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Read our Privacy and Cookie policies to find out more. 1. News 2. The 1000 The 1000: London's most influential people 2014 - Screensavers London’s hot-bed of television talent, both on-screen and behind the camera, is the source of one of the UK’s great exports. No wonder American broadcasters are swooping in to buy up some of our most-prized assets * Thursday 16 October 2014 18:42 BST * Doctor no. 12: Peter Capaldi (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy) BBC/Guy Levy TV Drama Peter Capaldi Actor This year Capaldi became the 12th actor to play Doctor Who on TV — his second truly iconic screen character, after Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It. Top facts about Capaldi: as a teenage fan he pestered the Doctor Who production office and fan club so much they wished that the Daleks would exterminate him; and he won an Oscar in 1994 for his short film, Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life. Ben Stephenson BBC Drama Commissioning, controller Probably the most powerful man in British drama, Stephenson has been controller of drama commissioning on all the BBC’s channels and online since 2008. He only joined the Corporation in 2004 after stints at Granada and Channel 4. The Fall, Sherlock, Happy Valley, and the best one-off dramas all come under his ambit. Olivia Colman Actress Comedy spoof The Five(-ish) Doctors had a brilliant gag: Colman complaining she couldn’t get a part in the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who, “and I’m in everything”. It’s funny because it’s true: Peep Show, Broadchurch, Twenty Twelve, Rev — the multiple Bafta and Broadcasting Press Guild winner’s presence in a show is a virtual guarantee of quality. A film adaptation of the stage hit London Road is forthcoming. Stephen Moffat Writer NEW ENTRY Famously the man who turned down Spielberg (he declined to work on Tintin due to his Doctor Who commitments), Moffat took over the revived Time Lord’s adventures from Russell T Davies, and delivered the latest incarnation by Peter Capaldi. Also in the works is a Christmas special for his triumphantly rebooted Sherlock (he won an Emmy for it this year). Mark Gatiss Writer and actor NEW ENTRY He writes novels as well as scripts, acts on stage as well as the screen, presents horror documentaries and has had a hand as writer, producer and performer in three of the most significant TV series of the past 20 years: the League of Gentlemen, Doctor Who and Sherlock. Next up: a role in the BBC adaptation of Mapp and Lucia. Where does he find the time? Hugh Bonneville Actor It is likely that the defining role of energetic Bonneville’s career will be that of Robert, the benign Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, but he also brought his air of hapless decency to the part of Ian Fletcher in the Olympic and BBC spoofs Twenty Twelve and W1A. He was great in Rev too — and can be heard alongside Tom Hollander amid the voice cast of the Paddington film. Emilia Clarke Actress NEW ENTRY Amid the countless British thespians in American HBO fantasy epic Game of Thrones, London-born Clarke became the standout star, in the role of the dragon-mistress warlady Daenerys Targaryen. Cast in the role pretty much straight out of drama school (her bit-part in Doctors was decidedly low-key) she is shooting Terminator: Genesis, in the role of Sarah Connor, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. 463568369.jpg Screen sensation: Emilia Clarke (Picture: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty) Chris Chibnall Writer NEW ENTRY Self-effacing Chibnall, a graduate of the forcing ground for writers and actors that is Doctor Who, became a household name with must-see ITV seaside murder drama Broadchurch, the second series of which is in the pipeline. He has also executive-produced the American remake, Gracepoint, and given us Great Train Robbery dramas from the coppers’ and the crooks’ perspective. Philip Glenister Actor NEW ENTRY With a flair for playing warm-hearted rough diamonds, Glenister is the natural heir to John Thaw. He already had starring roles in Coupling, Roger Roger and State of Play under his belt when he essayed the role for which he became most treasured — that of Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and then Ashes to Ashes. More recently, he’s given us Mad Dogs, Big School and From There to Here. Tamsin Greig Actress Her place in the pantheon of British broadcasting culture is secure thanks to her turn as Debbie in The Archers, but Greig is also one of the sharpest, smartest actors working in TV drama (Emma, The Diary of Anne Frank) and comedy (Green Wing, Friday Night