Dominic Treadwell-Collins

Dominic Treadwell-Collins (born 26 August 1977) is a British television producer, known for his work on the soap operas Family Affairs and EastEnders.

Career

Early work

Treadwell-Collins' first job in television was for the ITV crime drama series Midsomer Murders, devising means of killing off characters.^[2] He moved to Talkback Thames for four years,^[3] working as a story producer on the five soap opera Family Affairs, where he was taught to storyline by Ian Aldwinckle. In 2007, he named the show winning the 2005 British Soap Award for "Best Storyline" the biggest achievement of his career.^[2] Family Affairs was cancelled in 2005, which surprised Treadwell-Collins, who had expected that several award wins meant the show would be extended. He felt that viewers remained "incredibly loyal" to the series, and that it would have had greater longevity had it aired on a different channel, or been better publicised by five.^[4]

EastEnders

Treadwell-Collins began working on the BBC soap opera EastEnders in October 2005,^[3] as a senior story editor under Brigie de Courcy, before becoming story producer in January 2007.^[2] He was responsible for running the EastEnders story department, working with the show's writers to devise future storylines.^[2] In his first year on the show, he created the characters Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell, played by Samantha Womack and Rita Simons.^[5] In response to criticism of the show's lack of characters with disabilities, EastEnders producers planned to introduce several handicapped actors in early 2009. Treadwell-Collins felt that such characters are often portrayed as being "noble or 'worthy'", and suggested that EastEnders subvert this stereotype by making the new roles flawed.^[6] He created the storyline in which the Muslim character Syed Masood struggled to reconcile his faith and sexuality, and his relationship with Christian Clarke, as well as the Who Killed Archie? whodunnit, which culminated in the show's first live episode in February 2010.^[3]

Treadwell-Collins stood down from his EastEnders role on 25 June 2010, becoming head of development at Kudos' Lovely Day production company. The company is run by former EastEnders executive producer Diederick Santer, who commented: "Dominic is a brilliant and original talent, bursting with great ideas and gripping stories. Many of EastEnders‍ '​ best storylines and characters of the last few years have come directly from his imagination and design, and he played an integral part in conceiving and plotting the hugely successful 25th anniversary episodes. I'm delighted to be resuming our creative partnership at Lovely Day." Treadwell-Collins stated: "I have had an amazing time at EastEnders and I couldn't have dreamed of a better place to work. Working on EastEnders has enabled me to create some fantastic storylines and characters that have been received so well but after four-and-a-half years of life in Walford, I feel that it is time to move on and try something new."^[3]

Return to EastEnders

On 29 July 2013, it was announced that Treadwell-Collins would be returning to EastEnders as executive producer, taking over from Lorraine Newman, who resigned from the role after sixteen months on the job. Treadwell-Collins assumed the position on 19 August 2013^[7] and his first episode as executive producer aired on 9 December 2013.

Treadwell-Collins' first major cast change was to introduce Shirley Carter's (Linda Henry) extended family, who took over The Queen Vic - her brother (later revealed to be her son) Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), sister Tina (Luisa Bradshaw-White), Mick's common-law wife Linda (Kellie Bright) ^[8] and their children Lee (Danny-Boy Hatchard), Nancy (Maddy Hill) and Johnny (Sam Strike).^[9] The family was later expanded to include Shirley, Tina and Mick's father Stan Carter (Timothy West), their maternal aunt Babe Smith (Annette Badland)^[10] and their estranged mother Sylvie (Linda Marlowe),^[11] plus Shirley's son Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo) who returned to the show after several years.^[12] Other major characters introduced by Treadwell-Collins include Dot Branning's (June Brown) grandson Charlie Cotton (Declan Bennett),^[13] Pam (Lin Blakley), wife of established recurring character Les Coker (Roger Sloman)^[14] and DC Emma Summerhayes (Anna Acton),a detective investigating the murder of Lucy Beale.^[15]

Treadwell-Collins also reintroduced several characters who had previously featured in the show, including Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) ^[16] Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner),^[17] Jane Beale (Laurie Brett) and Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth),^[18] who all returned permanently, while the likes of Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor),^[19][20] Nick Cotton (John Altman),^[21] Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton),^[22] Rainie Cross (Tanya Franks) ^[23] have all returned for guest appearances. The characters of Shabnam Masood,^[24] Ben Mitchell,^[25] and Martin Fowler^[26] were also reintroduced, but the roles were recast to Rakhee Thakrar, Harry Reid and James Bye respectively.

Personal life

Treadwell-Collins lives in London. He grew up in Radlett, near the BBC Elstree Studios.^[2] His father was the son of an Irish farmer who emigrated to London from his home near Skibbereen, in West Cork, in the mid 1960's and his mother is from North London. Her maiden name is Treadwell which explains the double-barrelled surname. Treadwell-Collins father died in a drowning accident in 1990, when Treadwell-Collins was aged about twelve. As a child Treadwell-Collins had ambitions to work for the BBC, as he lived just down the road from the Elstree Studio, and used to look in through the gates on his way home from school.

References

External links

• Dominic Treadwell-Collins at the Internet Movie Database