Paul Jackson (producer) - Work With IPPA

Work With IPPA

At this time, Jackson was a member of the council of IPPA, a forerunner of Pact, the body which established terms for trade between independent producers and the BBC and other broadcasters. PJP was eventually taken over by Noel Gay Television, a company chaired by the British entertainment executive, Bill Cotton. Jackson served as the Managing Director and the company produced Red Dwarf, the long-running and internationally successful comedy series, the pilot episode of Bottom (Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmonson) and, working with LWT, the hugely influential Channel Four variety show, Saturday Live. Saturday Live featured such comedy stars as Lenny Henry, Pamela Stephenson, Michael Barrymore, Peter Cook and Barry Humphries and bought to prominence talents such as Ben Elton (as a performer), Fry and Laurie, Harry Enfield and Julian Clary. The company also held the contract to provide all entertainment programming for the short lived UK satellite service, British Satellite Broadcasting and produced shows featuring then unknown names such as Armando Ianucci, Steve Coogan, Lee Evans and Jack Dee, as well as The Happening, a precursor to the long-running BBC show Later... with Jools Holland. In 1988 Jackson also co-produced the Oscar winning short film, The Appointments of Dennis Jennings, starring Steven Wright and Rowan Atkinson.