Lorraine Heggessey
The Next Big Thing > Authors > Lorraine Heggessey
Lorraine became CEO of talkbackTHAMES in May 2005. From 2000
she was the first female Controller of BBC One, where she oversaw the
channel’s re-branding and a comprehensive shake-up of its schedules,
with emphasis on new drama, including the critically acclaimed Spooks,
Blackpool and State of Play, factual dramas including Dirty Warand
England Expects, historical drama series including Charles II, and
modern adaptations of popular classics such as The Canterbury Tales.
Under her direction there was a fresh impetus in factual programming with Imagine, a new strand on art and culture, and a new documentary strand One Life. Her background in journalism led to an emphasis on investigative peaktime programmes. The Secret Policeman, an investigation into racism among police recruits, led to the resignation of nine cadets in 2003. The programme won a BAFTA and two RTS awards in 2004.
During her controllership, BBC One became the biggest investor in comedy, with new shows such as My Family and All About Me. Innovation was at the heart of her strategy for the channel with cutting-edge technology used in programmes such as Test the Nation, Pompeii: The Last Day and Space Odyssey.
Lorraine has a long track record in making current affairs and popular factual programmes for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, as well as in the independent sector. She worked as a producer on Panorama, and then moved on to work on ITV’s This Week. She also worked at Clark Productions as Deputy Editor of Hard Newsfor Channel 4. She was the founding editor of Biteback, the BBC’s right to reply programme and series producer of the BBC programme The Underworld. She was editor of QED, BBC One’s flagship science documentary series.
She launched Animal Hospital with Rolf Harris, and was executive producer of The Human Body.
In 1997 she was appointed Head of BBC Children’s, where she revitalised the department and portfolio, launching 17 new shows. In 1999 she became BBC Production’s Director of Programmes and Deputy Chief Executive, where she led the creation and development of output across all genres and all media.
Under her direction there was a fresh impetus in factual programming with Imagine, a new strand on art and culture, and a new documentary strand One Life. Her background in journalism led to an emphasis on investigative peaktime programmes. The Secret Policeman, an investigation into racism among police recruits, led to the resignation of nine cadets in 2003. The programme won a BAFTA and two RTS awards in 2004.
During her controllership, BBC One became the biggest investor in comedy, with new shows such as My Family and All About Me. Innovation was at the heart of her strategy for the channel with cutting-edge technology used in programmes such as Test the Nation, Pompeii: The Last Day and Space Odyssey.
Lorraine has a long track record in making current affairs and popular factual programmes for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, as well as in the independent sector. She worked as a producer on Panorama, and then moved on to work on ITV’s This Week. She also worked at Clark Productions as Deputy Editor of Hard Newsfor Channel 4. She was the founding editor of Biteback, the BBC’s right to reply programme and series producer of the BBC programme The Underworld. She was editor of QED, BBC One’s flagship science documentary series.
She launched Animal Hospital with Rolf Harris, and was executive producer of The Human Body.
In 1997 she was appointed Head of BBC Children’s, where she revitalised the department and portfolio, launching 17 new shows. In 1999 she became BBC Production’s Director of Programmes and Deputy Chief Executive, where she led the creation and development of output across all genres and all media.
