Chase co-creators join BBC Studios

Amanda Wilson and Elliot Johnson

Amanda Wilson and Elliot Johnson, co-creators of ITV quizshow format The Chase, are joining BBC Studios’ entertainment and music division.

The experienced format duo will leave their Banijay-owned Sharp Jack label next month to spearhead creative development in the department led by MD Suzy Lamb.

The department produces more than 300 hours of content a year, including Strictly Come Dancing, Comic Relief, Glastonbury coverage and A Question of Sport.

Wilson and Johnson, whose other credits include Four Weddings, Strictly Come Dancing, The Waiting Game, Who Dares Sings and RTÉ Ireland’s Raised by the Village, will be charged with devising and advancing original format ideas through to commission for a variety of broadcasters and platforms in the UK and globally. They will report to Lamb.

Wilson and Johnson will provide editorial direction and strategic business leadership for the development team, working alongside three other creative directors – Mel Balac, Pete Ogden and James Payne.

The duo set up Sharp Jack Media in 2011 and developed a range of shows for the UK and Ireland including Four Heads, Scorchio, Queer as Pop and dating show Always the Bridesmaid .

They joined the then Endemol Shine UK in 2017 as joint MDs of Sharp Jack TV, taking their existing IP and developments to build the label within the media company’s production group across entertainment and factual entertainment.

Following Banijay’s takeover of Endemol Shine, they created and exec produced a number of new titles, including E4 gameshow Darling What Have You Done to Your Hair? and Tough Old Landlords for NPO Netherlands.

Wilson’s work in entertainment and Saturday night gameshows has seen her head up the BBC team that developed and formatted the corporation’s domestic and global smash Strictly Come Dancing. She also devised The Waiting Game for Hat Trick Productions.

Johnson began his TV career at BBC music entertainment, working on Top of the Pops, Glastonbury and Bowie at the Beeb. He then joined Fremantle Media, developing ideas for Thames and Syco, creating and producing The Jack Osbourne show for Channel 4 and contributing to the development of The X Factor.