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Stephen Lambert (born 22 March 1959) is an English television producer and executive who works in Britain and America. He launched the TV formats ''
Wife Swap'', ''
Faking It'', ''
The Secret Millionaire
''The Secret Millionaire'' is a reality television show which originated in the UK, in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousands of pounds (or tens of thousands of dollars in the US and ...
'', ''
Undercover Boss
''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...
'' and ''
Gogglebox
''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for thei ...
''.
He is the chief executive of
Studio Lambert, one of
All3Media
All3Media Limited is a British worldwide independent television, film and digital production and distribution company based in London, England. The All3Media group comprises more than 40 production and distribution companies from across the U ...
's production companies. He is also chairman of Seven Stories, a scripted production company launched in 2015 and backed by All3Media.
His programmes have won dozens of awards including BAFTA awards, the Rose D'Or of Montreux and both Primetime and International Emmys.
In 2016 he was made a fellow of the
Royal Television Society.
Education
Born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, Lambert was educated at
Thames Valley Grammar School
Thames Valley Grammar School was a co-educational grammar school in Twickenham, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England.
History
Thames Valley Grammar School was opened in 1928 under one of the youngest headmasters in the country, Mr ...
and the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
graduating with a first in Politics and Philosophy. He studied as a post-graduate student at
Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...
where he wrote a book on the history of British broadcasting policy published by the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
called ''Channel 4: Television with a Difference?'' which coincided with the launch of Britain's fourth terrestrial channel in November 1982.
BBC
In 1983, he joined the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and worked in the Documentaries Department for the next fifteen years.
He was a producer and director of documentaries for the
BAFTA-winning BBC2 series ''
40 Minutes'' and the BBC1 series ''
Inside Story''; many set in conflict areas such as Sri Lanka, Croatia, South Africa, Kuwait, Gaza and Northern Ireland.
Between 1992 and 1994, he produced and directed a six-part documentary series for BBC2 about the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office which was filmed in Northern Iraq, the former Soviet Union, Bosnia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Europe, the US and in Whitehall.
In 1994, Lambert became the founding editor of BBC2's main documentary strand of the 1990s, ''
Modern Times''. While running ''Modern Times'', he executive produced some of the first BBC1 docu-soaps, including ''
The Clampers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' and ''
Lakesiders'', as well as the fly-on-the-wall series about
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six t ...
, ''
Premier Passions
''Premier Passions'' was a six-part British documentary TV series, broadcast on BBC One between 24 February and 31 March 1998. It was narrated by actress and Sunderland fan Gina McKee, directed by John Alexander and produced by Stephen Lambert ...
'' and the five part
Royal Television Society award-winning series about the
Department of Social Security
The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a governmental agency in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2001. The old abbreviation is still often used informally. Advertisements for rented accommodation used to describe prospective tenants who wou ...
called ''
The System''.
Lambert also started a long working relationship with the film-maker
Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is an English documentary filmmaker.
Curtis began his career as a conventional documentary producer for the BBC throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The release of ''Pandora's Box'' (1992) marked the ...
, executive producing his series ''
The Mayfair Set
''The Mayfair Set'', subtitled ''Four Stories about the Rise of Business and the Decline of Political Power'', is a BBC television documentary series by filmmaker Adam Curtis. It explores the decline of Britain as a world power, the proliferatio ...
'', winner of the 2000 BAFTA award for best factual series.
RDF Media
In 1998, Lambert left the BBC to join independent production company
RDF Media
Banijay (formerly Banijay Entertainment and later Banijay Group) is a French television production and distribution company which is the world's largest international content producer and distributor with over 120 production companies across 22 ...
as its first director of programs.
He devised and executive produced the acclaimed series ''
Faking It'' which premiered on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
in 2000. It won the
BAFTA best features program award in 2001 and 2002 and the
Rose d'Or
The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakes ...
in 2003. This was followed by ''
Wife Swap'', which attracted audiences of more than six million. It won the
BAFTA best features program award in 2003 and the Rose D'Or in 2004. Lambert continued working with
Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is an English documentary filmmaker.
