Phil Collinson
Encyclopedia
Philip "Phil" Collinson is a British
television producer
. He was initially an actor, before switching to working behind the cameras in the industry as a script editor
and writer on programmes such as Springhill and Emmerdale
, later becoming the producer of Peak Practice
, Doctor Who
and Coronation Street
.
, and the first seasons of 1950s-set Born and Bred
and paranormal thriller Sea of Souls
. In January 2004, he started work as the tenth full-time in-house producer of the BBC science-fiction programme Doctor Who
.
While he was an actor, the role of Alexander in the 1999 Channel 4
drama Queer as Folk was written especially for him by his friend Russell T Davies. However, after Antony Cotton
auditioned for the production team, Davies and his fellow producers felt they had no choice but to offer the role to him instead of Collinson.
Collinson took a break from his Doctor Who production responsibilities for part of the 2007 series; Susie Liggat
took his place for a month according to issue 372 of Doctor Who Magazine, while Collinson took a holiday. There was some confusion when Collinson's break was first announced, with some reports claiming that Collinson was leaving the series. "There was this whole madness last year when it was announced that... Susie was going to produce a couple of episodes," Collinson told Doctor Who Magazine in issue 380, "cos everyone immediately thought that I was leaving, and she was taking over. My friends thought I was seriously ill! Why else would I leave Doctor Who?" Collinson's holiday coincided with the filming of the two-parter "Human Nature
"/"The Family of Blood
"; he does however receive an executive producer
credit for these episodes. Liggat also produced five episodes of the 2008 series.
Collinson also served as an executive producer on the CBBC
Doctor Who spin-off
The Sarah Jane Adventures
.
The BBC confirmed on 1 February 2008 that Collinson would be leaving his position on Doctor Who, to return to Manchester as BBC Head of Drama for the region. After less than two years in this role, it was announced in late 2009 than Collinson would be leaving the BBC to take over as producer of ITV
's top-rated soap opera Coronation Street
.
Collinson is openly gay, and admits that Doctor Who has a special appeal for LGBT
people: "I can only talk for myself, and when I was a teenager," he said in a March 2007 interview. "For me, as a young boy and a teenager, growing up in the north of England, in a world where I could never imagine being a gay man, let alone settling down and finding someone, I think Doctor Who was really asexual. There were programmes like The Sweeney
which were very much about men chasing women, men getting women, whereas with Doctor Who you had a show that never really dealt with that."
In July 2010 Collinson took over from Kim Crowther, as the new producer of Coronation Street
. His first credited episode aired on 26 July 2010. In April 2011, stories broke that current and ex-members of the cast were concerned by the number of gay plotlines introduced into the under Collinson and he admits that he uses his show to push gay rights. It was reported in July 2011 that ratings for Coronation Street were falling, with some attributing this to the emphasis on gay characters and plotlines instead of portraying a working class depiction of life which Coronation Street had successfully moulded into.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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...
. He was initially an actor, before switching to working behind the cameras in the industry as 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...
and writer on programmes such as Springhill and Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
, later becoming the producer of Peak Practice
Peak Practice
Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time...
, 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 Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
.
Career
Collinson has produced several series for the BBC, including the comedy drama Linda GreenLinda Green
Linda Green is a British television comedy-drama series that lasted for two series, screened in 2001 and 2002. The twenty half-hour episodes were broadcast on BBC One and produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company....
, and the first seasons of 1950s-set Born and Bred
Born and Bred
Born and Bred is a light-hearted British drama series that aired on BBC One from 2002 to 2005. Created by Chris Chibnall and Nigel McCrery, Born and Breds cast was led by James Bolam and Michael French, who play a father and son who run a cottage hospital in Ormston, a fictional Lancashire village...
and paranormal thriller Sea of Souls
Sea of Souls
Sea of Souls is a BBC paranormal drama series, based around the fictional activities of a group of investigators into psychic and other paranormal events. Produced in-house by BBC Scotland, initially in association with Sony Pictures Television International, the series debuted on BBC One in the UK...
. In January 2004, he started work as the tenth full-time in-house producer of the BBC science-fiction programme 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...
.