Dinner, Episodes). In December she makes her musical debut in a West End adaptation of Almodovar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. David Tennant Actor Everything the gracious, enthusiastic Tennant touches turns to gold (well, almost — we’ll forget the Virgin Media ads). He revamped Doctor Who after Christopher Ecclestone quit the role, used his fame in the part to draw new audiences to Shakespeare on stage and screen, and appeared in both Broadchurch and its American remake Gracepoint. Lord Fellowes Writer Who remembers Julian Fellowes’s turn as an actor, or even as the author of the novel Snobs? These days he’s fixed in the popular imagination as the creator of five series of Downton Abbey, repackaging the British class system for a hungry international audience — and as a fully fledged member of the great and the good. His miniseries of Titanic also sold well overseas. Billie Piper Actress Good grief, she’s only just turned 32, but Piper has already packed in a lot, parlaying her teenage pop stardom into an acting career that hit twin early heights with Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Doctor Who. This year she was seen in Penny Dreadful, and onstage in the National Theatre’s hacking drama Great Britain. She also has two children with husband Laurence Fox. AN52482020LONDON-ENGLAND---.jpg Talented: Billie Piper (Picture: Dave Benett) Jed Mercurio Writer NEW ENTRY A saturnine Lancastrian, Mercurio is a writer-producer-director for the small screen and a novelist to boot. He scored early hits with Bodies and Cardiac Arrest and most recently thrilled audiences with a second series of Line of Duty that was as good as, but utterly different from, the first. Two further series are due, and Mercurio is also showrunner for forthcoming Sky medical drama Critical. Damian Lewis Actor Lewis’s breakout role was in Band of Brothers but his apotheosis as an international star was as the suspicious Brody in Homeland. Married to actress Helen McCrory, the pair filmed US drama To Appomattox together. Tom Hollander Actor He played Dylan Thomas this year for the BBC and will soon be seen in Tulip Fever on the big screen, but it’s with Rev, which he starred in and co-created, that Hollander hit the jackpot. The travails of inner city vicar Adam Smallbone were funny, touching, thoughtful, profound. Bonus fact: Hollander does occasional voices for savage US animation series American Dad! Maxine Peake Actor NEW ENTRY Arguably taking the baton from Sarah Lancashire, Peake’s presence in a drama is pretty much a guarantee of quality. As well as appearing in Dinnerladies, Shameless, The Village and Silk, Peake is a writer and director, and an associate of Manchester’s Royal Exchange. Zawe Ashton Actress and writer A writer (she is under commission from the Bush Theatre) as well as an actress, Ashton was wonderful in Dreams of a Life, and one of the better things in the St Trinian’s sequel on the big screen. But it was Vod in Channel 4’s Fresh Meat that she really made her mark and she will soon be seen as a divorced and unhappily relocated civil servant in new C4 comedy CUT. Zawe Ashton.jpg Talented: Zawe Ashton (Picture: Rebecca Reid) Eve Best Actress NEW ENTRY It has been a slow rise for west London-born Best, who hit top form in BBC drama The Honourable Woman. She has shown her versatility in roles from dark US series Nurse Jackie to Wallis Simpson in The King’s Speech. TV Comedy Armando Iannucci Screenplay writer The Scottish satirist has balanced performing and producing during his career, but latterly has spent more time behind the screen on American political satire Veep, which swiftly followed the success of its UK cousin, The Thick Of It (with fewer expletives). As someone who has worked with Stewart Lee, Steve Coogan and Chris Morris, Iannucci remains at the heart of quality comedy broadcasting. Armando-Iannucci_Julia-Louis-Dreyfuss.jpg Funny pair: Armando Iannucci and Julia-Louis Dreyfuss (Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty) Julia-Louis Dreyfuss Actress NEW ENTRY Dreyfus has become one of US comedy’s most cherishable female comedians. She might still be best known as Elaine from Seinfeld but Iannucci spotted her brilliance and impeccable timing for a role she was born to play, Deputy President Selina Meyer in HBO’s Veep — including a London episode in which she got caught out in a London pub. Ian Hislop Private Eye, editor A star of the BBC’s Have I Got News For You for nearly a quarter of a century, but his commitment to satire goes back even further. He worked for Private Eye straight after Oxford and has been editor since 1986. Proved he has lost none of his edge with the “Woman Has Baby” cover, when Kate