Julie Gardner

Hailing from Wales, Julie Gardner cemented her reputation as a successful television producer with the mid-2000s revival of the classic science fiction series "Doctor Who," a project with which she was centrally involved from 2003 to 2009. She studied English at the University of London, and taught the subject for a time before deciding to shift her focus to television. She worked her way up from producer's secretary on "Our Friends in the North," and began working as a producer in 2000 with London Weekend Television. Gardner left L.W.T. in 2003, taking a position at BBC Wales, where she would helm the reincarnation of "Doctor Who." The revival was so popular that Gardner, along with production partner Russell Davies, created several spinoffs, most notably "Torchwood," which has a darker, more mature tone than its relatively whimsical inspiration. Gardner developed and produced a number of "Doctor Who" TV movies for the BBC. As a result of her success with BBC Wales, Gardner was promoted in the spring of 2009 to "executive producer in charge of scripted projects" for BBC Worldwide America. She has one child with sound recordist Julian Howarth, with whom she worked on the set of "Doctor Who."