While he was an actor, the role of Alexander in the 1999 Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
drama Queer as Folk was written especially for him by his friend Russell T Davies. However, after Antony Cotton
Antony Cotton
Antony Cotton is an English actor and singer best known for his roles in Coronation Street and the original UK version of Queer as Folk.-Early and personal life:...
auditioned for the production team, Davies and his fellow producers felt they had no choice but to offer the role to him instead of Collinson.
Collinson took a break from his Doctor Who production responsibilities for part of the 2007 series; Susie Liggat
Susie Liggat
Susie Liggat is a British television producer. Her career had predominantly been as a first assistant director, in which capacity she worked on popular series such as Teachers, Black Books, and Casanova, until she became a producer in 2006...
took his place for a month according to issue 372 of Doctor Who Magazine, while Collinson took a holiday. There was some confusion when Collinson's break was first announced, with some reports claiming that Collinson was leaving the series. "There was this whole madness last year when it was announced that... Susie was going to produce a couple of episodes," Collinson told Doctor Who Magazine in issue 380, "cos everyone immediately thought that I was leaving, and she was taking over. My friends thought I was seriously ill! Why else would I leave Doctor Who?" Collinson's holiday coincided with the filming of the two-parter "Human Nature
Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)
"Human Nature" is the eighth episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by Paul Cornell adapted from his 1995 Doctor Who novel Human Nature...
"/"The Family of Blood
The Family of Blood
"The Family of Blood" is the ninth episode of Series 3 of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Preceded by "Human Nature", it is the second episode of a two-part story written by Paul Cornell adapted from his 1995 Doctor Who novel Human Nature...
"; he does however receive an 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...
credit for these episodes. Liggat also produced five episodes of the 2008 series.
Collinson also served as an executive producer on the 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...
Doctor Who spin-off
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....
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...
.
The BBC confirmed on 1 February 2008 that Collinson would be leaving his position on Doctor Who, to return to Manchester as BBC Head of Drama for the region. After less than two years in this role, it was announced in late 2009 than Collinson would be leaving the BBC to take over as producer of ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's top-rated soap opera Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
.
Collinson is openly gay, and admits that Doctor Who has a special appeal for LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
people: "I can only talk for myself, and when I was a teenager," he said in a March 2007 interview. "For me, as a young boy and a teenager, growing up in the north of England, in a world where I could never imagine being a gay man, let alone settling down and finding someone, I think Doctor Who was really asexual. There were programmes like The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
which were very much about men chasing women, men getting women, whereas with Doctor Who you had a show that never really dealt with that."
In July 2010 Collinson took over from Kim Crowther, as the new producer of Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. His first credited episode aired on 26 July 2010. In April 2011, stories broke that current and ex-members of the cast were concerned by the number of gay plotlines introduced into the under Collinson and he admits that he uses his show to push gay rights. It was reported in July 2011 that ratings for Coronation Street were falling, with some attributing this to the emphasis on gay characters and plotlines instead of portraying a working class depiction of life which Coronation Street had successfully moulded into.
Producer
- Linda GreenLinda GreenLinda Green is a British television comedy-drama series that lasted for two series, screened in 2001 and 2002. The twenty half-hour episodes were broadcast on BBC One and produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company....
(2001) - Born and BredBorn and BredBorn and Bred is a light-hearted British drama series that aired on BBC One from 2002 to 2005. Created by Chris Chibnall and Nigel McCrery, Born and Breds cast was led by James Bolam and Michael French, who play a father and son who run a cottage hospital in Ormston, a fictional Lancashire village...
(6 episodes, 2002) - Sea of SoulsSea of SoulsSea of Souls is a BBC paranormal drama series, based around the fictional activities of a group of investigators into psychic and other paranormal events. Produced in-house by BBC Scotland, initially in association with Sony Pictures Television International, the series debuted on BBC One in the UK...
(6 episodes, 2004) - Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor 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...
(48 episodes, 2005–08) - Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
(2010—)
Executive Producer
- Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor 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...
(7 episodes, 2007–08) - The Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane AdventuresThe 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...
(11 episodes, 2007)
External links
- Portrait on imitation £20 note, BBC prop from Runaway Bride
