Kate Oates

Early life

Oates was born in Nottingham, England. She attended Warwick University, where she graduated with an English and Theatre degree.

Early work

Oates begun her career as a researcher and editorial assistant for writer, Germaine Greer and credited Greer as "inspiring", "inimitable", "kind" and "enthusiastic". Oates moved to Carlton Television as a researcher and script editor for soap opera, Crossroads, which she continued until 2003. Crossroads was cancelled in March 2003, with the final episode airing in May. Oates' work on Crossroads lead her to begin producing BBC Radio 4 soap opera, The Archers, a place which she credits as the "bulk of her training". In 2012, Oates praised The Arches's editor of twenty-one years, Vanessa Whitburn, calling her "inspiring". Oates produced the soap opera for seven years, choosing to leave in 2010.

Emmerdale

Oates began working on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale in early 2010 as a story editor, under then-producer, Gavin Blyth. Oates edited various storylines from the show such as Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller) assisting the suicide of his boyfriend, Jackson Walsh (Marc Silcock); Zak Dingle's (Steve Halliwell) mental breakdown and attack on his son, Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley); Ashley Thomas' (John Middleton) abuse of his father, Sandy Thomas (Freddie Jones); and Chas Dingle's (Lucy Pargeter) disastrous relationships with Carl King (Tom Lister) and Cameron Murray (Dominic Power). The Aaron assisting Jackson's suicide storyline received critical acclaim and various awards, including the British Soap Award for Best Storyline in 2012 and was the first storyline Oates had major involvement with. She also played a heavy role in the show's fortieth anniversary special episodes, later stating she was "proud" to be involved in the episodes and was "excited to see the stories play out". Oates left her role at Emmerdale in mid-2012, having worked on the show for two and a half years.

As series producer

On 15 October 2012, Oates was announced to be taking over from Stuart Blackburn as the producer of Emmerdale, a mere few months following her decision to leave the show. Oates revealed that she believed she would "love" to return the show, but did not "except it to happen so quickly." Of her new position, Oates said, "I'm delighted to be Emmerdale's new producer as I'm passionate about the programme and everyone who works on the show. It's a privilege to be renewing my working relationship with everyone." Oates described herself as "very lucky" to be returning to "such a wonderfully successful show", before stating she was "in awe of the cast, crew and writing team". Oates reports to the ITV creative director of soaps, John Whiston, who commented, "Kate swept into Emmerdale a couple of years ago with a deadly combination of determination and brio. She soon proved her worth to the show, working on stories that ranged from the extremely tough to the light and funny." He also stated how pleased he was that Oates would be returning from Coronation Street and praised her "inspiration and sheer hard work" and the way she keeps "the vibrant spirit of modern Emmerdale". Oates assumed the position in January 2013 and her first episode as producer aired on 4 April 2013.

In her first few months on the show, Oates focused on storylines rather than changing the cast, with storylines including Brenda Walker's (Lesley Dunlop) brain tumour, Cameron Murray's killer spree, Laurel Potts' (Charlotte Bellamy) carjacking, and Rhona Goskirk's (Zoe Henry) painkiller addiction becoming a point of focus. Oates spoke of this, saying "My main aim is to tell the best stories we can and to make the show really talked-about." Cameron's killer spree was a feature storyline throughout 2013, which resulted in the death of Gennie Walker (Sian Reese-Williams) and concluded with the show's forty-first anniversary week as Cameron held several villagers hostage in The Woolpack pub. The week saw Cameron electrocuted and die after tense scenes in the pub's cellars saw him try and drown both Chas Dingle and Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb), whilst Alicia Gallagher (Natalie Anderson) fought for her life after being shot by Cameron. The siege received four award nominations, successfully winning the Spectacular Scene of the Year award at the 2014 British Soap Awards.

Oates' first major casting was Michael Parr as Ross Barton, the nephew of Moira Barton (Natalie J. Robb), who went on to become popular with fans of the show. The expansion of the Barton family continued throughout autumn 2013, with the arrival of Moira's brother-in-law James Barton (Bill Ward), and his children Pete Barton (Anthony Quinlan) and Finn Barton (Joe Gill). The mother of Pete, Ross and Finn, Emma Barton was introduced over a year later, with Gillian Kearney cast in the role. Oates rejuvenated the Home Farm family in October 2014 following the exit of the Macey family, introducing the White family - patriarch Lawrence White (John Bowe), his daughter Chrissie White (Louise Marwood) and her son Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson) - and reintroducing Robert Sugden as Chrissie's fiancée, with the role recast to Ryan Hawley. Other major characters introduced by Oates include father-son duo, Rakesh and Kirin Kotecha (Pasha Bocarie and Adam Fielding), vicar Harriet Finch (Katherine Dow Blyton), "chaotic" Tracy Shankley (Amy Walsh), "good-natured" Tess Harris (Nicola Stephenson), and her husband, Pierce Harris (Jonathan Wrather). Oates also reintroduced several characters who had previously featured in the show, including Leyla Harding (Roxy Shahidi), Steph Stokes (Lorraine Chase), Donna Windsor (Verity Rushworth), Aaron Livesy, Douglas Potts (Duncan Preston), Paul Lambert (Matthew Bose), and Nikhil Sharma (Rik Makarem). The characters of Robert Sugden, Carly Hope, and Gordon Livesy were also reintroduced, but the roles were recast to Ryan Hawley, Gemma Atkinson and Gary Mavers respectively.

