Elaine Anne Bedell (born 1960) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

and executive, currently CEO of the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

, London, a complex of artistic venues. Her former roles include Director of Comedy and Entertainment at

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, and Executive Chair of the

Edinburgh International Television Festival The Edinburgh International Television Festival is an annual media event held in the United Kingdom each August which brings together delegates from the television and digital world to debate the major issues facing the industry. The Festival ...

Early life

Bedell was raised in East London. Her sister is the novelist

Geraldine Bedell Geraldine Bedell is a British novelist and writer for ''The Observer''. She drew wide public attention when she claimed she had been disinvited from a planned appearance at the first International Festival of Literature in Dubai, because her no ...

. She attended a girls'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in East London (formerly Essex), which became Valentines High School in 1977. She studied English at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, graduating in 1983.

Career

She began her career at the BBC in 1987, producing radio programmes such as ''

Start the Week ''Start the Week'' is a discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 which began in April 1970. The current presenter is the former BBC political editor and the BBC's former political Sunday morning presenter Andrew Marr. The previous regular p ...

'', ''

Midweek ''MidWeek'' is a weekly United States tabloid shopper and advertisement periodical published in Honolulu, Hawaii and distributed throughout the Islands of Oahu and Kauai. It is owned by Black Press and is a sister publication of the ''Honolulu ...

'', ''Newstand'' and ''

You and Yours ''You and Yours'' is a British radio consumer affairs programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and produced by BBC News. History ''You and Yours'' began broadcasting in October 1970, when its first presenter was Joan York. In the 1980s it briefly ra ...

'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

Independent media

She left the BBC in 1992 and became Head of Factual Entertainment at

Tiger Aspect Productions Tiger Aspect Productions (formerly known as Tiger Television from 1988 until 1993 and also known as Tiger Aspect Films for theatrical films) is a British television and film production company, particularly noted for its situation comedy, situa ...

. In 1994, she became Managing Director of Watchmaker Productions, a company she founded with

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...

's interview programme ''Clarkson'' (1998–2001) which was shown on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, and produced by Bedell. The company was bought by the

Chrysalis Group Chrysalis Group was a UK media company that was founded by Chris Wright, chairman, and Terry Ellis. Wright was named in '' Sunday Times Rich List 2009'' of the 1,000 richest persons in the UK. Previously having interests in television, books a ...

in 1998, and she became Managing Director of Chrysalis Entertainment from 2000. Bedell then joined the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

in 2002, establishing a commercial division, Royal Shakespeare Company Enterprise Ltd.

BBC Television

Bedell returned to the BBC as Independent Executive, where she oversaw the relationship between BBC Television and independent production companies. She became Commissioning Editor for Features and Factual Entertainment in July 2005. She commissioned ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'' in 2006, and in Factual Entertainment she worked with Emma Swain,

Adam Kemp Adam Kemp (born December 20, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Rawlplug Sokół Łańcut of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). In 2014, Kemp graduated from Marist College with a degree in Sports Communication, and a minor ...

, Richard Klein and

Peter Horrocks Peter John Gibson Horrocks CBE (born 8 October 1959) is a broadcast executive and a former Vice-Chancellor (chief executive) of The Open University. He was educated at the independent King's College School in Wimbledon and at Christ's College, ...

. In November 2006 she became the Controller of BBC Entertainment, Multi-Platform Commissioning, working with

Jana Bennett Jana Eve Bennett (6 November 1955 – 11 January 2022) was an American-born British media consultant; member of the board of the British Library; member of the board of the Headlong (theatre company), Headlong Theatre Company; and Adviser to Ozy ...

, the Director of

BBC Vision BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 1 ...

ITV Network

She joined ITV as Director of Entertainment and Comedy in March 2009.

Edinburgh International Television Festival

From 2011 to 2014, Bedell was Executive Chair of the committee that manages the annual

Southbank Centre

In 2017, Bedell was appointed CEO of the Southbank Centre. Her salary and bonus amounted to £194k in 2017/18, increasing to £241k in 2018/2019. In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, which halted live performances, the organisation furloughed most of its 600 employees, and in July 2020 proposed to make up to 400 redundant. The PCS union protested against proposals to reduce previously agreed redundancy payments.

Personal life

Bedell is married to Clive Brill, who is also a former BBC radio drama producer.The Bedell Family - ''Independent'' 1997
/ref> She met her husband in a school play of ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

'', playing Natasha and Pierre. The couple married in 1990 and have a son (born 1991) and a daughter.

References

External links

*
''Telegraph'' January 2010

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedell, Elaine 1960 births Alumni of the University of Leeds BBC Radio 4 BBC radio producers BBC television producers ITV people Living people Television people from London Women radio producers