Polly Hill, the BBC executive responsible for Wolf Hall, Poldark and The Missing, has been appointed the new controller of BBC drama commissioning, one of the most powerful jobs in UK television.
Hill succeeds Ben Stephenson, who is leaving to join Star Wars director JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot production company in the US.
Hill, who is currently head of independent drama at the BBC, has overseen productions including BBC1’s Poldark, The Missing, Ripper Street and Death in Paradise, and Wolf Hall, The Honourable Woman and The Shadow Line on BBC2.
Announcing her appointment on Thursday, the BBC’s director of television Danny Cohen said Hill had an “exceptional track record for delivering outstanding drama”.
“From Wolf Hall to Poldark and The Missing, Polly’s work speaks for itself and is driven by her passion for writing and storytelling,” he said.
“BBC drama is in wonderful shape. We are determined to keep developing our reputation for dramatic range and quality, working with the very best established and emerging writers and being home to the most ambitious and risky projects.”
Hill said BBC drama had “thrived” under Stephenson and was “an incredible place and I would like to personally thank him.
“I look forward to steering BBC Drama into the future and building on this success; continuing to be the home of the most original and ambitious storytelling across a range of drama that is unique to the BBC.” Hall joined the BBC in 2005 after working as a producer on Gwyneth Hughes’ drama Cherished.
She previously worked at Channel 4 where she oversaw the first series of Andrew Lincoln comedy drama Teachers and started her career working for Verity Lambert, before getting her first script editing job on EastEnders.
The BBC said Hill would work closely with Stephenson over the coming days as she begins her new role.
