Oliver Kent who is currently in charge at Casualty and Holby City will also now be the big new boss at EastEnders, Doctors and River City

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/east...-is-appointed/

Is this the same role as what Mal Young and John Yorke used to do?

Well considering the state Casualty is in at the moment, this doesn't bode well.

Ahh Oliver oversees holby and casualty now. Iv seen him slated alot but I personally think that both have produced some good stuff recently.

I think this could be a good move. Soc will have someone specific to report into and i reckon Oliver will help develop eastenders

It says it's a newly created position however it does seem similar to the role they both used to have

Thank goodness Sean needs all the help he can get.

Hopefully this move is Good for the Show.

Definitely sounds like a move made by the BBC in light of the criticism SOC is getting right now.

Lets hope he takes the show in a different direction and quick, this mundane stuff is more damaging than any sensational stuff.

Now we won't know who to blame..SOC or OK😊

This may explain the slow start in terms of any new storylines; that and Alex Lamb leaving, of course. The BBC could well have told SOC to simply steer the ship on its current course until the new guy was in place.

He was Eastenders producer between 02-04, what's the point of SOC, it seems like it's just old friends hiring each other a gig as eastenders producer, first DTC to SOC and now Kent.

SOC will still have day to day running and is still the executive producer. Oliver Kent is overseeing EastEnders, Doctors and River City in his new role as Head of Continuing Drama and Series as well as EP to the medical dramas.

Going by the article it seems Oliver will check-in with Sean now and again to see what is going on, how he can help, anything they need etc.

Does SOC spend his days at Elstree?

I always thought Kent would replace Treadwell-Collins as he worked on EE before and obviously oversaw Holby City and Casualty.

Mal Young (1997-2004) and John Yorke (2005-2012) were "Controller of Continuing Drama Series" but it's pretty much the same thing as Kent is doing here.

It just means O'Connor can liaise better with the BBC through Kent, and get on with the actual running of the show rather than being busy doing admin.

I do think this is a big problem with the BBC. It seems everyone flits from job to job and there is very little recruiting of new blood with fresh ideas. Its no wonder the show just goes round in circles and there is definitely a flavour of an old boys club with people getting jobs because of who they know rather than being hired because they are the best person for the job.

I think the BBC as a channel is slowly dying anyway. Its a matter of time before the govt put an end to it and abolish the TV licence and move to a different system altogether.
It just doesn't serve the purpose that the BBC was originally set up to be and people's viewing habits and TV ratings would suggest that sooner or later we're going in a new direction.

Whilst you're probably right in that the BBC shouldn't be afraid of hiring a producer who hasn't got a previous connection to the show, or continuing dramas on the whole (although Santer and Kirkwood would fit into this category), the BBC will usual re-employ their staff elsewhere.

I'm sure they interview a lot of people for EP, but perhaps Treadwell-Collins and Sean O'Connor's previous experience and knowledge meant they got the jobs at the time.

I think its great. Maybe new characters??

I wonder what the position actually entails. Do we think it's more of an admin role, or will he actually be making decisions about the day to day running of the show?

So even the BBC thinks that SOC is shit at his job! Lol

I doubt the BBC would create a position overseeing all continuing drama, just because they thought SOC was shit.

Yes they would. So many people have complained about Eastenders being dull. The BBC have to take notice of that.

Would they not just replace SOC if that was the case?!

Admin.

Will help liaise with each producer on a variety of things such from budgets to resources. Will be the inbetween man from producer to higher execs at the BBC and a helping hand on certain things.

Each EP will be in charge of their own shows content editorially, though.

The BBC didn't create the position on the back of a few negative tweets about a producer who has only just started his job! (and was highly though of indoors from his work at The Archers)

I suppose that's a good thing in terms of SOC getting to concentrate on producing EE, whilst Kent gets to deal with paperwork and finances etc.

Yeah.

I assume Kent could intervene if a storyline was too controversial (When Santer did the paedophile story with Whitney, John Yorke helped get the higher ups to sanction it, for example).

But otherwise it's to ensure smoother productions.