BBC Names Chris Sussman Director of Comedy
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- BBC named Chris Sussman its new Director of Comedy, with responsibility for what it calls "the U.K.'s largest generator of original British scripted comedy."
- Sussman joins from Netflix U.K., where his slate included "Baby Reindeer," "Black Mirror," "Bodies," "Stay Close," and "Man Versus Bee," after a prior stint as head of comedy at BBC Studios overseeing "Inside No. 9," "This Country," "W1A," "Ladhood," and "Mrs Brown's Boys."
- He replaces Jon Petrie, who stepped down in June after five years to become creative director at Hat Trick Productions; Sussman reports to chief content officer Kate Phillips and starts next month, with Emma Lawson continuing as acting director.
- His commissioning slate covers current shows "Ludwig," "Amandaland," "Small Prophets," "Ann Droid," "Here We Go," and "Black Ops," alongside new commissions "Bill's Included," "The Reluctant Vampire," "Better Later," "Hopley Hall," "Push," and "Opening Up."
- During his earlier BBC Studios tenure, Sussman won the division's first commissions with Apple ("Trying") and Amazon ("Good Omens") — a cross-platform track record uncommon among BBC comedy chiefs.
Why it matters: Sussman returns to the BBC from Netflix U.K. with the rare combination of institutional knowledge and direct U.S. streamer relationships — his prior BBC Studios run secured the division's first-ever Apple and Amazon commissions. With Petrie's five-year tenure ending and Phillips installing her own pick, the BBC is explicitly betting that cross-platform fluency can keep its comedy pipeline commercially viable against the same streamers Sussman just worked for.
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