Simon Heath

Simon Heath’s drama career has now spanned over 30 years, 28 of them with World Productions. 

Simon has executively produced multiple RTS award-winning shows such as Save Me and Line of Duty, has been nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for Bodyguard, won an International Emmy for Vigil, and following eight previous nominations, won the BAFTA for Save Me Too in 2021. 

The series finale of the sixth season of Line of Duty was the UK’s most watched TV drama of this century and the finale of Vigil the most watched UK TV drama since Bodyguard.

Born and bred in Birmingham, Simon’s break into the industry came as script editor on the Geordie teen drama Byker Grove, which he also wrote, going on to create and write BBC and C4 shows for its stars, Anthony McPartlin & Declan Donnelly.

After four years in the North East, Simon joined World Productions in 1997, where he was made Head of Drama in 2002 and has run the company since 2009. Under his leadership, World was named Production Company of the year at the Broadcast Awards in 2019 and 2022, and Production Company of the Year at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 2019.

World Productions was bought by ITV Studios in 2017.

Simon’s most recent credits include The Bombing of Pan Am 103 (which won the Audience Prize at the Monte Carlo TV Festival) two seasons of legal drama Showtrial, medical thriller Malpractice, the double Scottish BAFTA winning Karen Pirie and Until I Kill You (for which Anna Maxwell Martin won Best Actress at the RTS Awards) alongside C4 drama The Gathering.

Simon’s previous credits include Idris Elba’s vampire thriller Ultraviolet; the RTS nominated Larkin: Love Again; No Angels, which ran for three seasons on C4, BAFTA-nominated Outlaws, Broadcasting Press Guild nominated Party Animals; the triple BAFTA nominated Hancock & Joan; United, nominated for Prix Europa, Broadcast and RTS awards; The Fear for C4; The Great Train Robbery, a BAFTA nominated two part drama for BBC1; the Welsh BAFTA winning The Pembrokeshire Murders, the most watched drama of 2021 on ITV and the RTS nominated Hillsborough drama Anne. 

Simon was awarded an RTS Fellowship in 2021. He is a BAFTA and RTS member and supporter of Birmingham City, who are a lot better than they once were.