Brian Park
Brian Park is an Scottish television producer and executive. He was born in Fife but lived in Aberdeen’s Bucksburn between the ages of nine and 17.[1] He acted as a child and when he was 13 he joined the Aberdeen Children’s Theatre and appeared in an episode of Dr Finlay’s Casebook.[1]
Park joined Granada Television after graduating from Edinburgh University. He rose through the television ranks and, after leaving for a two-year spell with Tyne Tees Television, he returned to Granada in 1992 as head of entertainment where he produced the award-winning Prime Suspect, September Song and the pilot for My Wonderful Life.[2]
In 1997, Park was appointed executive producer of the long-running soap opera Coronation Street following a decline in its ratings. Park became known as the "axeman" in the popular press after her axed several long-running characters including Derek Wilton, Andy McDonald, Bill Webster, Maureen Holdsworth, and Don Brennan. He introduced more sensational storylines such as Deirdre Rachid's false imprisonment, as well as a range of new characters such as transexual Hayley Cropper and the Battersbys, in a bid to capture the younger audience and reinvent the show.[3] His torylines were ratings successes.[1]
Park left Coronation Street in 1998 to start Shed Productions with script executive Ann McManus, which produced popular TV shows such as Family Affairs, Bad Girls, Waterloo Road and Footballers Wives.[1][4]
In 2009, Park had a brain aneurysm while on holiday in Italy and underwent brain surgery.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Former Coronation Street boss recovering from brain surgery". Evening Express. 25 Novermber 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "I WON'T SHED MORE BLOOD ON THE STREET". The Mirror. 11 June 1997. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
- ^ "NIGHTMARE ON CORRIE STREET; I had to think of show's future says soap boss". The Mirror. 24 May 1997. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
- ^ "THE SOAP CZAR; Corrie producer Park is leaving Weatherfield to take on the world". The Mirror. 6 August 1998. Retrieved 6 April 2011.