Sioned Wiliam

Last updated

Sioned Wiliam (born 1962) [1] is a Welsh comedy producer and executive. A former controller of comedy for ITV, she became the commissioning editor of comedy for BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra in March 2015 and served in the post for seven years. [2] [3]

Contents

Sioned Wiliam is the daughter of Welsh-language writer Urien Wiliam. [4] Raised in Barry, South Wales, she attended a Welsh-speaking comprehensive, Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen, before reading drama at Aberystwyth University and subsequently studying at Jesus College, Oxford. [5] While at Oxford University, she began performing in the Oxford Revue, working with Rebecca Front and Armando Iannucci, among others. [6] With Front, she was part of the comedy and music duo, the Bobo Girls; the two women performed as this act at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1989 [7] and in a radio series, Girls Will Be Girls, which ran for two series broadcast in 1989 and 1991. [8]

Wiliam joined the BBC Radio's Light Entertainment department in 1988, [9] but left in 1991 to produce the live television show Tonight With Jonathan Ross broadcast by Channel 4, remaining with the programme for a year. Subsequently, she joined the independent production companies Talkback, the company founded by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones, and Hat Trick. With Geoffrey Perkins, she produced Game On for Hat Trick.

Wiliam was appointed the controller of comedy for ITV in June 1999. [9] During this period, Wiliam revived the single-comedy film on ITV, according to Wiliam, in the tradition of earlier projects developed from scripts by Jack Rosenthal and Alan Bennett. [10] Wiliam also admitted in September 2005 to being interested in developing sitcoms, a declining format, especially on ITV1. [10] She left her post at ITV in January 2006 following decisions made by Simon Shaps, director of television, about management restructuring. [11] Wiliam then became a freelance independent producer.

Wiliam rejoined the BBC in March 2015 to commission Radio 4's comedy output and works for the network on three days each week. She partially replaced Caroline Raphael (whose remit had also included fiction) who had left the BBC. [2] An announcement she was standing down from this role during 2022 was made in January. Julia McKenzie was announced as her replacement in April. [12] [3]

Wiliam is married to Ian Brown, known for his scripts for the My Family sitcom; the couple have a son. Her first novel Dal i Fynd (written in Welsh) was published in 2013. [6]

Publications [13]

Related Research Articles

A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Perkins</span> British comedy writer, producer and actor

Geoffrey Howard Perkins was a British comedy producer, writer and performer. He was BBC head of comedy between 1995 and 2001, and produced the first two radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is one of the people credited with creating the panel game Mornington Crescent for I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. In December 2008 he posthumously received an Outstanding Contribution to Comedy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Davies</span> English comedian, presenter and actor

Alan Roger Davies is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series Jonathan Creek (1997–2016) and as the only permanent panellist on the BBC panel show QI since its premiere in 2003, outlasting its original host Stephen Fry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Quentin</span> English actress and presenter (born 1960)

Caroline Quentin is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances, portraying Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in Jonathan Creek (1997–2000), Kate Salinger in Kiss Me Kate and DCI Janine Lewis in Blue Murder (2003–2009).

Kevin Paul Jackson, credited as Paul Jackson; sometimes as K. Paul Jackson, is an English television director, producer and executive, known for his production roles within the BBC, ITV, and previously, Carlton and Granada. His most famous television work includes The Two Ronnies and The Young Ones, and as the original producer for the sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf. In 2006, Jackson was named Director of Comedy and Entertainment at ITV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hat Trick Productions</span> British independent TV production company

Hat Trick Productions Limited is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. The company's logo is depicted as a rabbit pulling a man out of a hat instead of the other way around.

Rebecca Louise Front is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for The Thick of It (2009–2012). She is also known for her work in numerous other British comedies, including the radio show On The Hour (1992), The Day Today (1994), Knowing Me, Knowing You… with Alan Partridge (1994), Time Gentlemen Please (2000–2002), sketch show Big Train (2002), and Nighty Night (2004–2005).

<i>Game On</i> (British TV series) British TV sitcom

Game On is a British sitcom which ran for three series on BBC2 from 27 February 1995 to 6 February 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Thompson</span> English novelist and biographer

Harry William Thompson was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist and biographer. He was the creator of the dark humour television series Monkey Dust, screened between 2003 and 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Miller</span> English comedian and actor

Bennet Evan Miller is an English comedian, actor and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. He is also known for his roles as Bough in the Johnny English film series, DI Richard Poole in the BBC crime drama series Death in Paradise and James Lester in the ITV sci-fi series Primeval.

