Production biographies for The Mill, Series 2

2 July 2014

Sue Tully – Director

Sue Tully began directing with episodes of EastEnders before going on to direct episodes of The Bill, 55 Degrees North for BB1, and the acclaimed show Funland for BBC3. She directed on the first series of Secret Diary of a Call Girl and went on to work on a brilliantly reviewed Silent Witness two-parter. In between lead directing the first series of Stella and the entire third series of Getting On – which won the 2013 British Comedy Award for Best Sitcom – Sue directed episodes of the dark crime drama Good Cop. Her next project is the first series of Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine's new sitcom Puppy Love.

Bill Anderson – Director

After two years working as a labourer on a North Sea Oil Rig 200 miles off the coast of his home city Aberdeen, Bill Anderson has always relished directing reality-based workplace drama: C4's BAFTA nominated Dockers, written by Jimmy McGovern, Irvine Welsh and sacked Liverpool dockers, and now The Mill. Other credits include Daniel Craig's Sword of Honour, Spooks, the pilot and various episodes of Lewis, DCI Banks, Inspector George Gently and Case Histories.

John Fay – Lead Writer, Co-Creator & Associate Producer

John Fay began writing for television when he joined Brookside in 1999.  He has also written for many other TV shows including Coronation Street, Torchwood and Clocking Off.  He lives in Liverpool and still remembers his very first visit to Quarry Bank Mill on a school trip back in the 1970s.

Ian Kershaw & Debbie Oates – Writers

Oldham born Ian Kershaw is a graduate of John Yorke’s BBC Writers Academy and has written episodes of Holby City, Doctors, EastEnders, Casualty, Shameless and Death in Paradise. He has written many radio plays (including his own original series) and in theatre, was one of The Royal Court 50 writers, also winning awards for plays at The Manchester Theatre Awards and The Bruntwood / Royal Exchange, Manchester. His single 90’ film Castles in the Sky (starring Eddie Izzard) telling the tale of the invention of radar, will air on BBC2 later this year. 

Debbie started working on Coronation Street in 2002 and has written over 140 episodes to date including a BAFTA-winning episode in 2012. Other television work includes Primeval, Robin Hood, Drop Dead Gorgeous and Fat Friends. She is currently developing two original television projects with Company Television. Recent stage work includes Treasure Island and A Christmas Carol (both Dukes Playhouse). Debbie has also written several radio plays.

Alice Nutter – Writer

Alice Nutter was formerly a member of the anarchist pop band Chumbawamba before hanging the mic up in 2004 to concentrate on writing drama. While a member of the band Alice had a stint as a journalist and Features Editor at the now defunct Leeds Other Paper/Northern Star. In recent years Alice has written extensively for television, including an episode of Jimmy McGovern’s Emmy Award-Winning Accused. She has also undertaken an attachment with The National Theatre Studio and is currently working on a series about The Pendle Witches for Touchpaper/BBC2.

 Steven Fay and Tony Green – Writers

They have written over two hundred episodes of Hollyoaks between them, and they have developed original projects with companies including Hat Trick, Lime Pictures and BBC Drama. Tony is an experienced playwright and radio dramatist and Steven is a seasoned television writer.

Johnathan Young – Producer

Johnathan Young's first job in television was as the runner on the very first episodes of EastEnders. Since then he has worked as a director, producer, and head of drama at TalkbackThames where he was executive producer of The Bill and The Sinking of the Laconia. He first became aware of John Fay when he was commissioning editor for series at Channel 4 in 1999 and has been a fan of John's writing ever since. The Mill is John writing at his very best and Johnathan is very proud to have been involved in the series.

Emily Dalton – Executive Producer, DSP

Emily Dalton joined DSP in 2011 and has recently been promoted to Managing Director. Recent projects include Richard III: The King in the Car Park, Britain’s Killer Storms (both for Channel 4), and factual drama The Crash for BBC Three. Emily has 15 years experience in TV production and development and was behind award-winning Inside Nature’s Giants and Surgery Live for Channel 4. Emily originated and developed The Mill, working closely with Channel 4’s Julia Harrington.

Tim Flemming – Director of Photography

Tim Fleming is a highly talented Director of Photography. Tim’s most recent feature film is All is by my Side, Director John Ridley for Darko Entertainment, which is a biopic of Jimi Hendrix. Other recent features include Citadel directed by Ciaran Foy, As if I’m not There directed by Juanita Wilson and Once with director John Carney, which won a number of awards including the Audience Award for International Cinema at the Sundance Film Festival. Tim has a strong television drama portfolio including highly acclaimed BBC productions such as The Musketeers, producer Colin Wratten, Inside Men, director James Kent, Luther, producer Katie Swinden and Moses Jones, director Michael Offer.

