Charlie Parsons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Andrew Parsons is a British television producer known as the creator of the Survivor franchise one of the most successful tv franchises of the 21st century.[1][2] He also created The Big Breakfast and The Word.[3]
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.[4] 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
Parsons trained as a newspaper journalist before working in television at London Weekend Television on programmes including Network 7, which won a BAFTA award for originality.[5][6] Parsons co-founded production company Planet 24 with Bob Geldof and his then partner Waheed Alli. At Planet 24, Parsons created ambitious groundbreaking television programmes including The Big Breakfast a show described as woven into Britain's tv history [7],The Word, and the BBC's first programme aimed at the LGBTQ community GaytimeTV.[8] While there he developed Survivor. When he developed Survivor he couldn't sell it in the UK or the US. It was only when he sold it in 1996 as Expedition Robinson to Sweden and the 1997 season became Sweden's most watched TV show[9] [10] [11], that he was able to sell it globally [12][2][13] . Planet 24 was sold to Carlton in 1999, but the owners kept the rights to Survivor.[13] Charlie Parsons is currently the executive producer of the American version of Survivor going into its 50th season on CBS.[14]. Survivor in the US premiered on May 31 2000, building its audience to 52 million viewers putting it second to the Super Bowl[15]. The show is one of television's biggest hits and has been described as one of the defining shows of our time: "Baseball may have had the 20th century, but in the 21st, whether you watched it or not, 'Survivor' was America's pastime." The New York Times [16]
Parsons has now become a theatre producer, developing and producing shows for the stage through his company Runaway Entertainment with Olivier-award-winning producer Tristan Baker.[17] The Bob Dylan musical Girl from the North Country won Olivier and a Tony Awards.[18] He also produced 2:22 A Ghost Story whose first outing starred Lily Allen whose casting inspired Allen's album West End Girl.[19]
Most recently he produced The Hunger Games on Stage, which took place in a purpose built theatre in Canary Wharf built by his company Troubadour Theatres.[20]
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.[21]
References
- ↑ Bazalgette, Peter (2005). Billion Dollar Game. London: Time Warner Books. ISBN 0316731099.
- 1 2 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Edwardes, Charlotte (3 June 2001). "Survivor game show based on public school". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ↑ "Client Challenge". www.ft.com. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ https://deadline.com/2026/03/survivor-50-charlie-parsons-original-pitch-one-regret-1236741478/
- ↑ "LGBT+ Timeline". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
- ↑ https://variety.com/2001/biz/news/parsons-is-reality-tv-s-original-survivor-1117802626/
- ↑ https://deadline.com/2026/03/survivor-50-charlie-parsons-original-pitch-one-regret-1236741478/
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/apr/15/business.broadcasting
- ↑ "Parsons is reality TV's original survivor". Variety. 12 July 2001. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
- 1 2 Conlan, Tara (15 April 2007). "Interview: Charlie Parsons on his new investment company". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ↑ "40th season of Survivor". Reality Tv World.
- ↑ https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/lgbtq/lgbtq-timeline#the1990sitsnotdaytimeitsgaytime
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/arts/television/survivor-season-50.html
- ↑ "Home". Runaway. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
- ↑ "Broadway Girl from the North Country". New York Theatre Guide.
- ↑ Snapes, Laura; editor, Laura Snapes Deputy music (24 October 2025). "'I don't make it easy for myself': divorce and desire power Lily Allen's autofictional comeback". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
{{cite news}}:|last2=has generic name (help) - ↑ Hipes, Patrick (24 October 2023). "'The Hunger Games' Play Heading To London's West End In Fall 2024; 'Girl From The North Country's Conor McPherson To Adapt First Novel & Film". Deadline. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
- ↑ "The Great BBC Campaign". The Guardian. 7 February 2016.
External links
 | This biographical article related to British television is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |