Sean O'Connor (producer)

The sensational murder trial of Alma Rattenbury provides the subject for O'Connor's 2019 non-fiction work The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury .

On 18 February 2016, it was announced that O'Connor would return to EastEnders after 11 years and take over from Dominic Treadwell-Collins as Executive Producer. On his return he commented "I'm thrilled to be back in Walford and particularly delighted to work once more with many dear friends and colleagues both backstage and on screen. I loved my time working at EastEnders previously; there's nothing quite as challenging nor as rewarding."

O'Connor's first episode as Executive Producer aired on 11 July 2016. Although O'Connor's first credited episode aired in July, his own creative work was not seen onscreen until late September. On 23 June 2017, it was announced that O'Connor would be leaving EastEnders after a year in the role of executive producer. O'Connor said: "I've had an amazing time at EastEnders. Working with the editorial staff, cast and crew at Elstree has been an absolute privilege ". O'Connor's final episode as Executive Producer aired on 24 November 2017.

On 5 August 2013, it was announced that O'Connor had been appointed editor of The Archers. Of his return to the show, O'Connor commented "I'm delighted to be returning to Ambridge to work with the team in Birmingham. I'm honoured to take the reins of our national epic drama and to build on the extraordinary achievements of Vanessa Whitburn who dedicated much of her career to this unique cultural institution."

In 2010, O'Connor adapted Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as Juliet and Her Romeo which played at Bristol Old Vic, directed by Tom Morris and starring Siân Phillips, Michael Byrne and Dudley Sutton.

In 2005, O'Connor was appointed producer of the Channel 5 soap opera Family Affairs. He planned to revamp the show but was told that the show would be axed. He appointed Dominic Treadwell-Collins, his future predecessor in EastEnders as story producer and reintroduced characters Eileen Callan (Rosie Rowell) and Melanie Costello (Rebecca Hunter).

In 2001, O'Connor was appointed as Series Story Producer at the BBC soap, EastEnders story-lining the award-winning Kat and Zoe Slater story, the domestic violence story featuring Little Mo, and Dot Cotton's marriage to Jim Branning. He left the show in 2005. He went on to both produce and direct the show.

In 2001, O'Connor adapted Winston Graham's 1960 novel Marnie for the stage which played at Chester Gateway Theatre and The Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke. The adaptation returned the story to Graham's original post-war British setting and preserved Graham's bleak ending.

O'Connor has made a study of 20th Century drama, particularly neglected or forgotten works. In 1997, he published Straight Acting; Popular Gay Drama from Wilde to Rattigan, examining the work of British gay playwrights who dominated the West End in the 20th Century. Dartmouth's Professor of Gender Studies, Michael Bronski, praised the book, claiming that it "almost single-handedly reinvents what we think of as the history of modern gay theater".

As a graduate of the Regional Theatre Young Directors' Scheme, O'Connor has worked all over the UK as a theatre director. His work has featured at Liverpool Everyman, Hornchurch, Salisbury Playhouse, Chester Gateway, Windsor, Guilford, Bath, Richmond, Chichester, Cardiff and Edinburgh. In 1995, O'Connor directed the UK premiere of Dorothy Parker's drama, The Ladies of the Corridor (1953) at the Finborough Theatre and the first London revival of Christa Winsloe's Children in Uniform (1931) (Madchen in Uniform) at Battersea Arts Centre. He is also a graduate of the BBC Drama Directors' Course.

In the late 1990s, O'Connor worked as producer of the long-running radio drama The Archers, storylining and directing the programme. He re-introduced several popular characters including Kenton Archer, Adam Travers-Macy and Lillian Bellamy, as well as introducing Fallon Rogers, Ed Grundy and Emma Carter. Subsequently, he was appointed as Series Producer of Hollyoaks (C4).

Sean O'Connor (born 11 February 1968 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England) is a British producer, writer and director working in theatre, film, television and radio. He was the editor of the long-running BBC radio drama, The Archers from 2013 to 2016. He replaced Dominic Treadwell-Collins as the executive producer of EastEnders in June 2016. It was revealed in June 2017 that O'Connor had left EastEnders to focus on his career in feature films.

The same year, he adapted and directed the play Vertigo based on the novel D'Entre Les Morts by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, which was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's film of 1958. This, the first stage adaptation of the story, retained the original French wartime setting of the novel. The play first appeared at Chester Gateway Theatre featuring Marcus D'Amico, but was subsequently produced by Bill Kenwright at the Theatre Royal Windsor starring Martin Shaw and Jenny Seagrove. A revival at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford starred Anthony Andrews in the central role, replacing Martin Shaw.

O'Connor produced the feature film version of Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea directed by Terence Davies and starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale. The film is based on Rattigan's 1952 play which had previously been filmed in 1955, starring Vivien Leigh and Kenneth More. Produced by Camberwell Productions and Fly Films, The Deep Blue Sea was released in the UK in 2011, the centenary of Rattigan's birth. O'Connor introduces the playtext of The Deep Blue Sea published by Nick Hern Books with notes by Dan Rebellato. O'Connor serves as a trustee of the estate of Sir Terence Rattigan.