Martyn John – Production Designer

Martyn John has been designing productions for film and television for over 20 years. A qualified architect, the skills he learnt whilst designing buildings are put to great effect when designing film sets from various periods and he uses scale and colour to create stunning visuals. Past works include BAFTA award-winning ITV drama Foyles' War, the SKY drama Sinbad, the award-winning ITV drama Bon Voyage, shot in Canada and SW France, and most recently for the BBC The White Queen, the adaptation of the best selling Philippa Gregory novels, shot in Belgium.

Anne Sopel – Editor

Anne has built a career on a great number of film and TV productions including Truckers directed by Sue Tully, The Making of a Lady starring Joanna Lumley, Lip Service, Above Suspicion, and George Gently. She works regularly with director Gilles Mackinnon, most recently on BBC single Castles in the Sky, currently in competition at the Edinburgh Film Festival; and previously on The Village for Company Pictures.

 Rosalind Ebbut – Costume Designer

Rosalind has designed the original series of Foyle’s War, the important Conspiracy: The Meeting at Wansee, with stars including Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci, the thrillers Marian Again and Fallen Angel, and the drama To The Ends of The Earth, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, filmed in South Africa and BAFTA nominated for Best Costume Design. She also designed the comedy/soap projects Echo Beach and Moving Wallpaper, and the classic Emma for the BBC, which was nominated for an Emmy for Best Costume Design and won a BAFTA for ‘Best Costume Design’ for her work on Tom Jones. Most recently, Rosalind has designed two series of the 1960’s Inspector George Gently.

Samantha Marshall – Make-up Designer

Sam is a TV and Film Make-Up Designer who is based in the North with over 20 years experience in the business.  She started as a trainee working at Granada television on programmes such as Coronation Street and Prime Suspect and Cracker. Over the years Sam worked on many different types of demanding production including, period; (Road to Coronation Street, Celia Imerie) crime; (DCI Banks, Stephen Tompkinson), Prisoners Wives, Polly Walker, David Bradley) medical dramas ( Monroe, Jimmy Nesbit); sketch shows (Ideal, Johnny Vegas) and sitcoms ( Mount Pleasant, Sally Lynsey ,David Bradley)  She’s been part of a team that has  won RTS for make-up including channel 4 Bloody Sunday and bbc2 Bodies.

Alliea Nazar – Script Editor

Alliea is a script, story and development editor who began her career at Yorkshire Television on period police drama Heartbeat, whilst also moonlighting as a screenplay analyst. She then went on to work for ITV, the BBC and Kudos Television, honing her skills on popular, long-running shows including Emmerdale, Holby City, Casualty, MI High and is now series script editor on The Mill.

Terry Wyke – Historical Consultant

Terry Wyke teaches social and economic history at Manchester Metropolitan University; his ideal job.  He has written extensively about the history of the Manchester region including its industries, buildings and culture. The Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester (2004) was the winner of the Portico Book prize. Recent publications include works on cholera, canals and cotton cartoons. He received the OBE for services to local history. 

Brett Wilson – Line Producer

Brett has worked in the TV and Film industry for 18 years. He worked as a Location Manager on projects including Life on Mars, Clocking Off, Phoenix Nights and The League of Gentlemen before moving up to Line Producing in 2006. Since then Brett has worked on quality dramas such as Unforgiven, Scott & Bailey, The Syndicate and The Mill. Proud of his Sheffield routes, Brett works predominantly in the North of England.

Julia Harrington – Commissioning Editor, History, Channel 4

After a career as a filmmaker, Julia joined Channel 4 in 2009, where she has been responsible for commissioning history projects. Her central objectives are to make Channel 4 history resonate with contemporary society, reach broad audiences, innovate and represent the best in historical journalism. Prior to The Mill, some of her key commissions include Richard III: King in the Car Park, The Queen’s Mother in Law and The Queen’s Hidden Cousins – all of which have attracted some of highest ratings for Channel 4.

Sophie Gardiner – Commissioning Editor, Drama, Channel 4

Sophie worked in documentary television before buying the rights to the novel, Eureka Street and producing it as an award-winning four-part drama for BBC Two. She worked extensively as a drama producer and exec before coming to Channel 4 as commissioning editor in 2011. Her recent projects include Southcliffe, Utopia, Run and My Mad Fat Diary.