MUMBAI: The British Broadcasting Corporation has separated the comedy and entertainment commissioning. The creation of the post, sees commissioning of entertainment and comedy programmes separated for the first time.
The divorce of two means putting stronger emphasis on comedy as genre in its own right, according to media reports.
Naming Lucy Lumsden as the BBC’s first controller of comedy commissioning. She will report to BBC television director, Jana Bennett. Recently, Jon Beazley had been appointed as the BBC controller of entertainment commissioning.
Lumsden will take responsibility for commissioning comedy both in-house and from the independent sector. Her appointment as head of commissioning comes after her fellow comedy executive, Jon Plowman was given the position to head the BBC’s in-house comedy team.
Lumsden has covered the role since former head of comedy commissioning, Mark Freeland defected to the indie, leaving behind Coupling and Men Behaving Badly, Hartswood Films, in April.
Lumsden has worked with the BBC’s independent comedy team for the last seven years, taking responsibility for hits such as The Catherine Tate Show, Monkey Dust and Nighty Night.
She started her career at the BBC in 1992 on The Comic Strip before working on a number of dramas and documentaries.