BBC Studios Hires for Comedy Development Team

BBC Studios Comedy Productions has appointed Laurie Farrugia, Ben Hough and Natasha Heliotis as development producers.

Farrugia will focus on comedy-drama series. She joins from Benedict Cumberbatch’s SunnyMarch, where she spent five years helping build the TV slate from the ground up and developed a wide range of comedy-drama and drama series.

Hough will develop new projects in addition to working on the upcoming production of a new BBC Two comedy, set to begin shooting later this year. Prior to joining BBC Studios, he was script editor at Sister Pictures on This is Going to Hurt, currently airing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. He also spent several years in development at Tiger Aspect Drama, including a stint in Sri Lanka script editing The Good Karma Hospital (ITV).

Heliotis joins BBC Studios after having most recently worked on Sister Pictures’ The Power. She is currently working as script editor on the upcoming third season of Trying for Apple TV+. Her background in comedy and drama includes credits on War of the Worlds (Fox/Canal+) and The One (Netflix).

Josh Cole, head of comedy, said, “Laurie, Ben and Tash are super smart with impeccable taste. They will be working on a range of upcoming productions for multiple broadcasters and developing a new generation of era-defining comedies and comedy-dramas.”