NEW HEAD OF DRAMA FOR BBC

BBC Head of Drama Jane Tranter has been offered the corporation’s top drama commissioning job.
Director of Television Mark Thompson is talking to a number of in-house drama executives about different models for drama commissioning.
Thompson has been expected to appoint a single drama commissioner to sit alongside commissioners for entertainment, features and arts.
Decisions have not yet been made as to whether it will be a single commissioner or multi-layered structure.
Current head of drama Mal Young who oversees ‘Eastenders’ and ‘Holby City’ is said to be important in the future mix although his experience is not considered to be as broad as Tranter’s.
The BBC is understood to be considering long-term plans to develop Elstree as a drama centre as part of its wide-ranging property review talks about the future of the site are said to be taking place now.
The use of Elstree has been under scrutiny for a number of years despite being the home of several long-running series ‘EastEnders,’ ‘Holby City’ and ‘Grange Hill’.
Other productions, such as Top of the Pops, only use the studios for part of the week.