'EE' Executive Producer To Leave!
Matthew, Say It Ain't So; We Hardly Knew Ya
By Larry Jaffee
A year and a half into his reign as executive producer of EastEnders, Matthew Robinson has informed the BBC of his intentions to not seek renewal of his contract, which was to expire early next year.
He confirmed the news in an e-mail to the Walford Gazette, the day after rumours spread across the Internet. Robinson said he expected to be gone by the end of the year, with no indication of what he will be doing or why he resigned. Simply, he felt the time was right.
We've just learned that Robinson is being replaced with EastEnders' former chief story editor, John Yorke, who was interviewed for the Walford Gazette by Tim Wilson several years ago in issue No. 16. The headline was prophetic: "How to Succeed at Elstree by Really, Really Trying."
In his relatively short tenure, Robinson certainly made his mark and left a legacy that improved relations with the series fans. It was refreshing to have a chief executive who didn't show contempt for the fan base, and in fact, appreciated the efforts. Robinson's accomplishments were considerable, especially his recognition that the BBC was behind in embracing the Internet as a means to communicate with viewers and keep up the excitement about the programme, and he initiated such innovations as the Walford Cam, 24-hour live camera on the Square, accessible to anyone with a Web connection.
I am especially grateful for the kind words he's always had for the Gazette, unlike some of his predecessors, who essentially banned me from the set in the newspaper's early years. He was also very gracious in showing hospitality to Gazette webmaster Paul Field, who recounted his mid-May trip to the set in the last issue of the Gazette. In this issue on page 5, we get another account, from Paul's wife Denise, of their day on the set. Matthew made time for me too (although not as much), a week after the Fields' visit.
Robinson perhaps will be best remembered for shaking up the EastEnders cast, while presiding over the exits of 26 actors, including some of the show's biggest names who made some career decisions of their own. We're not going to spoil it for anyone, don't worry. But he also brought in a bunch of new talent, most of whom haven't hit U.S. public television screens yet.
His decision to resign was disappointing to the members of EastEnders dedicated Internet newsgroup at rec.arts.tv.uk.eastenders and the UK-American Connexion's UK Soaps Forum, to which Robinson also confirmed the news. Apparently, Robinson was a frequent poster to the newsgroup, participating regularly as himself. As a journalist who has covered the entertainment business for two decades now, I must say that kind of interaction with the common folks is nothing short of extraordinary. Gazette British correspondent Rachey Sim comments: "I am so sorry to see him leave. I was very leery of the stories about the 'hatchet jobs' he had done on the show, but the storylines, the acting and the overall appearance of the show has been great. I love EastEnders, but it really was starting to lag before he came back. Now you are glued to the set with every episode... It doesn't get any better than that. It's too bad that they are losing someone who cared enough to put the spark back in an exceptional show... I also know the cast and crew are extremely fond of Matthew, and he will be sadly missed. I just hope whoever takes over, he or she does not let the soap fall back to the sad old days of the mid-1990s with flagging ratings and silly unbelievable characters. Only time will tell."
"One poster on the newsgroup had this to say: "Despite some people's problems with him, I think he was quite amusing-he didn't have to join the board there or the newsgroup here, and, for a busy executive producer, was quite down to earth. (And from his point of view, the fans of EE must look like a strange bunch -he's probably more concerned in his day-to-day life at EE with budgets, management, ratings, contracts, staffing, making sure that 1.5 hours of decent TV gets made each week, and so on. Must be a tough job, and then he came and faced US as well :)"
Ethan Ericksen, host of the UK-American Connexion's UK Soaps Forum, wrote this to Robinson: "I hope you know that you'll always have a home here and I hope you don't leave us just because you're leaving the show. Just think, now you can kvetch about it with the rest of us, tell us how much better you'd have done, and we'll all agree with you for a change! How can you pass that up?"
As for his successor, the aforementioned John Yorke, we can tell you what we learned from his interview with us in 1996. He earned a university degree in English before starting out as a sound engineer for BBC pop programmes. He then became a chief producer of radio drama. Among his duties were some writing and editing.
In the late 1980s, Yorke enquired about any vacancies at EastEnders, and then producer Barbara Emile wrote back to inform him that nothing was available at the time. "The day after I got her letter, she rang me up and told me that one of the script editors had just resigned and could I please come up to meet her and the show's producers. I jumped at it," he told the Gazette's Tim Wilson.
"I remember watching the very first episode and thinking, "this is great * this is potentially brilliant stuff." So Yorke first was a fan, and by the time he was employed by the series, "I was pretty knowledgeable when it came to goings-on in the show." Within 10 months after joining EastEnders' production team, Yorke was promoted to chief story editor after his predecessor took a position at ITV. "I literally drifted into that job... Luck played a huge part. There really is a large turnover of staff at EastEnders because it is such hard work, turning out three quality shows per week. We're talking a major burnout situation. The amount of work that is demanded of the staff and the effort required is unbelievable. The admiration I have for the EastEnders production team is unending."
In his role as chief story editor, Yorke admitted, "I loved playing God with those characters. And 20 million people watch it every week!"
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