Charles Andrew Parsons is a British television producer known as the creator of the Survivor franchise.[1] He also created The Big Breakfast and The Word.[2]

Education

Parsons was educated at Tonbridge School, a boarding independent school in Tonbridge in Kent in South East England, and credits the tough boarding school regime he endured there in the early 1970s, which at the time was commonplace, as providing an inspiration for his creation of the series Survivor.[3] He then went to Pembroke College at the University of Oxford, where he studied English literature and afterwards trained as a journalist.

Life and career

The early days of Parsons's career saw him working at London Weekend Television on programmes including Network 7, which won a BAFTA award for originality.[4] Parsons co-founded production company Planet 24 with Bob Geldof and his partner Waheed Alli. Planet 24 created reality programmes including The Big Breakfast, The Word, and Survivor, which first aired in Sweden during the 1997 season.[1][5] Planet 24 was sold to Carlton in 1999, but the owners kept the rights to Survivor.[5] Charlie Parsons is currently the Executive Producer of the US version of Survivor going into its 45th season on CBS.[6]

Parsons has also developed and produced shows for the stage.[7] Parsons is developing Runaway Entertainment with Olivier-award-winning producer Tristan Baker. Girl from the North Country returns from its Broadway acclaim to The Gielgud Theatre in London and is one of the many shows developed and produced by Runaway Entertainment.[8]

Parsons founded The Great BBC Campaign, set up to provide a bold ambitious new mandate for the BBC, designed to build on the success of the impartial and independent broadcasting organisation.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Nylén, Susanne (12 February 2004). "Parsons blev miljonär på "Robinson"" [Parsons became a millionaire on "Robinson"]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  2. ^ Robinson, James (25 March 2010). "Charlie Parsons invests in new TV production company NERD". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  3. ^ Edwardes, Charlotte (3 June 2001). "Survivor game show based on public school". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Network 7 BAFTA". BAFTA Awards. During the time that Charlie Parsons worked on the UK's Channel Four youth programme "Network 7", in the late 1980s, it featured a short running island based elimination competition sub-strand series that can now legitimately be viewed as the back-door pilot test run prototype of the series format "Survivor" that he would later develop and Executive Produce for various international broadcasters.
  5. ^ a b Conlan, Tara (15 April 2007). "Interview: Charlie Parsons on his new investment company". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  6. ^ "40th season of Survivor". Reality Tv World.
  7. ^ "Never Forget". Runaway Entertainment.
  8. ^ "Broadway Girl from the North Country". New York Theatre Guide.
  9. ^ "The Great BBC Campaign". The Guardian. 7 February 2016.

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