Mal Young | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1957-01-26)26 January 1957 (age 68) |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Mal Young (born 26 January 1957) is a Britishtelevision producer,screenwriter andexecutive producer.
Young began his career ingraphic design. At age 27, he began working in television on theChannel 4soap operaBrookside.[1] Over nearly a decade, he worked his way up from extra to become the show's producer in the early 1990s. His tenure was criticised for taking the show away from its social realist roots towards a more sensationalist, ratings-chasing format. He oversaw the iconic Jordache Body Under The Patio storyline, as well as conceiving the first lesbian kiss on pre-watershed British TV[2] achieving record ratings for the series and for Channel 4. He also co-created and produced his own successful drama series for Channel 4,And The Beat Goes On.[3]
Young moved on to become head of drama at the independent production companyPearson Television, where he oversaw work onITV police dramaThe Bill[1] and another soap opera,Channel 5'sFamily Affairs, which he created,[4] and was executive producer on C5's legal drama series, theBAFTA-nominatedWing and a Prayer.
From 1997 to 2004, Young moved to theBBC to become theController of Continuing Drama Series for the corporation's in-house production arm. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the organisation's in-house continuing episodic drama series.[5] Programmes he oversaw for the BBC included the soap operaEastEnders; medical dramasDoctors,Casualty, and the latter's spin-off seriesHolby City, which he co-created; police dramasDalziel and Pascoe,Waking the Dead,[6] andMerseybeat;[7] anthology showsThe Afternoon Play andMurder in Mind; legal dramaJudge John Deed; rural-setDown to Earth; comedy-dramaBeing April; and the revival of the science fiction seriesDoctor Who, although he had left the BBC by the time the new version ofDoctor Who aired in March 2005.[8][9]
At the end of 2004, Young became head of drama at independent production company 19Television Limited, part ofSimon Fuller's19 Entertainment.[9] Along with former BBC Head of Development Serena Cullen, he was charged with developing new drama formats for the UK and US markets, and split his time between the US and UK. He co-created, wrote, and produced a drama pilot for Fox in March 2007,Born in the USA. He then co-wrote and sold another pilot to The CW in the US,Austin Golden Hour, a real-time medical drama series format for the 2008–2009 season.[10]
On 31 December 2015, Young cryptically said on hisTwitter about what is next for him in 2016, "This year I'm going to be Young and I'm going to be Restless."[11] A few days later, Young sent several other tweets to the Twitter account of theAmerican soap opera,The Young and the Restless, announcing his hiring on the show. It was confirmed byCBS Daytime that Young had been hired as a producer.[12] Young's first episode as a supervising producer aired on 1 February 2016 and his last episode aired on 12 July 2016.
On 8 June 2016, after news of the firing of Y&R executive producerJill Farren Phelps, came confirmation that Young had replaced Phelps as executive producer of the American soap.[13] His first episode as executive producer aired on 13 July 2016. On 31 July 2017, Daytime Confidential announced that bothKay Alden andSally Sussman Morina would be departing from the show, with Young being named as the new head writer.[14]
In December 2018, reports were released saying that Young had departed the show as executive producer and head writer.[15] Young's departure was later announced, as was the news ofJosh Griffith and Tony Morina taking over his positions as head writer and executive producer, respectively.[16]
In May 2019 at the46th Daytime Emmy Awards, Young picked up the award for Best Show and Best Writing.[17]
Young is married to singerMari Wilson, whom he met at a charity function in 2001.
In September 1999, Young gave theHuw WeldonRoyal Television Society lecture at their Cambridge convention.[18] In July 2004, in a poll of industry experts conducted byRadio Times, he was voted the9th-most powerful person in television drama. In May 2005, he received a special award for his contribution to television from ITV's Soap Awards. He was the producer of the widely deridedDesperate Scousewives.[19] In November 2019, he received aDoctor of Letters (DLitt) fromGlasgow Caledonian University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to British television and his support of and commitment to GCU's MA TV Fiction Writing students, where he is a visiting professor.[20]
| Preceded by | Executive producer ofBrookside (with Phil Redmond) 1991–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Ruth Caleb | Executive producer ofCasualty (with Mervyn Watson: 2002–2004) 1998–2004 | Succeeded by Mervyn Watson |
| Preceded by none | Executive producer ofHolby City (withJohnathan Young: 1999) (withKathleen Hutchison: 2002–2004) 12 January 1999–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | Executive producer ofDoctors 2000–2005 | Succeeded by Will Trotter |
| Preceded by | Executive producer ofThe Young and the Restless (withCharles Pratt Jr.: 13 July – 6 December 2016) (withSally Sussman: 7 December 2016 – 24 October 2017) 13 July 2016 – 5 February 2019 | Succeeded by Anthony Morina andJosh Griffith |
| Preceded by | Head writer ofThe Young and the Restless (withJosh Griffith: 20 March 2019 – 1 April 2019) 25 October 2017 – 1 April 2019 | Succeeded by Josh Griffith |
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