Christopher Cleanshaw
Christopher Clenshawis an English television producer, known for serving as the current executive producer of the BBC soap opera EastEnders since 2022.
Life and career
Early life and television production work
Christopher Clenshaw was born on 29 September 1986 in Gravesend, Kent to Helen (née Antoniou) and Alfred Clenshaw and has a twin sister, Georgina. He began his career in television production working as an edit assistant on the BBC Three factual programme Freaky Eaters, before becoming a runner and ulitmately head researcher on Richard & Judy between 2008 and 2009. He then worked as a shooting researcher on various shows including Local Food Hero, 3@Three and One Night Stand with Ne-Yo. In 2010, Clenshaw joined the ITV daytime programme This Morning, initially as a researcher before going on to hold an array of positions within their production team including edit producer, assistant producer and digital producer prior to his departure from the programme in 2015.
EastEnders
In July 2015, Clenshaw joined the BBC soap opera EastEnders as a writer and storyliner, before being promoted to script editor and ultimately story producer, before he left the role in January 2019 to become the producer of the BBC medical drama Holby City. In November 2021, Clenshaw was announced as the new executive producer of EastEnders. Clenshaw took over from Jon Sen, and his first credited episode as executive producer was episode 6497, originally broadcast on 2 June 2022 and featured cameos from Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall as part of the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II celebrations. During his tenure, Clenshaw has overseen the returns of Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) and Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter), the recasts of Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd) and Ricky Branning (Frankie Day), as well as the reintroduction of Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), who returned from the dead after 25 years. He has been credited for improving ratings and garnering critical acclaim, with EastEnders winning the award for Best British Soap at the British Soap Awards and the award for Serial Drama at the 28th National Television Awards under his leadership.
