Jane Tranter - BBC Executive

BBC Executive

In 2000, she was promoted to Controller of Drama Commissioning at the BBC, where she was ultimately responsible for overseeing the Corporation's entire drama output across all channels, from the in-house departments and independent companies, in series, serials and one-offs. During her tenure in charge of the drama department, the BBC screened ratings-grabbing popular dramas such as Spooks (BBC One, 2002–2011) and Waking the Dead (BBC One, 2000–2011), as well as award-winning productions such as Paul Abbott's State of Play (2003) and the adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House (2005). She also oversaw the transformation of popular dramas Casualty and its spin-off Holby City into year-round dramas, the addition of a fourth weekly episode to soap opera EastEnders and the highly successful resurrection of classic science-fiction series Doctor Who in 2005.

In 2003, she was responsible for a programming budget in the region of £324 million, and in 2002 alone was ultimately responsible for 473 hours of television.

In September 2006, Tranter was promoted to the newly-created Head of Fiction position at the BBC. This made her responsible not only for drama, but for comedy, films and acquired programmes from overseas. In this new position, Tranter had an almost unprecedented amount of control over scripted drama on the BBC.