The Entertainment Engine

The Entertainment Engine


A chat with Tony McHale - BAFTA Winning Writer, Producer, Actor and Director - known for Holby City, EastEnders & more

October 22, 2020

Tony Mchale’s work is known to virtually everyone. He has spent over 40 years as a screenwriter, working on some of the most well-known UK dramas, many that still appear on our screens today including; EastEnders, Holby City, which he co-created and for which he also won a BAFTA, The Bill, Casualty, Silent Witness, Trial and Retribution, Dalziel and Pascoe, Waking the Dead and many more, as well as his own thrillers Resort To Murder and Headless. Tony’s career started in theatre and recently he has returned to that world to direct various plays and musicals including his own satirical look at fame – Bloodbath The Musical and more recently All Or Nothing which transferred to the West End.
In the late 70s and early 80s, Tony acted in literally dozens of television commercials for such brands as Argos, Tesco, British Airways, Fray Bentos, Midland Bank, McVities, Worthington 'E', Tetley's beer, Valspar paints, Ford cars as well as more Guinness commercials. He also worked on numerous corporate films as well as directing at various drama schools.  In 1982 he was asked to appear in a hidden camera sketch for the very popular Saturday night show Game for a Laugh. He worked on a number of hidden camera stunts before the show morphed into Beadles About in 1986. Then also in the early 80',s Tony was introduced to a project, mid-1984, it was called East 8 and no cast was attached. McHale became a regular writer on the show that was eventually transmitted in February 1985 with the title Eastenders - and when on to write over 100 episodes.
However Tony was not satisfied with all his wonderful achievements, his years of experience both writing and in life kept on pushing him towards writing his own book – so that is what he’s done. He’s used his imaginative story-telling to create a captivating novel that can only be described as a ‘page-turner’. And he has not just written one book there are more to come. His extensive writing career and diverse life, coupled with his unique understanding of how to keep a reader wanting more, is a winning combination.
If you like drama, then Beck le Street is the book for you, and Tony McHale will be the new author everybody’s talking about!
https://www.tonymchale.com

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The background music was written & produced by BeX & Alan Glass. (Seamless Music productions)
Podcast engineered & mixed by BeX Gregory.

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