Curtis began his career as a conventional documentary producer for the BBC throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The release of ''Pandora's Box'' (1992) marked the ...
, executive producing his ''
The Century of the Self
''The Century of the Self'' is a 2002 British television documentary series by filmmaker Adam Curtis. It focuses on the work of psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Anna Freud, and PR consultant Edward Bernays. In episode one, Curtis says, "This s ...
'' (2002), ''
The Power of Nightmares'' (2004) (winner of BAFTA best factual series award 2004), and ''
The Trap'' (2007).
From 1998 to 2005, RDF Media grew rapidly with Lambert spearheading its editorial development. RDF started producing in the US and opened its
RDF USA
Zodiak Media was an independent French production company.
In February 2016, Zodiak merged with Banijay.
History
In 2008, the group re-branded itself as Zodiak Entertainment after the acquisition of Zodiak TV (Nordics, Eastern Europe, Russia ...
production office in Los Angeles. In 2004, Lambert executive produced the US network version of ''
Wife Swap'' which launched on
ABC. RDF received ''
Broadcast''s Best Production Company of the Year Award for 2002, 2004 and 2006; the only company to win this award three times. In May 2005, RDF Media floated on the London Stock Exchange's
Alternative Investment Market
AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in operation since 1980. It allows ...
and started to acquire other independent production companies. Lambert became the group's chief creative officer.
He continued to devise new formats such as ''
The Secret Millionaire
''The Secret Millionaire'' is a reality television show which originated in the UK, in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousands of pounds (or tens of thousands of dollars in the US and ...
'', which won the
Rose d'Or
The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakes ...
in 2007, ''
Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands'' for Channel 4, and ''
The Verdict
''The Verdict'' is a 1982 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet, adapted from Barry Reed's 1980 novel of the same name. It stars Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O'Shea, an ...
'' for BBC2.
In 2007 Lambert resigned from RDF after taking responsibility over a misleadingly edited trailer for a BBC documentary which appeared to show the Queen storming out of a photoshoot with Annie Leibovitz. In fact, she was walking in. Peter Fincham, Controller of BBC One, and his head of publicity also resigned from their jobs.
Studio Lambert
In 2008, Lambert launched a new independent production company,
Studio Lambert, based in London and Los Angeles. In the 2021 Broadcast survey of independent UK production companies, Studio Lambert ranked #5 by size of turnover.
Lambert's first major formatted show in his new company was ''
Undercover Boss
''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...
'', which started on Britain's
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
in 2009 and has been produced in dozens of countries around the world. Studio Lambert produces an American version which premiered on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
in February 2010 immediately after the
Super Bowl to a record-breaking audience of nearly 40 million viewers.
It went on to become the highest rating new show of the 2009-10 television season with an average audience of 17 million viewers and to earn an
Emmy Awards nomination for Outstanding Reality Program every year from 2010 to 2016, winning the category in 2012 and 2013.
In March 2013, Studio Lambert launched ''
Gogglebox
''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for thei ...
'' on Channel 4, a weekly show observing ordinary people watching and reviewing the week's television. It has become "one of Britain's most popular shows", winning many awards including a BAFTA and five National Television Awards and local versions are produced in more than thirty countries.
Lambert launched a scripted division in his company in 2015. The first scripted show, ''
Three Girls'', won five BAFTA awards. This was followed by ''
The Feed'' for Amazon Prime, and ''
The Nest'' and ''
Three Families'' for BBC One.
In 2021,
Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
announced that Seven Stories, the other scripted company Lambert is involved in as chairman, was making ''
Nautilus
The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina.
It comprises six living species in ...
'' a major live-action series based on
Jules Verne’s ''
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne.
The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...
''.
Personal life
Lambert is married to journalist
Jenni Russell and they have two children.
References
External links
Studio Lambert website* Lambert, Stephen (1982) ''Channel 4: Television with a Difference?''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Stephen
1959 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of East Anglia
Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford
British media executives
English television producers
Fellows of the Royal Television Society