Daran Arthur Peter Little (born 11 May 1966) is a BAFTA-winning and Emmy Award-nominated British television writer. He is the only writer to pen more than 100 episodes of both Coronation Street (2000–2010) and EastEnders (2010–).
Daran Little | |
|---|---|
 Little at the 2011 BAFTAs | |
| Born | 11 May 1966 |
| Alma mater | Manchester Polytechnic |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Children | 2 |
Early life edit
Little was born to working class family and grew up on West End Road in Ruislip Manor.[1] His grandfather was Romani. Through researching his genealogy, Little discovered he is a distant descendant of notable figures such as Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror, as well as the Australian bush wrangler Daniel Priest.[2]
Little attended Queensmead School. He went on to study at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University).[3]
Career edit
Early career edit
While at Manchester Polytechnic, he wrote his dissertation about Coronation Street and Tony Warren who became his mentor and insisted the producers gave him a job. After graduating, he was taken on by Granada Television as an archivist, when the previous incumbent of the job, Eric Rosser, left. He has written 11 books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the show and its characters and co-wrote Betty Driver's autobiography.[3][4]
Little left Granada in 2006 after writing 95 episodes of Coronation Street and introducing the first gay character, Todd Grimshaw. He created the characters Sean Tully, Archie Shuttleworth, Bev Unwin and Eric Gartside who was played by Peter Kay. He created, wrote and produced a 20-part series called Hollyoaks: In the City for Mersey Television. The series was not recommissioned for a second series. He joined the Hollyoaks writing team, writing 12 episodes before moving to New York to work on All My Children.
American ventures edit
ABC Daytime hired him to be a creative consultant on All My Children. He worked closely with Brian Frons, Barbara Esensten, James Harmon Brown, Charles Pratt, Jr. and Julie Hanan Carruthers. He was an Associate Head Writer from 14 July 2008 to 2 November 2009.
In 2018, Little was hired as a story consultant on the CBS Daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, reuniting with Mal Young.[5] Little's first episode aired on 3 December 2018 and last aired on 19 March 2019.
Little, formerly a member of the Writers Guild of America, East, left and maintained financial core status.[6]
Back in Britain edit
In 2009, he returned to Coronation Street, writing a further nine episodes. On 2 March 2010, it was confirmed that Little had left Coronation Street and joined its rival EastEnders.[7] In September 2010, his drama The Road to Coronation Street was broadcast on BBC4, telling the story of Coronation Street's conception 50 years earlier, centering on Tony Warren. The drama won Best Single Drama at the 2011 BAFTAs and Royal Television Society and Little won the Best Scriptwriter at the RTS North West Awards. In 2013, Little wrote a comedy pilot Kitten Chic about a psychotic fag hag that aired on Sky Living and rejoined the writing team of Hollyoaks. He rejoined EastEnders in 2013 as part of Dominic Treadwell-Collins' team, receiving acclaim for an episode where Johnny Carter came out to his father Mick, played by Danny Dyer.
Reality edit
Little worked as story producer on the first series of ITV2 structured reality show The Only Way Is Essex before helping to cast, set up and story produce all series of E4's BAFTA winning show Made in Chelsea. To date,[when?] he has worked as Story Executive on all 19 series and Summer specials. He is also an Executive Producer on ITV2's The Real Housewives of Cheshire.
From 2022 onward, Little has been involved in the production of Netflix reality shows Young, Famous & African and Dubai Bling.[8][9]
Personal life edit
Little is gay but married a woman when he was younger. "I'm gay and I got married in a church... to a woman... because I feared being gay in a world that didn't accept me. That was 25 years ago."[10] He has two sons.[11]
Later, Little had a civil partnership that was dissolved in 2014. He was then married to Patrick Rankin until their divorce in 2023.[12] Also in 2023, after his London rent was hiked up, Little moved to Málaga, Spain.[13]
Awards and nominations edit
- 2006 - BAFTA nomination - Coronation Street
- 2009 - EMMY nomination - All My Children
- 2010 - EMMY nomination - All My Children
- 2011 - RTS winner Best Single Drama - The Road to Coronation Street
- 2011 - New York Film & TV Festival winner - Best International Programme - The Road to Coronation Street
- 2011 - BAFTA winner: Best Single Drama - The Road to Coronation Street
- 2011 - Broadcast Digital Awards: Best Scripted Program winner - The Road to Coronation Street
- 2011 - RTS North West winner: Best Scriptwriter - The Road to Coronation Street
- 2020 - EMMY nomination - The Young and the Restless
References edit
- ^ Daran Little (28 March 2021). "Ruislip Manor?? Me too!! I was a West End Road boy". Retrieved 12 April 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Hanman, Natalie (23 October 2006). "TV writer Daran Little uses the web to research his family tree - with great results". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- ^ a b Driver, Betty; Little, Daran (2000). Betty: The Autobiography. Granada Media. ISBN 978-0-233-99780-3.
- ^ Hadcroft, Will (2000). "The Daran Little Interview". Corrie. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ "'Young and the Restless' News: New Male Writer, Daran Little Hired". Soap Dirt. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ https://www.wgaeast.org/enforcement/wgae-financial-core-list/
- ^ Green, Kris (2 March 2010). "Corrie writer joins 'EastEnders' team". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ "Daran Little | United Agents". www.unitedagents.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ "@daranlittle". Twitter. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ Little, Daran [@DaranLittle] (11 December 2012). "I'm gay and I got married in a church... to a woman ... because I feared being gay in a world that didn't accept me. That was 25 years ago" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Darren Little (26 January 2023). "there are so many people in this world that I'm utterly proud of... whether I've known them for decades and rejoice in their achievements or known for just a short time. Top of that list are my two sons who are bringing six amazing daughters up, couldn't be prouder!". Retrieved 12 April 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Little, Daran [@DaranLittle] (28 December 2020). "What's got me through 2020? The love of my husband @prrankin Feeling blessed. https://t.co/rQbJv2YrQG" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Dodger, James (3 August 2023). "ITV Coronation Street and BBC EastEnders star quits UK after landlord hiked rent by 15 per cent". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 April 2024.