Biographies

Controller, BBC Four

Richard Klein became the Controller of BBC Four on 15 December 2008.

For the year leading up to this, Richard was the BBC's Head of Independent Commissioning, Knowledge, overseeing commissioning from independent production companies across Features, Arts, Music, Religion, Specialist Factual and Documentaries.

Richard joined the BBC in 1996 as a series producer and moved into commissioning to become a commissioning executive.

From there he became a senior commissioning executive and then the Commissioning Editor for Documentaries in March 2005.

He has been responsible for commissioning programmes including: The White Season, Stephen Fry: The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive, Wonderland, Amazon and The Fallen for BBC Two; The Childhood Season, Bulgaria's Abandoned Children, National Trust and Travellers' Century for BBC Four; Mountain, Britain From Above and Heart Of Thomas Hardy for BBC One; Blood Sweat And T-shirts, Filthy Rich And Homeless and Mischief for BBC Four.

He has commissioned factual dramas for BBC Two including Man On Wire, Maxwell, The Thieving Headmistress, Sex, The City And Me.

Richard has also taken an innovative approach to multiplatform, with rich online offerings for Britain From Above, Amazon and The Long Way Down.

Richard has commissioned and executive produced a number of award-winning shows, including four BAFTAs for Best Documentary and Best Documentary Series (Orphans Of Nkandla, The Choir, Evicted and National Trust), six Royal Television Society Awards for Best Documentary, four Griersons, and three One World Awards. Maxwell won an International Emmy for David Suchet's performance in the lead role.

Richard went to Aberdeen University where he gained a MA in English Literature. He then started working for local newspapers in London.

After three years in newspapers, he spent three years at London Weekend Television as researcher, reporter and then director on Weekend World, followed by Eyewitness.

He then worked as a director for a wide range of broadcasters including the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Romanian TV, directing feature-length, magazine shows, strands, documentaries and current affairs.