gave birth to Prince George, and controversially portrayed Rebekah Brooks as a Halloween horror figure at the start of the hacking trial. Victoria Coren Mitchell Columnist and presenter NEW ENTRY There are not many comic writers who can also claim to be high-rolling card sharps. Observer columnist Coren became the first two-time winner of the European Poker Tour in April, collecting a £400,000 pot — having become the tournament’s first female winner in 2006. Presumably BBC4 pays her slightly less for hosting cult quiz Only Connect. Married to comedian David Mitchell. Steve Coogan Comedian and actor NEW ENTRY Alan Partridge’s creator finally proved that there was more to him than a spoof DJ when he co-wrote, produced and starred in the Oscar-nominated Philomena. Coogan has also recently revealed a serious side, being a driving force behind Hacked Off, the campaign for statutory press regulation, and becoming a patron of Index on Censorship. On TV, his gastronomic The Trip to Italy with Rob Brydon was a mould-breaking delight. Bridget Christie Comedian and broadcaster NEW ENTRY The winner of the 2013 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award has become the flag-bearer for feminism in stand-up comedy. The Gloucester-born gagsmith is equally adept at whimsical jokes and taking a firm stand against female genital mutiliation. Christie and husband Stewart Lee are the power couple of radical humour. Jack Whitehall Comedian The last year has pretty much been world domination as usual for Whitehall. He played his first headline shows at the O₂ Arena and had television hits with Bad Education, Fresh Meat and the chat show Backchat, in which he co-starred with his curmudgeonly father Michael. The only blip was the failure of American TV to commission a US version of Bad Education. James Corden Actor and presenter Who would have thought the tubby Hazlemere schoolkid would conquer stage and screen? Having notched up awards for Gavin & Stacey and One Man, Two Guvnors, he co-devised and co-starred in BBC comedy-thriller The Wrong Mans and this Christmas he appears alongside Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp in Disney’s Into The Woods. Has given up presenting The Brits music awards to take on a US chat show. Rob Brydon Comedian and presenter NEW ENTRY The former voice of Toilet Duck commercials has become one of broadcasting’s most ubiquitous stars. His appearance alongside Steve Coogan in The Trip to Italy cemented his status as an artful actor. Unlike Coogan, however, Brydon can also be a mainstream entertainer, hosting the Saturday night game show The Guess List. If he masters dancing he could be the new Bruce Forsyth. Jessica Hynes Actress NEW ENTRY Anyone who has ever dealt with PR companies could only watch Hynes’s pin-point portrayal of Siobhan Sharpe in Olympic satire Twenty Twelve and BBC mockumentary W1A through their fingers, such was its painful accuracy. The award-winning star who first broke through alongside Simon Pegg in Spaced is one of our most versatile comic actors, creating each new role with forensic precision. Sally Phillips Actress NEW ENTRY Posh friends seem to be a speciality for Phillips. She played Miranda Hart’s chum Tilly in Miranda and Shazza in Bridget Jones’s Diary, but there is so much more to the Smack the Pony clown, whose first big break was as a giggling receptionist in I’m Alan Partridge. Surely it’s only a matter of time before a TV company turns her Radio 4 hit, Clare In the Community, into a primetime sitcom. Harry Enfield Comedian, writer NEW ENTRY The impressionist who gave the world Loadsamoney back in the Eighties returned to form in 2014 with his satirical tribute to BBC2 with Paul Whitehouse, Harry and Paul’s Story of the Twos. Enfield’s impression of Simon Schama was so pin-sharp it would not be a surprise if he starts being invited to host history documentaries. Miranda Hart Comedian In March, Hart became the first female stand-up to headline the O2 Arena. She has made an art out of falling over and plans to make more episodes of her eponymous sitcom in the future. When she was on Desert Island Discs in December 2013 one of her choices was the Morecambe and Wise theme, Bring Me Sunshine. It could be this slapstick sunshine-bringer’s theme too. Hugo Rifkind Times writer NEW ENTRY The columnist and TV critic can be both playful and lacerating, musing on subjects as diverse as gay marriage and climate change. A compilation of his columns, My Week: The Secret Diaries Of Almost Everyone, was published last year. He is partial to a prank and once inserted fake information into the Wikipedia entry on Queen Victoria. Michael McIntyre Comedian The mainstream funnyman makes millions