Bedell is BBC entertainment ‘super-controller’

Published Thursday 16 November 2006 at 15:35 by Liz Thomas

Elaine Bedell has been appointed BBC entertainment controller leading the group that commissions programming in the genre across the Corporation’s channels, on broadband and for mobiles.

The role covers entertainment formats, light entertainment, entertainment events and archive entertainment. The move comes after Jon Beazley accepted the entertainment production job under chief creative officer Peter Salmon. Bedell, whose credits include Top Gear, The One Show, the new What Not To Wear and Rogue Traders, will take up her post next month.

BBC Vision director Jana Bennett said: “Elaine is a strong creative figure with a great track record in entertaining, enriching programmes, and I’m delighted she is taking this role. From Strictly Come Dancing to The Apprentice, and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross to QI, BBC entertainment has broken the mould in many ways, and our innovative formats are beating all comers around the world.”

Bedell’s appointment completes the top level of genre controllers - Jane Tranter heads the fiction department, Glenwyn Benson runs the knowledge section and Richard Deverell is leading children’s programming.

“I’ve loved factual entertainment commissioning, but I’m really looking forward to getting in the driving seat with the BBC’s impressive entertainment slate.

“The biggest lure for me is the opportunity to take on multimedia commissioning and to find and develop entertainment projects that work on many different platforms,” Bedell said.