Simon Ashdown
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Simon Ashdown is a British television writer, best known as being a BAFTA award-nominated EastEnders writer.
Career
Ashdown is currently series consultant and lead writer on EastEnders. He was involved in the creation of the Slater family, and along with other writers, developed the characters around the actors themselves, rather than the other way round. He created the character of Max Branning and has been responsible for numerous key episodes such as Ethel Skinner’s death, Stacey Slater’s bipolar and the who killed Archie storyline. In 2010 he wrote the twenty fifth anniversary live episode. More recent episodes that he has written include Pat Evans' death, Mandy Salter's second exit, Janine Butcher's temporary exit, the aftermath of David Wick's return and the Jake and Sadie reveal.
Alongside his work on EastEnders he also wrote and co-created, with Jeremy Dyson of The League of Gentlemen, the innovative drama Funland which was nominated for the best drama serial BAFTA in 2005. He wrote the two-part drama Kitchen starring Eddie Izzard and Perfect for Film Four, directed by Rankin and starring Marc Warren. He’s worked on numerous other drama series including City Central, Casualty and has acted as story consultant on numerous productions including Crash Palace for Sky and Come Fly With Me for the BBC. He’s recently adapted Franz Kafka’s The Trial with Jeremy Dyson for the BBC.
The RTÉ series Raw is based on Kitchen, it is currently in its 4th season.
Writing credits
| Production | Notes | Broadcaster |
|---|---|---|
| EastEnders |
|
BBC One |
| Casualty |
|
BBC One |
| City Central |
|
BBC One |
| EastEnders: Ricky & Bianca |
|
BBC One |
| Perfect |
|
N/A |
| Holby City |
|
BBC One |
| Funland |
|
BBC Three |
| Kitchen |
|
Channel 5 |
| Come Fly with Me |
|
BBC One |
| EastEnders: Phil on Remand |
|
BBC Red Button |
| EastEnders: Billy's Olympic Nightmare |
|
BBC Red Button |
| EastEnders: All I Want for Christmas Is... |
|
BBC Red Button |
| EastEnders: T&B 4Eva |
|
BBC Red Button |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | British Academy Television Awards | Funland | Best Drama Serial (with Kenton Allen, Jeremy Dyson and Sanne Wohlenberg) | Nominated |
| 2008 | British Soap Award | EastEnders (the aftermath of Max Branning and Stacey Branning's affair) | Best Storyline (with Charlie Clements, Jo Joyner, Lacey Turner and Jake Wood) | Won |
| 2009 | British Soap Award | EastEnders (Bianca discovers Tony is a paedophile) | Best Storyline | Nominated |
| 2010 | British Soap Award | EastEnders: "Who Killed Archie?" | Best Storyline | Won |
| 2011 | British Soap Award | EastEnders (Billie Jackson's death) | Best Single Episode | Nominated |
| Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award | EastEnders: "Dot's Impossible Decision" | Best Continuing Drama | Nominated | |
| 2012 | British Soap Award | EastEnders | Special Achievement | Won |
| British Soap Award | EastEnders (Pat Evans's death) | Best Single Episode (with Pam St. Clement and Jennie Darnell) | Nominated | |
| British Soap Award | EastEnders (The Brannings deal with Tanya's cancer diagnosis) | Best Storyline | Nominated | |
| 2013 | British Soap Award | EastEnders (The demise of Derek Branning) | Best Exit (with Jamie Foreman and Jennie Darnell) | Nominated |
| British Soap Award | EastEnders (The identity of Kat's lover is revealed) | Best Single Episode (with Karl Neilson) | Nominated | |
| British Soap Award | EastEnders (The demise of Derek Branning) | Best Storyline | Nominated |
References
External links