The Documentary Unit at BBC Studios is the home of high quality, thought-provoking and award-winning factual television.
Powerful storytelling is at the heart of what we do - and this helps us take…
KEY TITLES
Our Team
Alan Holland
Head of the Documentary Unit
Alan is Head of the Documentary Unit, setting and leading on the unit’s creative strategy. As an exp...erienced Executive Producer he has produced programmes across a wide range of genres, from specialist factual (What’s the Matter With Tony Slattery?, People’s History of the NHS), to consumer and crime (Watchdog, Crimewatch) and live events (Stargazing Live, The Pride of Britain Awards, D-Day 75).
Kirsty Cunningham
Creative Director
Kirsty oversees the delivery of programming for Documentaries. Kirsty has joined from 72 Films, her ...executive producer credits include the BAFTA-winning Ambulance, Our Cops in the North, and award-winning Girls on the Edge. Prior to this she’s worked as a director and producer on a wide range of documentaries and formats including A Killing in My Family, Protecting Our Foster Kids, Big Ballet and 24 Hours in A&E.
Abigail Priddle
Creative Director
Abigail oversees a wide range of projects for BBC Studios. Her recent projects include Michael X: H...ustler, Revolutionary, Outlaw (Sky), Grierson & PGA nominated Banned: The Mary Whitehouse Story (BBC), Inside our Autistic Minds (BBC) and Freedom: Fifty years of Pride (C4) with a variety of other programmes and series in production for different broadcasters. Previously a Commissioning Editor for the BBC, her credits include award-winning projects The Yorkshire Ripper Files, Chris Packham: Asperger’s & Me, and factual drama When Barbara Met Alan. Prior to this, Abigail directed a range of factual programming from acclaimed documentaries including The Met and 24 Hours in A&E to popular returners including Back in Time and Hunted.
Joe Mather
Creative Director
Joe leads the Documentary Unit’s crime pillar, specialising in exclusive access and big audiences. H...e’s overseen hundreds of hours of network programmes including the BAFTA and RTS nominated ‘Undercover Police: Hunting Paedophiles’ for Channel Four and BAFTA nominated ‘The Murder of Jill Dando’ for BBC One. Forthcoming productions include an unprecedented new series revealing a previously unseen area of high-adrenaline policing and a new retrospective format examining how cutting-edge forensics can help solve the most serious of cases. Prior to working in Factual Joe was an award-winning senior journalist for Newsnight and Panorama on the BBC and at Channel Four News.
Francesca Maudslay
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Francesca oversees a slate of both Specialist Factual and Popular Factual output, and has spent the ...last 25 years working with everyone from David Attenborough to Alan Sugar. During her career as an award-winning Executive Producer, she split her time between Specialist Factual titles like Blitz: The Bombs that Changed Britain and some of the biggest Factual Entertainment brands in the business, including The Apprentice and Glow Up.
Cate Hall
Creative Director of Development
Cate leads development across the Documentary Unit. As a programme maker she has worked across all f...actual genres and has developed many of the series she has gone on to produce. These include The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty for 72 Films, Blitz: The Bombs That Changed Britain and The Victorian Slum for Wall to Wall.
Sue Malone
Head of Production
With a background in documentary programming and extensive experience in leading production manageme...nt teams, Sue oversees the business development and strategic growth of the Documentary Unit. Previous credits include everything from established strands (Rip Off Britain), (For Love or Money), religious programming (Carols from Kings), Single Documentary (Danny Dyer on Harold Pinter) and Documentary Series including (Women at War), (Sex on the Couch).
Emma Ong
HEAD OF COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, SCIENCE, DOCUMENTARIES AND CHINA
Emma has held a variety of commercial and business development roles at the BBC. Drawing on over 15... years’ experience in Unscripted and Scripted commercial roles, Emma is a global content expert having lived and worked in Beijing and working behind the scenes on successful shows such as Planet Earth, Doctor Who, The Planets, Surgeon’s Cut and Fight the Power.
Andrew Downey
Head of Commercial, Rights & Business Affairs, Science & Documentary
Andrew has over 20 years’ experience of production and commissioning business affairs in the BBC and... BBC Studios supporting, at various times, Science, Docs, Arts, the NHU, News and Currents Affairs and Learning. Since Studios inception he has led on Production’s contractual relationships with several major SVOD clients and managed the Factual business affairs team in London and, more recently, Glasgow