gardner remained in her position at BBC Wales, performing the two jobs simultaneously, until 2009; her roles at BBC Wales and with Doctor Who were then assumed by producer Piers Wenger
Piers Wenger
Piers Wenger is a British television producer who has been Head of Drama at BBC Wales since January 2009. His work includes the BAFTA-winning Victoria Wood drama Housewife, 49 and the 2007 adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's novel Ballet Shoes....
.
Gardner received credit for an increase in drama being made in Wales; in 2007, Cardiff-born writer Andrew Davies
Andrew Davies (writer)
Andrew Wynford Davies is a British author and screenwriter. He was made a Fellow of BAFTA in 2002.-Education and early career:...
called her "the best thing to happen to Welsh drama. Ever."
In March 2009, it was announced that Gardner was to join the staff of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based BBC Worldwide America
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...
, as executive producer in charge of scripted projects.
It was announced in late 2009, that Julie was five months pregnant and her first child with Doctor Who sound recordist Julian Howarth is expected in late spring/early summer 2010.