Emma Reeves
Emma Jane Reeves is a Welsh screenwriter and playwright, best known for her extensive work in children's television series such as the Tracy Beaker franchise. She is currently Chair of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain.
Early life and education
[edit]Reeves grew up in Wrexham. She gained a First Class degree in English from Magdalen College, Oxford and an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia.[1]
Career
[edit]Reeves has written extensively for theatre, including shows based on material she would also work on in television, such as Hetty Feather and The Worst Witch, as well as adaptations of Cool Hand Luke and Little Women. In 2005, she moved into television, gaining her first credit on BBC One's Doctors. She became a prolific children's writer following working on The Story of Tracy Beaker, writing for series like Half Moon Investigations, Chuggington and Young Dracula. She would return to the Tracy Beaker franchise several times, writing for Tracy Beaker Returns, spin-off The Dumping Ground and in 2021, My Mum Tracy Beaker.[2] This was followed by The Beaker Girls that same year.[3]
In 2015, she co-created with David Chikwe the CBBC science-fiction series Eve. It starred Poppy Lee Friar[4] that follows the adventures of a gynoid, a female android, named Eve (also known as Project Eternity) living with a family in suburbia, trying to make sense of human life as a teenage girl.[5] It concluded on 14 December 2016 with an hour-long episode, which was later split into two parts when it was repeated in January 2017. Reeves developed and wrote a new adaptation of The Worst Witch,[6] which ran for four series between 2017 and 2020. She would win 'Best British Children's Television' at the British Screenwriters' Awards for her work.[7] In 2019, she helmed a sequel-reboot of The Demon Headmaster for CBBC.[8] While well received, it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reeves returned to adult drama in 2024, writing on the period drama The Hardacres.
Reeves has written audio plays for the Big Finish Doctor Who ranges, starting with Torchwood: Forgotten Lives in 2015.[9] She also wrote for the spin-offs The Diary of River Song and The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield . Outside of the UK, Reeves co-wrote the Lifetime Television movie The Murder of Princess Diana.
References
[edit]- ^ "Emma Reeves". BAFTA. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ "My Mum Tracy Beaker: Dani Harmer to reprise role in reboot after 15 years". The Independent. 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ "Following the record-breaking series My Mum Tracy Beaker, The Beaker Girls are back for a hotly-anticipated new TV series". BBC Media Centre. BBC. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "Poppy Lee Friar". IMDb. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "BBC - Eve - Media Centre". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ Alexander, Susannah (2 November 2014). "The Worst Witch writer reveals new TV adaptation is in development". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- ^ BWW News Desk (3 April 2019). "THE WORST WITCH Flies Into The West End For A Strictly Limited Season". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ Earp, Catherine (11 February 2019). "The Demon Headmaster is being revived by CBBC to terrify a new generation". Digital Spy.
- ^ "03. Torchwood: Forgotten Lives - Torchwood - Monthly Range - Big Finish".
External links
[edit]- Emma Reeves at IMDb
- Living people
- Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
- Alumni of the University of East Anglia
- 21st-century British women writers
- 21st-century Welsh women writers
- Welsh women dramatists and playwrights
- Welsh women screenwriters
- Welsh television writers
- Welsh science fiction writers
- British women television writers
- British women science fiction and fantasy writers