Tony Jordan (born 21 July 1957) is a British television writer. He was listed as the number one television screenwriter in the United Kingdom by Broadcast magazine in 2008 and among British broadcasting's top twenty in The Stage in 2009. For many years, Jordan was lead writer and series consultant for BBC One soap opera EastEnders. Jordan had written for the programme since 1989 including the 2008 single-hander "Pretty Baby...." and is considered to be an 'elder statesman' of the show, for which he has written over 250 episodes . Career Beginning his career as a market trader, Jordan began writing at the age of thirty-two. He joined EastEnders after sending a spec script to the BBC about market traders, with a covering letter saying he had been born and raised in the East End of London. The BBC turned down the spec script, but gave him a job on EastEnders because of his apparent life experience. Afraid of what would happen if the producers found out that he was from the north, Jordan kept up the pretence of being a Londoner for five years. Jordan left school with no qualifications. For his work on EastEnders, he is particularly known for creating the Slater family along with then producer, John Yorke. Amongst significant episodes he scripted are those featuring the deaths of Arthur Fowler and Ethel Skinner; the "Sharongate" storyline; and more recently Kat's revelation to Zoe that she was her mother, the Andy-Kat-Alfie love triangle, and Dot's monologue. He was the first writer to do EastEnders when it began airing three times a week, when the siege at The Queen Victoria took place in 1994. He continued to work on EastEnders through a period which saw a reversal in its hitherto declining fortunes, with the programme winning the Most Popular Soap category at the National Television Awards in 2005. He wrote the first two episodes (broadcast on 24 and 25 October 2005) for the return of the characters of Phil and Grant Mitchell, popular characters he had originally helped to create back in 1989. While on staff at EastEnders, Jordan undertook a number of freelance projects. In early 2004, he created hit BBC One con artist drama Hustle. He also co-created the time travel/police drama Life on Mars, which began in 2006. His other credits include; Boon (ITV), Minder (ITV), Trainer (BBC), Eldorado (BBC), Thief Takers (ITV), Where the