John Yorke

John Yorke is a world-leading expert in narrative and a winner of multiple awards, including BAFTAs and a Golden Globe. Formerly Controller of BBC Drama Production, Head of Channel 4 Drama, and Managing Director of Company Pictures, he has overseen some of the most successful and critically acclaimed television drama of recent decades, from Shameless to Wolf Hall.

His book Into the Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide. A recent follow-up, Trip to the Moon: Understanding the True Power of Story, was published by Penguin in January 2026.

John is the founder of the BBC Studios Writers’ Academy, which has produced a generation of successful screenwriters – with nominations and wins for BAFTA, RTS, Golden Globe, Emmy and Oscar Awards for shows from Killing Eve and The Crown to Doctor Who.

Through his story training company, John Yorke Story, he works globally as a narrative trainer and consultant with film and television companies, broadcasters and streamers including BBC Studios, See-Saw Films (Australia), Netflix (UK, Europe and Africa) and Sony Pictures Animation (USA), and lectures at universities and film schools around the world.

You can hear him weekly on his BBC Radio 4 series and podcast Opening Lines, dissecting the stories dramatised each week on the BBC Classic Serial.