In 1994, he moved to television, working as a script editor on EastEnders before becoming the storyline consultant on Casualty. In 1999, after a brief period as producer on Sunburn, he took on the executive producer role on EastEnders. During his time there, he was given the task of introducing the soap's fourth weekly episode. He axed the majority of the Di Marco family, and helped introduce popular characters such as the Slater family. As what Mal Young described as "two of EastEnders most successful years", Yorke was responsible for big ratings winners such as "Who Shot Phil?", Ethel Skinner's death, Jim Branning and Dot Cotton's marriage, abusive Trevor Morgan, and Kat Slater's revelation to her daughter Zoe that she was her mother. Yorke was also responsible for Kim Medcalf being cast in the role of Sam Mitchell in January 2002, after Danniella Westbrook's drug addiction left her unsuitable for the role.
The 2000s
In May 2002, he left the soap for a senior position under Mal Young in the BBC's in-house Drama Series team, but soon after he left to work for Channel 4 as the Head of Drama in 2003. At Channel 4, he commissioned series such as Shameless, Sex Traffic and the critically acclaimed Omagh. In 2005, it was announced he would return to the BBC, taking over Mal Young's position, as Controller of BBC Drama Series, and, in addition, Co-Head of Independent Drama Commissioning. One of the reasons he returned was to set around reversing the fortunes of EastEnders, which had been receiving low ratings in comparison to the past. The results were mixed. As Controller of Continuing Drama Series, he has been ultimately responsible for overseeing some of the most popular programmes on British television, including EastEnders, Casualty, Holby City and Doctors. In 2009. he was made controller of the newly formed BBC Drama Production – a merger of Continuing Series and Series and Serials. While at the BBC, Yorke has been Commissioning Editor/Executive Producer for Life on Mars, Robin Hood, Bodies, The Street, A Class Apart, Waterloo Road and HolbyBlue, as well as looking after various series of Spooks, Hustle and New Tricks.
The 2010s
In 2010, Yorke's job title was changed to that of Controller Continuing Drama Production Studios. He was the executive producer of the Internet spin-off and BBC daytime drama, Land Girls. In March 2012, Yorke became acting editor of radio soap The Archers while Vanessa Whitburn took long service leave. He left the BBC again later in 2012. In 2013, he was an executive producer of Truckers and Skins, and the following year, The Missing. He was a regular writer on Red Rock, writing six episodes between 2015 and 2016. He also wrote two episodes of Casualty between 2016 and 2017.
Return to ''EastEnders''
In June 2017, it was announced that EastEnders executive producer Sean O'Connor had stepped down and would be temporarily replaced by Yorke as executive consultant. Yorke announced that he would be staying with the show for a year, longer than his original three months he was contracted to.
''Into The Woods''
Outside of television production, Yorke also authored Into The Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story, a writing guide that proposed a five act structure to film and television narrative, tying it back into classical mythology and playwriting techniques. The book draws extensively from Yorke's own research and experience, using examples from projects such as EastEnders and Spooks. This is used as the basis for seminars and online classes, devised and taught by Yorke.
