Piers Wenger to leave the BBC
Thursday, 26 May 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
The BBC Doctor Who website has confirmed that Piers Wenger, currently one of three executive producers on Doctor Who, is leaving the BBC.Wenger commented:
It is with great sadness that I say goodbye to Doctor Who and BBC Wales, and all of the extraordinary people who work on its shows. But Film4's output, with its ethos of encouraging film-makers to produce their most authored and original work, could not be closer to my heart.
He replaced Julie Gardner as Head of Drama for BBC Wales in January 2009 and in July of that year became executive producer of Doctor Who and took a central role in the casting of Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor. His other executive producer credits on Doctor Who include The Adventure Games and Doctor Who Confidential. Away from Doctor Who, he worked on Ashes to Ashes, Christopher and His Kind and Upstairs Downstairs.In March 2011 Wenger stepped down as Head of Drama but remained at BBC Wales to continue as a creative developer. His position will be filled by Faith Penhale from Kudos in June.
Wenger is leaving the BBC to join Film4 in September, where he will become the senior commissioning executive under Tessa Ross, Channel 4 controller of film and drama, who commented:
(he is) a hugely talented executive who will bring to Film4 real vision at a time when we are embarking on an exciting new phase in our development.
His successor as executive producer of Doctor Who will be filled in the coming months by head writer Steven Moffat and the BBC's controller of Drama Commissioning, Ben Stephenson, who said:
I will be very sad to see him go. He's been a fantastic colleague and friend - but I know that film is a huge passion of his and this is a great new role for him."
Subscribe to News
Follow us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Contact Us
