UKTV hires Paramount TV Int’l Studios exec Claire Hookway to build up drama slate
Claire Hookway (left) and Kirsty Hanson
BBC Studios-owned UKTV has appointed Claire Hookway to the newly created role of commissioning executive to bolster the development of the multi-channel broadcaster’s slate of original drama.
She joins a team led by Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning for UKTV, and reports to Helen Perry, head of drama, supporting the delivery of drama programmes across UKTV’s Alibi, U&Drama and U&Dave channels.
Hookway was previously senior creative executive at Paramount Television International Studios, working across multiple original drama commissions for Paramount+ including A Gentleman in Moscow, No Escape, Sexy Beast and upcoming series The Road Trip.
Before Paramount, Hookway was a development editor at Big Light Productions where her credits included Leonardo for Amazon and Rai in Italy and Radio Man for Audible.
Prior to that, Hookway built up her scripted production experience working on dramas including World on Fire (Mammoth Screen for BBC), The Bay (Tall Story Pictures for ITV), Bulletproof (Vertigo Films for Sky), and EastEnders and Holby City, both from BBC Studios for the BBC. Hookway’s career began on the BBC’s production apprenticeship scheme.
Meanwhile, Kirsty Hanson, formerly commissioning editor, has been promoted to senior commissioning editor for factual and factual entertainment.
Hanson’s commissioning credits at UKTV include Alex Jones: Making Babies, Katherine Ryan: Parental Guidance, Blackadder: A Cunning Story and Blackadder: The Lost Pilot, and the recently announced Back from the Dead: Who Kidnapped Me? and Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out.
UKTV’s slate of original dramas includes U&Drama show The Marlow Murder Club, which is returning to screens next year, and Alibi series The Red King and Annika, the latter of which was UKTV’s highest-rating show of 2023.
Upcoming drama series include Chris Lang’s I, Jack Wright; Bookish, created by Mark Gatiss; and Mudtown, a copro with S4C in Wales for Alibi; alongside a reboot of Bergerac and the Mitford sisters’ drama Outrageous, both of which will launch on U&Drama and U in 2025.
Perry said: “Claire’s arrival marks an exciting point of expansion as we are increasing not only our investment in original drama but also our ambition to deliver high-quality popular drama to a growing audience.
“Claire brings a wealth of experience and a fresh creative perspective, and her range and versality will be invaluable in continuing to realise UKTV’s ambition to be the home of bold, unmissable and entertaining drama.”
