The Stage

ITV appoints Mackie as Elliott’s successor

Published Thursday 2 February 2006 at 12:55 by Liz Thomas

ITV has poached BBC drama executive and Bleak House producer Laura Mackie, making her its new controller of drama.

Currently the corporation’s head of drama series and serials, Mackie will report to director of drama Nick Elliott and will be jointly responsible for commissioning all new such productions for the network and for running the large ITV slate of some 680 hours with its £320 million annual budget. She will take over from Elliot when he steps down at the end of 2007.

He said: “I’ve worked with Laura both when I was at the BBC and when we worked for LWT. Her track record in television drama speaks for itself and I am very much looking forward to working with her again. The really exciting project for Laura and I is to work together to launch a new era in ITV drama. Over the next two years we will use our traditional strengths to consolidate ITV’s position as the leading channel for popular drama. And we will be introducing fresh thoughts and talent to ensure that we move with the times and find the hits for tomorrow.”

Mackie has worked on a number of BBC hits including, Cutting It, Silent Witness, and Waking The Dead. She started her career in drama at the BBC in 1982 and worked as a script editor, producer and executive producer on a variety of programmes including Making Out, Casualty, Out of the Blue, Born to Run and Undercover Heart. She left the corporation in 1997 to join LWT as deputy controller of drama where her work included London’s Burning, The Knock, Forgotten, Hero of the Hour and A Christmas Carol.

She said: “I have been lucky enough to be involved with some of the most original BBC dramas during the last five years and am grateful to all the talented people I’ve worked with. The challenge of taking on a commissioning role is hugely exciting and I’m very much looking forward to working along side Nick on a fresh, exciting and varied portfolio of drama for ITV.”