Joanna Louise Page is a Welsh actress and presenter, known for portraying Stacey Shipman in the BAFTA-winning television series Gavin & Stacey. She played Dora Spenlow in the 1999 adaptation of David Copperfield, and featured as Just Judy in the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually. She currently co-presents the BBC One consumer series Shop Well for Less. In 2023, Page joined Loose Women as a regular panellist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Jones</span> Welsh actress, producer, and writer (born 1966)

Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the award-winning BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey. She later co-wrote and starred in the Sky One comedy-drama Stella (2012–2017), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance and won the BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia McKenzie</span> English actress, presenter, director, writer

Julia Kathleen Nancy McKenzie is an English actress, singer, presenter, and theatre director. She has premièred leading roles written by both Alan Ayckbourn and Stephen Sondheim. On television, she is known for her BAFTA Award nominated role as Hester Fields in the sitcom Fresh Fields (1984–1986) and its sequel French Fields (1989–1991), and as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple (2009–2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adil Ray</span> British actor, comedian and presenter

Adil Ray is a British actor, comedian and radio/television presenter. Ray stars in the BBC One comedy Citizen Khan, which he created and co-writes, as well as presenting on various BBC radio stations. He is also a presenter on ITV's Good Morning Britain, and has played the role of Sadiq Nawaz in the Channel 4 drama series Ackley Bridge. In 2021 he presented the revival of the British game show Lingo.

Christine Langan is an English film producer who was appointed Head of BBC Films in 2009. In 2016, she left the role to become CEO of comedy television production company Baby Cow Productions.

Kimberley Nixon is a Welsh actress. Nixon is known for her role as Sophy Hutton in the BBC One period drama Cranford, and appearances in various films such as Wild Child and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. She also starred as Josie Jones in the Channel 4 comedy-drama Fresh Meat and as Sarah Pearson in the BBC Two comedy Hebburn.

Jan Etherington is a British writer, journalist and producer.

<i>Up the Women</i> British TV sitcom (BBC Four, 2013–15)

Up the Women is a BBC television sitcom created, written by and starring Jessica Hynes. It was first broadcast on BBC Four on 30 May 2013. The sitcom is about a group of women in 1910 who form a Women's Suffrage movement. Hynes originally planned to write a comedy film about a suffragette plot to assassinate H. H. Asquith, but after realising the plot had turned quite dark, she decided to write a sitcom instead. Christine Gernon directed the three-part series, which became the last sitcom to be filmed before a live audience at BBC Television Centre and the first to be commissioned for BBC Four. A second series was commissioned in June 2013 and aired on BBC Two from 21 January 2015. Up the Women was not renewed for a third series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Shillinglaw</span> British media executive (born 1969)

Kim Danila Shillinglaw is a British media executive and non-executive director. A former controller of BBC Two and BBC Four, head of science and natural history commissioning at the BBC, and commissioner for children's entertainment at CBBC, she later became director of factual businesses at Endemol Shine. She is known for having transformed popular science on television.

Kiri Louise Pritchard-McLean is a Welsh comedian and writer. She has performed for several consecutive years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and won five Chortle Awards.

References

  1. ↑ "Sioned Wiliam", BFI Film Forever
  2. 1 2 Jake Kanter "Sioned Wiliam joins Radio 4 commissioning team", Broadcast, 19 January 2015
  3. 1 2 "Radio 4 appoints Julia McKenzie as Commissioning Editor for Comedy and Entertainment". BBC Media Center. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  4. ↑ "Clebran 'da… Sioned Wiliam". Pobl Caerdydd (in Welsh). 10 November 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  5. ↑ "2012 Media Conference: Scriptwriting Inside Track" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine , St Hilda's College, Oxford, 27 October 2012
  6. 1 2 Abbie Wrightwick "Award-winning Welsh TV producer Sioned Wiliam launches new novel", Wales Online, 16 November 2013
  7. ↑ David Belcher "Unique talent in every guise", The Herald (Glasdgow), 16 August 1997
  8. ↑ "Girls Will Be Girls", Radio Listings website
  9. 1 2 "Wiliam steps into ITV comedy post", Broadcast, 18 June 1999
  10. 1 2 Jason Deans "A self-confessed comedy nerd", The Guardian, 26 September 2005
  11. ↑ Ben Dowell "ITV loses two more senior staff", The Guardian, 12 January 2006
  12. ↑ "Radio 4 comedy chief Sioned Wiliam stands down". Chortle. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "Sioned Wiliam:Biography and Bibliography". Y Lolfa. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.