Doctor Who producer chief and Succession EP takes on Edinburgh TV Fest advisory chair role

Bad Wolf chief Jane Tranter has been named advisory chair for the 50th Edinburgh TV Festival as the fest abolishes its advisory committee.

Tranter, a long-time creative partner of Russell T Davies, has run Cardiff-based Doctor Who producer Bad Wolf as CEO, alongside Julie Gardner, since 2015. She is a former BBC controller of drama and subsequently controller of fiction, who also established BBC Worldwide Productions (now BBC Studios Productions) and Adjacent Productions for BBC Worldwide in Los Angeles. Other notable productions at Sony-owned Bad Wolf include His Dark Materials and I Hate Suzie. Outside of Bad Wolf, Tranter was executive producer on global hit Succession.

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Tranter will work closely with Edinburgh’s creative director Rowan Woods to set the editorial agenda and lead the curation of this year’s Festival. That agenda will be guided by an open call for session ideas, an open call for session producers and a series of open hall town meetings with industry across the UK attended by Tranter and creative director Rowan Woods to discuss key issues and themes for the sector. This will replace the previous advisory committee model, which saw dozens of industry figures come together to compile the program and has been scrapped.

The news comes ahead of 2025’s 50th edition for the festival, which will feature the 50th James MacTaggart lecture and include “a series of exciting new programming initiatives,” according to the festival.

“A major theme of last year’s Festival was the vital importance of inclusion and plurality of perspective, and it is in this spirit that we’re making significant steps to open up the Festival’s programming process,” said Woods. “The ethos of Edinburgh has always been ‘by the industry, for the industry’ and we want to ensure that everyone feels able to contribute regardless of background, seniority or location.”

Last year’s MacTaggart was delivered by Dear England creator James Graham, who passionately argued for greater working class representation. Woods is into her second year as creative chief. As the boss of a Wales-based company, Tranter is herself a passionate advocate for out-of-London commissioning – a hot industry topic at present.

Festival chair Fatima Salaria said: “We couldn’t be more excited to have a powerhouse like Jane leading the Festival in such a landmark year. Her strong leadership, passionate advocacy for the nations and regions, and global vision make her the perfect force to drive us forward.”

Tranter added: “[The] continued success of the Edinburgh TV Festival is a clear illustration of the impact that the nations have had – and continue to have – on the cultural landscape of the UK, and around the world.”

“The UK TV industry has flourished in the last half century and in no small way that is due to distinct, diverse and talented people, both on and off camera, making their voices heard,” she added. “The Edinburgh TV Festival has always embraced a passionate debate and for its 50th anniversary I’d like to hear those voices rise to a loud, discursive, celebratory roar.”

Tranter takes over the advisory chair role from Amazon unscripted exec Harjeet Chhokar.

Pic courtesy Edinburgh TV Festival.

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