London 13th April 2004 - Alexandra Henderson has joined Talent TV to head up the UK indie's events and special programming. Formerly at the BBC, Alexandra will also continue in her role as Series Producer of BBC1's successful interactive programme, Test the Nation.
As Editor Elections and Special programmes for the BBC Alexandra has held a number of senior positions in news and current affairs, from executive producer on Panorama to deputy head of political programmes. In 2001, Alexandra became the first woman to edit the BBC's election night results programme - Vote 2001, which received the prestigious RTS judges' award for outstanding contribution to television craft and design. For the past two years Alexandra has produced BBC1's event days Your NHS, Cracking Crime and the Monarchy Debate. She secured the Prime Minister's involvement in the first of these and pioneered new forms of viewer interactivity for all of them. Alexandra was also part of the team that produced the very successful Great Britons series and edited the two hour live final.
No stranger to the independent sector, Alexandra worked for Brian Lapping Associates for three years at the time when they secured the first independent commission for hit topical show Question Time. Alexandra Henderson commented, 'I have greatly enjoyed all the challenges presented to me while at the BBC. I now look forward to working with my colleagues at Talent to create programming which combines my current affairs expertise and their excellent entertainment background.' Tony Humphreys, Managing Director at Talent TV added, 'We are extremely pleased to welcome Alexandra to Talent. Her wealth of experience in factual programming will be a fantastic bonus to the team and will add an extra dimension to what Talent TV has to offer broadcasters.' For further information: Debbie Lawrence                                The Lippin Company                           +44 (0)20 7745 7189                          dlawrence@lippingroup.com                 Notes to editors: Talent Television (part of Talent Group plc) is a leading independent UK format creator and producer of innovative television, video and interactive programming. The Company's reputation for prime-time entertainment programming is unrivalled. The "Test the Nation" series for BBC1 is now well established as a scheduling event which combines the excitement of live network television with state-of-the-art interactive television and web technology. Subjects covered so far include "The Nation's IQ", "Relationships", "General Knowledge" and "The End of Year Test". Talent was also a pioneer in reality television with "The Villa", which was first produced in 1999 for Sky One. Talent Television also has strong ties with major Japanese broadcasters and indie production companies, having produced several HDTV documentaries for both NHK and TV Asahi networks. And, last October, the "Test the Nation" format was successfully launched on TV Asahi, in association with Japanese indie TV Man Union. Talent Kids, the children's division, was established in January 2003 to develop high quality, innovative programming for kids. It's first commission was for the Disney Channel, with "Inside Clyde", an original fantasy adventure game show, the first 13 x half-hours being screened this winter in the UK. This was followed by a breakthrough reality entertainment format for 6-11 year olds called "Best of Friends". Produced for CBBC, the first series of 15 x half-hours is scheduled for transmission on the CBBC digital channel in March 04.