giggle. Those who criticise him are most probably merely envious of his success, which he only earned after years of struggle. He makes no pretence of being revolutionary but he is hugely skilled — it takes lots of effort to make stand-up appear this easy. In 2015 he sets out on his biggest tour yet, filling more arenas with laughter. Miles Jupp Actor and writer Some comedians explode onto the scene, some make it by stealth. Jupp is one of the latter. The impeccably well-mannered divinity graduate is a regular on panel games and has become familiar to millions as Nigel in the sitcom Rev. Children already know him as Balamory’s Archie the Inventor. He has been known to swear and get angry on-screen, of course, but never as Archie. Charlie Brooker Comedian and screenplay writer From humble origins as a computer games reviewer, Brooker has risen to become one of television’s most important figures, as a critic in his pithy Guardian columns, as a writer with his dystopian Black Mirror satires and as a comedic commentator on C4’s 10 O’Clock Show and BBC2’s Weekly Wipe. Always entertaining, invariably provocative, a welcome bit of grit in the wheels of the smooth world of showbiz. TV Chiefs Gavin Patterson BT, chief executive Slick BT veteran who landed the top job at the telecom giant a year ago and has parked his tanks firmly on rival Sky’s lawn by snapping up all the European Champions League live TV rights. A battle royal is expected between BT and Sky over the next Premier League auction. Patterson’s bet on free football for broadband customers has paid off, with rising subscribers and revenues. GAVIN-PATTERSON.jpg Slick guy: Gavin Patterson (Picture: Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures) Lord Hall BBC, director-general The popular and unflappable chief of the Beeb comes with bags of experience but is finding it tough as he heads off rows over everything from cuts in the BBC newsroom to aerial coverage of a police raid on Sir Cliff Richard’s home. His worry is winning a new licence fee settlement by 2017 amid political pressure to end the compulsory levy. The former Royal Opera boss will already be thinking about his legacy as he turns 64 next year. Jeremy Darroch BSkyB, chief executive The no-nonsense boss of Britain’s biggest pay-TV firm since 2007, he has quietly pulled off a major coup by taking control of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia in a £5 billion deal that makes the enlarged company Europe’s biggest broadcaster. Darroch has kept top shareholder Rupert Murdoch happy by pushing Sky into broadband, apps and online streaming to fend off rivals from BT to Amazon. Has joined the board of Burberry. Rupert Murdoch 21st Century Fox, chief executive, and News Corporation, chairman The top shareholder in Sky, the owner of Fox Studios, and the proprietor of The Sun, The Times and book publisher HarperCollins is indefatigable at 83. He has seen off the worst of the hacking investigation, expanded Sky in Europe, bought romantic books outfit Harlequin and tried to buy Time Warner for $80 billion. Uses Twitter nearly as much as The Sun leader columns to air his views on the Tories, Ukip and Scotland. Adam Crozier ITV, chief executive All the talk is that ITV could be taken over by a big American firm — a tribute to Crozier’s success in turning around Britain’s most popular commercial TV company. He has invested heavily in programme-making arm ITV Studios, especially in America, and increased the focus on upmarket drama such as Downton Abbey and Mr Selfridge, which has pleased advertisers. The canny Scot made £8 million last year as share awards paid off. Kelly Merryman Netflix Europe, head of content acquisition NEW ENTRY House of Cards, Breaking Bad, new Batman spin-off Gotham — if there’s a hot new show on the online streaming service in Europe, Merryman will have had a hand in winning the rights. She is promising to commission more European shows as Netflix expands globally, with analysts estimating the US juggernaut has won three million UK subscribers since launching in 2012. David Abraham Channel 4, chief executive Surprisingly anonymous since taking the helm of Britain’s second biggest state-owned broadcaster in April 2010 but Abraham emerged from the shadows this year. On-screen, Channel 4 had belated success with Benefits Street, Gogglebox and Educating Yorkshire. Gave a powerful MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival warning that Britain’s unique creative economy is at risk from American TV and tech giants. Stephen Lambert Studio Lambert, founder NEW ENTRY The man behind Gogglebox has again shown his knack for tapping into the Zeitgeist with this affectionate yet compelling Channel 