Simon Ashdown
Simon Ashdown is a British television writer, best known as being a BAFTA award-nominated EastEnders writer.
Career
From 1995–2013, Ashdown was 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 was 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, "EastEnders Live". 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 Wicks' return and the Jake Stone and Sadie Young reveal. He returned to EastEnders to write the Christmas 2017 episode which saw Tanya Branning return and Abi Branning and Lauren Branning fall from a rooftop. He then returned to write the Christmas 2018 episodes, in which Hayley Slater pushes Alfie Moon down the stairs and he then kidnaps their daughter, Cherry Slater. He returned to EastEnders in December 2019 and in September 2020, to write the climax of Linda Carter’s battle with alcoholism and Chantelle Atkins’ death at the hands of husband Gray Atkins, respectively.
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 has 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 fourth season.
Writing credits
| Production | Notes | Broadcaster | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EastEnders E20 | Teen drama | BBC Two Northern Ireland & BBC Four | EastEnders | 153 episodes (1995–2013, 2017–present) | BBC One |
| Casualty | "Nightfall" (1996) | BBC One | |||
| City Central | "A Night on the Town" (1998) | BBC One | |||
| EastEnders: Ricky & Bianca | Television film (2002) | BBC One | |||
| Perfect | Short film (2003) | N/A | |||
| Holby City | "Hair of the Dog" (2003) | BBC One | |||
| Funland | 11 episodes (co-written with Jeremy Dyson, 2005) | BBC Three | |||
| Kitchen | Television film (2007) | Channel 5 | |||
| Come Fly with Me | 6 episodes (story consultant, 2010–2011) | BBC One | |||
| "EastEnders: Phil on Remand" | Mini-episode (series consultant, 2012) | BBC Red Button | |||
| "EastEnders: Billy's Olympic Nightmare" | Mini-episode (series consultant, 2012) | BBC Red Button | |||
| "EastEnders: All I Want for Christmas" | Mini-episode (series consultant, 2012) | BBC Red Button | |||
| "EastEnders: T&B 4Eva" | Mini-episode (series consultant, 2012) | 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 |