Lorraine Sylvia Heggessey (born 16 November 1956) is a British television producer and executive. From 2000 until 2005, she was the first woman to be Controller of BBC One, the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation. She has also served as the Chief Executive of the production company Talkback Thames. Until October 2019 Heggessey was the Chief Executive of The Royal Foundation.

Early life, education and career

Heggessey was educated at Vyners Grammar School in Ickenham, Hillingdon and later earned an Upper Second Class BA Honours degree in English Language & Literature from Durham University (Collingwood College), before beginning her career in local newspaper journalism. She worked initially for the Westminster Press Group, where her first job was as a trainee reporter on the Acton Gazette local newspaper.

In 1978 she applied for a BBC News traineeship, but was rejected without an interview. She then worked voluntarily in hospital radio and gained a paid job on a local newspaper, before re-applying for the BBC traineeship the following year, this time successfully. She spent the next fifteen years working in current affairs programming in television.

Career

Current affairs

By the early 1980s she had become a producer on the BBC's flagship current affairs series Panorama, In the early 1990s, she and the film director Ken Loach collaborated on an edition of Hard News which investigated the treatment of trade unionist leader Arthur Scargill by The Daily Mirror newspaper and investigative journalist Roger Cook. Working in the science department, Heggessey appeared on-screen in a specially-recorded one-minute address to viewers shown directly before the first episode of Blue Peter to be screened following Bacon's sacking, on 19 October 1998, to explain to young viewers why Bacon had been dismissed, stating that he had "not only let himself and the team on Blue Peter down, but he has also let all of you down badly."

BBC One

In 1999 she was promoted to Director of Programmes and Deputy Chief Executive of the BBC's in-house production arm, BBC Production, responsible for supervising in-house output across all the various genres. In this position she was responsible for co-commissioning the channel's output with the various heads of department — drama, news, etc. — and deciding the channel's overall strategy and schedule.

During Heggessey's five years in charge, BBC One's audience share fell by 19.9%, to 23%, although this was in the context of declining audience figures across all British television channels due to increased competition from multichannel digital television. although much of this was down to the success of the channel's daytime television line-up, which had its own Controller in Jane Lush. The moving of Panorama attracted criticism that BBC One was sidelining serious programming in favour of more populist output. Heggessey publicly defended the decision despite it not being hers, claiming that Panoramas ratings would have "dwindled" in its previous slot. Celebrity dancing show Strictly Come Dancing (2004–present) was also a popular success on Saturday nights and continues to be.

Heggessey did later concede in a 2005 interview with The Independent newspaper that arts programming had suffered a cutback under her control of BBC One.

During her early days at BBC One, Heggessy criticized the "Balloon" idents the channel had been using for its between-programme idents since 1997 for being "slow and distant" and so, in 2002, after much speculation, she took the decision to abandon the "Balloon" idents (and the traditional "Globe" idents the channel had used in a variety of forms since 1963). They were replaced by a new style of on-air identity for the channel, the "Rhythm & Movement" idents. The new idents attracted some criticism for going against the traditions of the channel and pandering to political correctness, as they featured activities performed by people of various ethnicities.

One of Heggessey's most notable decisions and last major success at the channel was the re-commissioning of the science-fiction drama series Doctor Who, which had been a popular hit in previous decades but ceased production in 1989. Heggessey and Jane Tranter commissioned a new version of the series in September 2003, after Heggessey had spent two years persuading the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, to abandon their attempts to make a feature film version of the programme and allow it instead to return to BBC One. The new version of Doctor Who (2005–present) debuted on 26 March 2005 and became a critical and popular hit, with Paul Hoggart of The Times newspaper describing the series as "a joyful, exuberant reinvention and a fine legacy from Ms Heggessey."

On 14 February 2005 it was announced that Lorraine Heggessey was to leave the BBC to take up the post of Chief Executive at production company Talkback Thames.

Talkback Thames

At Talkback Thames, Heggessey was responsible for overseeing the production of high-profile programmes such as ITV1's The Bill and The X Factor, BBC One's QI and Channel 4's Green Wing. She was also responsible for delivering to BBC One in early 2006 two Stephen Poliakoff dramas that she herself had commissioned before she left the channel, Friends and Crocodiles and Gideon's Daughter, the latter of which went on to win two Golden Globe Awards (Best Actor in a Mini-series for Bill Nighy and Best Supporting Actress in a Mini-series for Emily Blunt) in 2007.

In June 2010 it was announced that she was leaving her post of Chief Executive with Talkback Thames.

Boom Pictures

Heggessey returned to the television industry in July 2012, when she became co-owner and Executive Chairman of the new Cardiff-based independent production company Boom Pictures.

In June 2014 Heggessey left the company, the success created by her led to its subsequent acquisition by ITV Studios.

The Royal Foundation

In April 2017, Heggessey was appointed Chief Executive of The Royal Foundation, the primary philanthropic and charitable vehicle for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. She left the position on 1 October 2019.

Personal life

Heggessy is married to Ron de Jong, a musician and composer, and they have two daughters.

References

  • official website: https://lorraineheggessey.com/