Anita Turner or as she is known by Newspapers and fans Anita Turnoff is a British script editor, and television producer, currently serving as the Series Producer of British television soap opera Emmerdale. She took over the role in January 2008.

History

Anita used to work as a script editor for the ITV soap Emmerdale and held that role for three years.

Becoming Series Producer

It was announced on Media Guardian that Kathleen Beedles, the soap's current Series Producer, would be departing from Emmerdale as of the beginning of the new year. It was later revealed on ITV.com that Anita would take over as Series Producer from January 2008.^{[1] [2]}

Anita's first produced episode aired on Monday 3 March 2008 which featured the civil partnership of Paul Lambert and Jonny Foster

Problems with the cast ("The Axe Lady")

Not long after her first produced episode reports emerged from an insider said that the morale has dropped on the set of Emmerdale since Anita took over from Kath Beedles as the soap's chief in January with her axing of characters and changing of storylines. This include the axing of Grayson Sinclair and Jonny Foster, played by Christopher Villiers and Richard Grieve respectively. It was also reported that those who are being spared the chop are now talking of quitting,^[3]hence the descriptive term The Axe Lady.

Less than a week after the initial reports of poor morale Anita was slammed again for sacking another actor, this time child actor Benjamin Shooter, who joined the soap as Samson Dingle in April 2007 for crying. He was replaced by another toddler in February 2008 after bursting into tears when he saw screen dad Sam Dingle, played by James Hooton, being confronted by cops and the Dingles. Emma Shooter, Benjamin's mother, condemned bosses of treating her son like a "prop" and putting him in “horrifying” scenes showing armed robber Sam turning himself in to police.^[4]

Since Anita's arrival a total of eleven actors (Freddie Jones, Christopher Villiers, Richard Grieve, Georgia Slowe. Matt Healy, Ayden Callaghan, Roxanne Pallett, Deena Payne, Michael Jayston, Mathew Bose and child actor Benjamin Shooter), have either left or been axed this year.

In July, 2008, tabloid newspapers reported that a further two more cast members had quit their roles. ITV confirmed that Emily Symons was taking a 'break'. A few days after this report, another report emerged that Anita had told all the cast that they were all "under review." Endless newspaper articles have reported that Anita is not a popular member of the team. Only actor Christopher Chittell (Eric Pollard) has come to Anita's defence in a newspaper interview, but has, to date, been the only cast member to do so.

In October, Anita wielded her axe once again, this time on Emma Davies, who was brought in to replace the Rosemary/Perdita element as Anna DeSouza, but failed to live up to audience expectations.

Viewers' response

Since Anita took over, many fans have flocked to online communities like Digital Spy to air their disgust with how Anita is managing the show. With seven cast members leaving already, many have blamed it on Anita being out of her depth and not being in touch with the viewers. Out of protest, one fan community was shut down, citing Anita Turner as the one to blame over the continuing decline in quality. She has been criticised by fans for "forgetting" other storylines and neglecting a large majority of major characters.

At the British Soap Awards in May, 2008, failed to pick up more than one award, after only being nominated for five out of a possible seventeen.

References

External links

• Exclusive ITV interview with Anita Turner
• Anita Turner at the Internet Movie Database