BBC Ups Catherine Catton to Lead Factual Entertainment

Catherine Catton has been elevated at the BBC to run the popular-factual and factual-entertainment department.

With her promotion, Catton is taking over the post for David Brindley, who left the BBC to become chief creative officer at the ITV-owned production company Twofour in November of last year. Catton, who first joined the BBC in 2015, has overseen such titles as The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan and The Big Hospital Experiment for BBC2, and Best Home Cook for BBC1.

Prior to joining the BBC, Catton served as a senior commissioning editor at UKTV, where she commissioned David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities and Storage Hunters, among other programs.

Alison Kirkham, the BBC’s controller of factual commissioning, said: “Catherine is respected for her supportive manner and creative insights by colleagues and suppliers alike. I have no doubt that she will do a phenomenal job and lead an already vibrant and flourishing department to continued success.”

Catton added: “I’ve loved the last four years at the BBC, so I feel very excited and privileged to be able to lead this brilliant team into the next chapter and focus on the very best in popular-factual and factual-entertainment programming.”