Endemol set to poach The Bill boss
BBC1 controller Lorraine Heggessey could suffer her first blow in the world of commercial TV as the head of drama at the firm she is about to join is being lined up for a job in rival firm Endemol.
Big Brother producer Endemol is close to clinching a deal to lure executive producer of The Bill, Paul Marquess, from rival independent Talkback Thames to spearhead its first move into drama.
His almost-certain departure will be a blow to Heggessey, who this week quit the corporation to become chief executive of Talkback.
Endemol has held talks with Mr Marquess, who as head of drama at Talkback Thames oversees output including Five soap Family Affairs and ITV1 detective drama MIT, as well as long running cop show The Bill.
Losing Mr Marquess would be a blow to Ms Heggessey, who quit as BBC1 controller earlier this week and will step into outgoing chief executive Peter Fincham's shoes in the summer.
Ms Heggessey is also in danger of losing Talkback's creative director, Daisy Goodwin, who has also been in talks with Endemol, before she even arrives at the company.
Hiring Mr Marquess to make drama would mark a major new direction for Endemol, which has made its name making reality and factual entertainment shows such as Big Brother, Fame Academy, The Salon, Ground Force, Changing Rooms and Ready, Steady Cook.
The UK arm of Endemol boosted its revenues by nearly 40% last year, to around £90m, with £40m alone coming from Channel 4 shows such as Big Brother, The Salon and The Games.
However, the company has been looking at how it can continue this growth by moving into new production areas since November, when Endemol UK chairman Peter Bazalgette was promoted to global head of creative operations for the company, which has its headquarters in Holland.
Endemol is ultimately owned by Spanish media and telecoms giant Telefonica, which is looking to sell off the production company.
An Endemol spokesman declined to comment on whether there had been talks with Mr Marquess.
Mr Marquess joined Talkback Thames in late 2001 as executive producer of The Bill and was later promoted to head of drama.
He is credited with re-inventing the long running ITV1 show, famously killing off seven characters in his first few weeks at Talkback Thames.
Under Mr Marquess, The Bill was transformed from a drama with one-off storylines and soapy elements into a fully-fledged serial, with more emphasis on crime solving than the policemen's personal lives.
Before joining Talkback Thames, Mr Marquess worked as a story editor in Coronation Street and executive producer of Brookside. He is also credited with coming up with the original idea for what later became Footballers' Wives.
Ms Goodwin's Talkback contract is up in June and it is understood she is looking to set up her own company after considering her future following the announcement of Mr Fincham's departure at the beginning of the year.
Ms Goodwin, whose hit shows also include Jamie's Kitchen, Grand Designs, Property Ladder and Life Laundry, has also been in talks with Big Brother producer Endemol and an unnamed US production company but now favours the idea of going it alone.
mediaguardian