Oates has also been responsible for some of the show's most publicised storylines including Donna Windsor's terminal illness, which was described as "heart-wrenching", Val Pollard's (Charlie Hardwick) HIV, Alan Turner's (Richard Thorp) funeral, a special week of episodes which saw Declan Macey (Jason Merrells) try to kill his wife Charity Macey (Emma Atkins), the relationship between Robert Sugden and Aaron Livesy (more commonly known as "RobRon"), which received positive reviews and a fan following, Lachlan White sexually assaulting Alicia Gallagher, Laurel Potts' alcoholism, which was described as gritty, the 'Who Shot Robert Sugden?' storyline, which culminated in a rewind episode, Ashley Thomas' vascular dementia, Aaron Livesy revealing he was sexually abused by his father as a child, which was described as "tear-jerking", and a week of episodes, entitled 'Summer Fate', which saw a helicopter crash into the village hall and kill Ruby Haswell (Alicya Eyo) and Val Pollard. 'Summer Fate' was met with positive reviews and saw ratings reach 6.6 million viewers, whilst the week also saw the supposed death of Ross Barton, causing an outrage with fans and a petition for his return received 9,147 signatures. However, the popular character did return weeks later, with the show announcing it was always part of the storyline to see Ross return.

It was announced on 18 September 2015 that Oates would be leaving Emmerdale, with Hollyoaks producer Iain MacLeod replacing Oates. Speaking of her time on the show, Oates said: "Emmerdale is an exceptional programme and I've thoroughly enjoyed working with the cast, writers and crew. They are some of the absolute best in the business and it's been a privilege to work with such dedicated, hard-working and creative people, and make some life-long friends in the process." Reflecting on Oates' time at Emmerdale, John Whitson commented, "Everywhere you go these days everyone is talking about Emmerdale. Kate Oates has been responsible for the show’s on-going resurgence. She has that rare combination, a sharp editorial eye for a compelling story together with deep understanding of what drives characters caught up in such drama. As a result, under her leadership, Emmerdale has reached new heights and importantly, new audiences. Kate has done this without sacrificing either the credibility or the humour for which Emmerdale has always been renowned." Oates left the show in December 2015 and her final episode, credited as the producer, aired on 16 May 2016.

Coronation Street

Having left Emmerdale in mid-2012, Oates joined longest-airing soap opera, Coronation Street as the assistant producer. The show's executive producer Kieran Roberts said that Oates had a "huge impact" whilst the assistant producer of the show. Oates first episode as assistant producer aired on 10 September 2012. However, Oates only stayed with the show for a few months as she returned to Emmerdale in January 2013 and her final episode as assistant producer aired on 15 March 2013.

It was announced on 18 September 2015 that Oates would be replacing Stuart Blackburn as the series producer of Coronation Street in early 2016. Oates expressed her "delight" at becoming the show's new producer, describing the move from Emmerdale to Coronation Street as "exciting" and revealed she felt "blessed" to do so. Oates also mentioned that despite Emmerdale "meaning the world" to her, Coronation Street "has a special place in her heart". ITV creative director of soaps, John Whiston, described Oates as the "ideal person to take Corrie on to its next phase", whilst Blackburn wished Oates "well in her role as she takes on one of the best jobs in television." Roberts spoke of Oates' appointment, "Finding a successor to Stuart was never going to be easy but in Kate Oates I believe we have the ideal next producer. After the terrific job she has done on Emmerdale I know she has all the qualities to be a big success as producer of Coronation Street." Mark Jefferies of Daily Mirror called Oates the "Coronation Street saviour".

Oates promised fans a "greater breadth of storylines". She introduced storylines such as: Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) impregnating his wife Michelle (Kym Marsh) and Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), which Oates revealed would air during "2016 and into spring 2017"; "bad man with a bad scam", Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre) targeting local residents with help of his new "partner-in-crime" Vinny Ashford (Ian Kelsey); the subsequent death of Michael Rodwell (Les Dennis); Ken Barlow's (William Roache) stroke; Bethany Platt's (Lucy Fallon) becoming "fixated on excerise and dieting pills", which Oates described as "truthful" and "slow burn"; Kylie Platt's (Paula Lane) murder and her husband David's (Jack P. Shepherd) grief, which climaxed into the show's "big autumn stunt"; the stunt leaving Anna Windass (Debbie Rush) badly burnt; Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie) being framed for the 'murder' of Caz Hammond (Rhea Bailey); and Sharif Nazir's (Marc Anwar) affair.

Oates reintroduced several former cast members to the series in her first few months as series producer. She announced plans to expand the Barlow family with the reintroduction of Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne), Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson) and Daniel Osbourne. The role of Daniel was recast to Rob Mallard. Plans to reintroduce Toyah Battersby, portrayed by Georgia Taylor, following under fourteen years of absence from the show were announced on 20 September 2016. Oates commented that she was "delighted" about Toyah's reintroduction. Oates also reintroduced the characters of Rosie Webster (Helen Flanagan) and Brian Packham (Peter Gunn), with Flanagan reprising her role for a guest stint and Gunn returning as a regular cast member. Flanagan later signed a long-term contract with the show.

Additionally, as one of her responsibilities, Oates will be in control of the show's move from airing five episodes per week to six episodes per week and she commented that she would make "sure that the show is in a great place for when we go to six a week".