{"id":1029391,"date":"2026-08-28T11:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T11:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1029391\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T11:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T11:47:16","slug":"bbc-names-chris-sussman-director-of-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1029391\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC Names Chris Sussman Director of Comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe BBC<\/a> has a new comedy head. <\/p>\n

\n\tChris Sussman, formerly director of scripted series at Netflix U.K. and prior to that head of comedy at BBC Studios, has rejoined the broadcaster as its director of comedy, where he\u2019ll be responsible for leading what the BBC says is the \u201cU.K.s largest generator of original British scripted comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSussman replaces Jon Petrie, who in June announced he would be stepping down after five years in the role to join Hat Trick Productions as its new creative director. <\/p>\n

\n\tSussam will report directly to chief content officer Kate Phillips and lead the BBC comedy commissioning team. He will be responsible for overseeing a wide range of comedies including current shows \u201cLudwig,\u201d \u201cAmandaland, \u201cSmall Prophets,\u201d \u201cAnn Droid,\u201d \u201cHere We Go\u201d and \u201cBlack Ops\u201d alongside new series including \u201cBill\u2019s Included,\u201d \u201cReluctant Vampire,\u201d Better Later,\u201d \u201cHopley Hall,\u201d \u201cPush\u201d and \u201cOpening Up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt Netflix, Sussman helped build the U.K.scripted slate, working across series such as \u201cMan Versus Bee\u201d, \u201cBaby Reindeer,\u201d \u201cStay Close,\u201d \u201cBodies\u201d and \u201cBlack Mirror.\u201d At BBC Studios, he oversaw both the TV and radio comedy slates, including series such as \u201cThis Country,\u201d \u201cInside No 9,\u201d \u201cW1A,\u201d \u201cFamalam,\u201d \u201cUpstart Crow,\u201d \u201cLadhood,\u201d \u201cTwo Doors Down,\u201d \u201cVic & Bob\u2019s Big Night Out\u201d and \u201cMrs Brown\u2019s Boys.\u201d He was also responsible for winning BBC Studios\u2019 first commissions with Apple (\u201cTrying\u201d) and Amazon (\u201cGood Omens\u201d).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat a dream job! I\u2019ve loved BBC comedy since I was a young boy listening to tapes of \u2018Hancock\u2019 and \u2018The Goons,\u2019 and the thought of trying to make more classics for a new generation to fall in love with is a daunting but irresistible one,\u201d said Sussman. \u201cI\u2019ll be joining a brilliant team who are already producing some fantastic series, so I\u2019m looking forward to carrying on where Jon left off and defining British comedy in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdded Phillips: \u201cAfter a highly competitive interview process I\u2019m delighted that Chris will be taking up the role of the BBC\u2019s Director of Comedy. With a wealth of experience across multiple indies and broadcasters he has the smarts and skills needed to lead us into a very funny future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSussman starts his new role next month and Emma Lawson will continue as acting director in the interim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The BBC has a new comedy head. Chris Sussman, formerly director of scripted series at Netflix U.K. and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1029392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[6531,171,173,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1029391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-bbc","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117172977568325217","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1029391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1029392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1029391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1029391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1029391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}