4 show about families and couples watching telly together during the previous week. Lambert made his name at RDF with shows such as Wife Swap but ran into trouble with the infamous “Queen in a huff” film. With Studio Lambert, which is backed by All3Media, he has bounced back in style. Richard McKerrow Love Productions, co-founder NEW ENTRY Canny producer who, with his business partner and wife Anna Beattie, is behind two of the biggest shows on TV — BBC1’s The Great British Bake-Off, now a global hit, and Channel 4’s Benefits Street, a fly-on-the-wall show about how people struggle to live on benefits in Birmingham, which set the national agenda. BSkyB bought a majority stake this year, valuing Love at around £35 million. Rona Fairhead BBC Trust, chairman NEW ENTRY The former Financial Times Group chief executive has no broadcasting experience but is used to dealing with big beasts in the boardroom at education giant Pearson and HSBC bank. Fairhead, the first woman to chair the Beeb, succeeded Lord Patten who ran into trouble over Savile and executive pay-offs. She has plenty to fix from political doubts about the licence fee to questions about the Trust’s existence. Peter Fincham ITV, director of television No one at ITV has been more important for its creative renaissance as he oversees all programming from X Factor and The Only Way Is Essex to Downton Abbey and Sheridan Smith drama Cilla. While the suits have sorted ITV’s finances, it is former BBC1 boss Fincham who charms the luvvies at the Soho House festival and elsewhere. Earns millions in shares too. Danny Cohen BBC1, director of television Still the Young Turk of the BBC management team at the age of 40, bearded Cohen is the programming supremo who decides when Doctor Who and Strictly air. A former controller of BBC3, he is behind the controversial decision to turn it online-only next year to save costs and court younger viewers — a move that critics say is premature. Married to brainy economist Noreena Hertz. Jay Hunt Channel 4, chief creative officer After several difficult years when former BBC1 boss Hunt struggled to revive Channel 4’s fortunes, things have finally begun to fall into place. Gogglebox, Benefits Street, Educating Yorkshire and the Paralympics are among her credits. Australian-born and Cambridge-educated, she has a reputation for being demanding, but is impossible to ignore with a £500 million budget for UK-originated shows. Elisabeth Murdoch Shine, founder Rupert Murdoch’s second eldest daughter has won admirers for building a production powerhouse with Primrose Hill-based Shine, makers of Masterchef and Got to Dance. Her father’s Fox bought Shine in 2011, leading to speculation she could get a bigger role, but she has kept her distance in the wake of the hacking scandal. Her marriage to PR man Matthew Freud recently ended. James Purnell BBC, director of strategy & digital Former Labour Culture Secretary who unexpectedly quit politics is now the BBC’s key man in devising a strategy to retain the licence fee. The influential former Blairite aide is regarded warily by some Right-wing critics of the Beeb. Lord Allen Global Radio, chairman He is proving that commercial radio still has a rosy future as Global stations Capital and LBC have gone national — the latter making a name for itself with its Ask Clegg call-in show and Farage vs Clegg debates that are not just broadcast on radio but televised, too. Charles Allen used to run ITV and has sat on the boards of Virgin Media and Big Brother producer Endemol. Tim Davie BBC Worldwide, chief executive Shrewd boss of the Beeb’s £1 billion-a-year commercial business, selling TV shows and merchandise globally. He has been cutting deals, putting Top Gear clips on Twitter and planning the sale of a stake in the BBC America channel to Breaking Bad owner AMC. The former Pepsi man could easily land a job in the private sector, if he misses out on becoming the next BBC director-general. Charlotte Moore BBC1, controller As boss of the Beeb’s most-watched channel, with a near-£1 billion budget, Moore has a tricky job of balancing populism with public service with shows such as EastEnders and Strictly. Some say she is “more BBC2 than BBC1” and faces a fight in the ratings against a resurgent ITV and Channel 4. Click here to return to The 1000 Comments Most Popular Video Sponsored Features * Follow us: * * * All Topics * All Authors * Archive * Terms of use * Contact Us * Privacy policy * Cookie policy * Code of Conduct & Complaints * Advertisers * Promotion rules * Contributors * Syndication * Business Connections * Homes & Property * London Live * The Independent * This is London Magazine * i100 * iJobs [p?c1=2&c2=10476312&cv=2.0&cj=1]