Jon Sen

{{Infobox person

| name = Jon Sen

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1978|10|9|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Bradford, West Yorkshire, England

| occupation = {{Hlist|Writer|director|producer}}

| years_active = 2000–present

}}

Jon Sen (born 9 October 1978) is a British television and film director, writer and producer.{{Cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/188907.cms|title = Homeward Bound - Times of India| website=The Times of India | date=19 September 2003 }} After working as the executive producer of the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2019 to 2022, Sen began working as the executive producer of the BBC medical drama series Casualty in 2022.

Career

In 2000, Sen was awarded his first BBC drama commission to write and direct The Love Doctor. His second low budget television film, a short called Reignited was made for Channel 4's Coming Up strand and met with critical success.{{cite web|title=Coming Up|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/coming-up|work=Channel 4|access-date=10 January 2012|archive-date=5 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205194958/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/coming-up|url-status=dead}} In 2003, Catherine Wearing employed Sen to direct Channel 4's £2 million flagship drama Second Generation starring Parminder Nagra. Despite being a ratings flop, the drama was critically acclaimed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3602568/Its-Asian-life-but-not-as-we-know-it.html|title = It's Asian life, but not as we know it| date=13 September 2003 }} Nagra won an EMMA for her lead performance and the programme was named in the Observer's top ten television of 2003.{{cite news |last1=Spencer |first1=Neil |title=She shoots, she scores |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/aug/24/1 |access-date=25 June 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=24 August 2003}} Sen continued to direct other dramas including Frances Tuesday starring Tamzin Outhwaite. Frances Tuesday was a success for ITV when it became the highest rated single drama of 2004 and went on to sell in over 43 countries worldwide.{{cite news |title=Jon Sen |url=https://saylescreen.com/clients/jon-sen/ |access-date=25 June 2022 |publisher=Sayle Screen}} In May 2006, Sen completed Stan for BBC Four about the final meeting between Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, starring Jim Norton.{{cite web |title=Stan (2006) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8b9971c8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625213100/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8b9971c8 |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 June 2022 |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=25 June 2022}}

As a writer, his work includes 4.4.68, a radio play about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., an adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel Two on a Tower, Vanunu: A Time To Be Heard, a drama about nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu, and The Man Who Wore Sanitary Pads about the Indian social entrepreneur, Arunachalam Muruganantham. The play was nominated for a BBC Audio Drama Award in the Best Scripted Comedy Drama category.{{cite news |title=The Man Who Wore Sanitary Pads |url=https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/proginfo/2015/22/man-who-wore-sanitary-pads |access-date=25 June 2022 |work=BBC}} Sen is an occasional contributor to newspapers and magazines, including The Independent and The Times of India.{{cite web |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-02-08/all-that-matters/28013300_1_indian-culture-generation-of-indian-settlers-betrayal |title=Nobody owns a nation's culture - Times of India |website=The Times of India |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023061802/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-02-08/all-that-matters/28013300_1_indian-culture-generation-of-indian-settlers-betrayal |archive-date=23 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}

On 10 December 2018, Sen was announced as the new executive producer of the BBC soap opera EastEnders.{{cite news|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2018-12-10/jon-sen-named-as-new-eastenders-boss/|title=Jon Sen named as new EastEnders boss|last=Brown|first=David|date=10 December 2018|work=Radio Times|access-date=10 December 2018}} Sen's first credited episode as executive producer on EastEnders is episode 5954, originally broadcast on 15 July 2019. {{cite episode|title=Episode 5954|series=EastEnders|series-link=EastEnders|credits=Senior Series producer: Kate Oates; Series producer: Jon Sen; Director: Matthew Evans; Writer: Richard Davidson|network=BBC One|airdate=15 July 2019}} In November 2021, Sen stepped down as executive producer of EastEnders to lead the fellow BBC continuing drama Casualty.{{cite news |last1=Goldbart |first1=Max |title='EastEnders' Exec Jon Sen To Step Down, Replaced By Chris Clenshaw |url=https://deadline.com/2021/11/eastenders-exec-jon-sen-to-step-down-replaced-by-chris-clenshaw-1234872809/ |access-date=25 June 2022 |work=Deadline Hollywood}} His final credited episode as executive producer of EastEnders aired on 10 March 2022.{{cite episode|title=Episode 6449|series=EastEnders|series-link=EastEnders|credits=Senior Series producer: Kate Oates; Series producer: Jon Sen; Director: Cóilín Ó Scolaí; Writer: Simon Ashdown|network=BBC One|airdate=10 March 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Harp |first1=Justin |title=EastEnders airs big change for new episodes |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders/a39442074/eastenders-spoilers-jon-sen-final-episodes-producer/ |access-date=25 June 2022 |work=Digital Spy |publisher=(Hearst Communications) |date=15 March 2022}} During his tenure, he received a mixed response from critics for his decisions on the show. He received a positive reception for his storylines involving the Carter and Panesar families, as well as reintroducing historical cast member Charlie Brooks as Janine Butcher. However, he was criticised for various decisions including killing off characters seen as key to the show’s future such as Dennis Rickman Jr, mishandling Chantelle Atkins' (Jess Plummer) abuse storyline by having her abuser Gray Atkins become a serial killer, making long-time character Sharon Watts try to poison her oldest friend-turned husband Ian Beale, breaking up Linda and Mick Carter’s long-term marriage by having Linda start an affair with long-time resident Max Branning, and a lack of aftermath within storylines and introducing incidental music that viewers found to be "jarring".{{cite news |last1=Lindsay |first1=Duncan |last2=Patterson |first2=Stephen |title=The highs and lows of Jon Sen's tenure as he leaves EastEnders |url=https://metro.co.uk/2021/11/12/the-highs-and-lows-of-jon-sens-tenure-as-he-leaves-eastenders-15589982/ |access-date=25 June 2022 |work=Metro |publisher=(DMG Media) |date=12 November 2021}}