The Archers gets new top boss
Jeremy Howe has been announced as the new editor for The Archers, the world’s longest-running continuous drama. He replaces Huw Kennair-Jones who joined ITV’s Drama Commissioning team last year.
“Being in charge of Radio 4’s drama and fiction has been one of the best jobs in the world. I am thrilled to be asked to do another of the best jobs in the world, to take up the reins of The Archers and to carry on the work of my illustrious predecessors Huw Kennair-Jones, Sean O’Connor & Vanessa Whitburn. It is an honour and privilege to be moving to Ambridge. I just hope that my favourite country walk along the Am hasn’t been ruined by Brian’s chemical misdemeanours.” – Jeremy Howe
Howe is currently BBC Radio 4’s Commissioning Editor for Drama and Fiction and will take up his post in Ambridge later this year. In his current role, Jeremy is responsible for commissioning over 300 titles a year, including Book At Bedtime and all the drama on Radio 4, where there are more commissioned single dramas broadcast than all other BBC TV and radio networks combined.
Recent commissions include an all-day dramatisation of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children to mark the 70th anniversary of Partition; Blood, Sex And Money by Emile Zola; and serials like John Dryden’s Tumanbay and Matthew Broughton’s Tracks.
Previous roles also include Assistant Commissioning Editor with responsibility for developing Film4 at Channel 4. He started out as a theatre director working at venues that included York Theatre Royal, the Mercury Theatre, Colchester and the Lyric Belfast.
The Archers is the world’s longest-running soap opera having started in 1950 on the Regional Home Service. Set in the fictional village of Ambridge in the also fictitious county of Borsetshire, it is recorded in Birmingham at the Mailbox and remains one of Radio 4’s most popular programmes.
“Jeremy has made an outstanding contribution over many years as Radio 4’s Drama Commissioning Editor. He has brought drama into the heart of Radio 4 and commissioned countless memorable and agenda-setting programmes, in addition to overseeing our considerable portfolio of series, serials and individual dramas, including The Archers.” – Gwyneth Williams, Controller of BBC Radio 4
