Tony Holland
Encyclopedia
Anthony John "Tony" Holland (18 January 1940–28 November 2007) was an English
television screenwriter
best known as a writer and co-creator of the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
.
serial The Savages and Message for Posterity, a serial for The Wednesday Play
in 1967. That same year, a play he developed, The Isle is Full of Noises, was taken up by the BBC and produced by Thirty-Minute Theatre. It was from there, Holland turned to scriptwriting.
Through his agent, Holland was landed a job on Z-Cars
as a writer and script editor
in 1970. It was here that he met producer
and director
, Julia Smith
and started a long and successful working relationship.
Holland and Smith became an established producer/script-editor team during their time on Z-Cars and went on to work for the BBC's hospital drama, Angels
. It was during their time on Angels that the format of the programme was expanded from weekly hour-long episodes to a bi-weekly half-hour serial, with the further possibility of the show being aired all year round.
, Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm
. The BBC wanted this new serial to reflect "London, today!" and together, Smith and Holland came up with the idea of a programme set in a Victorian Square within the East End of London
, focusing on its close working-class families and eccentric Cockney
inhabitants. Thus, EastEnders
was born.
Holland and Smith wanted a primary focus of EastEnders to be a large extended family, representative of the type most typically found in the East End of London. Holland was from a large London family himself, and in creating some of the show's characters he was able to use some of his own experiences as inspiration for EastEnders central clan the Beales and the Fowlers
. In creating the stories and characters, Holland delved into family stories, past and present. His aunt Lou Beale
came to inspire the EastEnders character of the same name, along with her two children Peter
(Pete) and Pauline
. Holland also used some of his experiences as a barman in London's pubs and clubs to create the dynamic pairing of Den
and Angie Watts
, the owners of the Queen Victoria
.
Holland worked on EastEnders for four years, initially as script-editor and going on to script many episodes himself. After four years, Holland and Smith decided to leave EastEnders together in 1989 following a dispute with BBC bosses as to whether the character of Den Watts
(played by Leslie Grantham
) could return to the series following his exit in February of that year after being shot and supposedly killed. The character would ultimately return to the show 14 years later, having survived the shooting despite being presumed dead.
On his departure from EastEnder 1989, Holland was approached by Ireland's national broadcaster RTE
to be a consultant on their new urban soap opera Fair City
.
In 1991, they were famously tempted back to the 'world of Soap' by the BBC to produce Eldorado, loosely based around the lives of expats in Spain. Their new show was launched in July 1992, but plagued by a string of on and off-screen problems, it received little of EastEnders success, and was axed a year later, in July 1993.
In 2001, he was awarded with a Special Achievement Award from the British Soap Awards
, and in 2004 he appeared on the Channel 4
documentary How Soaps Changed The World.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
television screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
best known as a writer and co-creator of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
.
Early career
Tony Holland began his career as an actor, appearing in the 1966 Doctor WhoDoctor 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...
serial The Savages and Message for Posterity, a serial for The Wednesday Play
The Wednesday Play
The Wednesday Play was an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. Every week's play was usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured...
in 1967. That same year, a play he developed, The Isle is Full of Noises, was taken up by the BBC and produced by Thirty-Minute Theatre. It was from there, Holland turned to scriptwriting.
Through his agent, Holland was landed a job on Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
as a writer and 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...
in 1970. It was here that he met 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...
and director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
, Julia Smith
Julia Smith
Julia Smith was an English television director and producer.- Early career :London-born Smith became involved in television production when she directed the series Suspense in 1962...
and started a long and successful working relationship.
Holland and Smith became an established producer/script-editor team during their time on Z-Cars and went on to work for the BBC's hospital drama, Angels
Angels (TV series)
Angels was originally a British television seasonal drama series dealing with the subject of student nurses and was broadcast by the BBC between 1975 and 1978. The show's format then switched to a twice weekly soap opera format from 1979 to 1983. The show's title derived from the name of the...
. It was during their time on Angels that the format of the programme was expanded from weekly hour-long episodes to a bi-weekly half-hour serial, with the further possibility of the show being aired all year round.
EastEnders
In 1983 the BBC approached Holland and Smith to produce a new experience for their channel, a bi-weekly soap-opera that would rival the long established ITV favourites, Coronation StreetCoronation 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...
, Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm
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...
. The BBC wanted this new serial to reflect "London, today!" and together, Smith and Holland came up with the idea of a programme set in a Victorian Square within the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, focusing on its close working-class families and eccentric Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
inhabitants. Thus, EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
was born.
Holland and Smith wanted a primary focus of EastEnders to be a large extended family, representative of the type most typically found in the East End of London. Holland was from a large London family himself, and in creating some of the show's characters he was able to use some of his own experiences as inspiration for EastEnders central clan the Beales and the Fowlers
The Beale/Fowler family
The Beale/Fowler family is a fictional family in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.For many years before the show began, the Beale family consisted of head of the family, Albert, his wife, Lou Beale, and their three children, Kenny and twins Pauline and Pete...
. In creating the stories and characters, Holland delved into family stories, past and present. His aunt Lou Beale
Lou Beale
Louise Ada "Lou" Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anna Wing. The character is played by Karen Meagher in the 1988 EastEnders special, Civvy Street, set during the Second World War....
came to inspire the EastEnders character of the same name, along with her two children Peter
Pete Beale
Peter "Pete" Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Peter Dean. He made his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was created by Tony Holland, one of the creators of EasEnders; he was based on a member of...
(Pete) and Pauline
Pauline Fowler
Pauline Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, a long-running serial drama about working class life in the fictional London borough of Walford. She was played by actress Wendy Richard between 1985 and 2006. Pauline was created by scriptwriter Tony Holland and producer...
. Holland also used some of his experiences as a barman in London's pubs and clubs to create the dynamic pairing of Den
Den Watts
Dennis Alan "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den"....
and Angie Watts
Angie Watts
Angela "Angie" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Anita Dobson from the first episode of the show until 1988 when the actress decided to quit and the character was written out....
, the owners of the Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria
The Queen Victoria is a fictional Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20.-Appearance and development:...
.
Holland worked on EastEnders for four years, initially as script-editor and going on to script many episodes himself. After four years, Holland and Smith decided to leave EastEnders together in 1989 following a dispute with BBC bosses as to whether the character of Den Watts
Den Watts
Dennis Alan "Den" Watts is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actor Leslie Grantham. He became well known for his tabloid nickname, "Dirty Den"....
(played by Leslie Grantham
Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham is an English actor best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the soap opera EastEnders. He is also a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a German taxi driver, and he generated significant press coverage as the result of an online sex scandal...
) could return to the series following his exit in February of that year after being shot and supposedly killed. The character would ultimately return to the show 14 years later, having survived the shooting despite being presumed dead.
On his departure from EastEnder 1989, Holland was approached by Ireland's national broadcaster RTE
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
to be a consultant on their new urban soap opera Fair City
Fair City
Fair City is an award-winning Irish television soap opera on RTÉ One. Produced by Radio Telefís Éireann, it was first broadcast on Monday, September 18, 1989...
.
In 1991, they were famously tempted back to the 'world of Soap' by the BBC to produce Eldorado, loosely based around the lives of expats in Spain. Their new show was launched in July 1992, but plagued by a string of on and off-screen problems, it received little of EastEnders success, and was axed a year later, in July 1993.
In 2001, he was awarded with a Special Achievement Award from the British Soap Awards
British Soap Awards
The British Soap Awards is an annual awards ceremony to honour the best of British soap operas.The first event took place in 1999 and takes place in May each year. Although it is an ITV production, the events were held at the BBC Television Centre, in London until 2010. The 2011 awards relocated to...
, and in 2004 he appeared on the 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...
documentary How Soaps Changed The World.