Ben Stephenson

{{Short description|British television executive}} {{for|other people with similar names|Benjamin Stephenson (disambiguation){{!}}Benjamin Stephenson}} {{Use British English|date=November 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox person | birth_name = Benjamin Stephenson | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date =  | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | alma_mater = University of Manchester | occupation = Television executive | employer = Bad Robot | spouse = Germán Legarreta | children = }}

'''Benjamin Stephenson'''<ref>[https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/managementstructure/seniormanagement/sm_salaries/sm_salaries_tv_2015.pdf BBC Television Senior Managers 2015]</ref> is a television executive, formerly controller of drama at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and currently Head of Television at Bad Robot in the United States.

==Education== Stephenson attended The Hewett School in Norwich before studying at Manchester University, where he gained a first-class degree in drama.<ref name="guardian2009">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jul/20/bbc-drama-interview-ben-stephenson |title=Interview with BBC's controller of drama Ben Stephenson |first=Vicky |last=Frost |date=20 July 2009 |work=The Guardian |accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Spence |first1=Alex |title=Bad Robot's TV Chief on 'Westworld' Impact, 'Castle Rock' Ambitions and What's Next {{!}} Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bad-robots-tv-chief-westworld-impact-castle-rock-ambitions-whats-next-1105134 |website=www.hollywoodreporter.com |date=25 April 2018 |accessdate=31 August 2020}}</ref>

==Television== In 1999 Stephenson worked at Granada as a script editor on the television series ''Heartbeat''. He later worked in the same role for ''London's Burning'' and ''Blood Strangers''.<ref name="insidethebbc">{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/managementstructure/biographies/stephenson_ben.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130623195141/http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/managementstructure/biographies/stephenson_ben.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 23 June 2013 |title=Ben Stephenson, Controller, Drama Commissioning |work=Inside the BBC |year=2015 |accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="guardian2009"/> Stephenson worked at Channel 4 for over two years, on shows such as ''No Angels''.

He next moved to Shed Productions, and Tiger Aspect.<ref name="insidethebbc"/> While at Shed, he served as producer on the military drama ''Bombshell'', commissioned by ITV but never shown in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/apr/28/bbc.tvnews |title=Is drama safe at the BBC? |first=Gareth |last=McLean |date=28 April 2008 |work=The Guardian |accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref> It was screened in New Zealand in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10379949 |first=Michele |last=Hewitson |date=3 May 2006 |title=Army drama lacks true trash power |work=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref>

Stephenson joined the BBC in 2004 working as Head of Development for Independent Drama, later becoming Head of Development for Fiction. In 2008 Stephenson then took the roles of Head of Drama Commissioning at the BBC.<ref name="insidethebbc"/> to May 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last=Plunkett|first=John|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/may/07/poldark-boss-polly-hill-becomes-new-controller-of-bbc-drama-commissioning|title=Poldark boss Polly Hill becomes new controller of BBC drama commissioning|work=The Guardian|date=7 May 2015|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref> His hit-rate during 2011 included a boost of £10m a year extra for BBC Two drama over the next three years, described by Stephenson as "a breath of fresh air". Several of 2011's dramas, including ''The Crimson Petal and the White'' and single film ''United'', have performed well. The eight-part science fiction drama ''Outcasts'' drew disappointing ratings, despite heavy promotion. In 2011 BBC received five of the eight BAFTA drama awards, including two for ''Sherlock'' (selected as the best drama series).<ref name="telegraph2009">{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5127027/Interview-Ben-Stephenson-on-the-future-of-BBC-drama.html |title=Interview: Ben Stephenson on the future of BBC drama |first=Neil |last=Midgley |date=8 April 2009 |work=The Daily Telegraph |accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref>

Stephenson was appointed in March 2015 as the Head of Television at J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot production company in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|last=Plunkett|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/31/bbc-drama-chief-ben-stephenson-jj-abrams-bad-robot|title=BBC drama chief Ben Stephenson joins JJ Abrams' Bad Robot|work=The Guardian|date=31 March 2015|accessdate=28 December 2015}}</ref>

==Controversies== In July 2009 Stephenson wrote a blog article for ''The Guardian'' newspaper in response to criticisms of the BBC's drama output. He said: {{cquote| "If I didn't think differently, have different ideas of what works and what doesn't, wouldn't your lives, and more importantly, your TV screens be less interesting? We need to foster peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, postcodes, my class only stubborn-mindedness, left-of-centre thinking."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/organgrinder/2009/jul/16/ben-stephenson-tony-garner |first=Ben |last=Stephenson |date=16 July 2009 |title='If people don't like BBC drama, they should come and speak to me' |work=The Guardian |accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref>}}

The comment was considered to be a breach of the BBC's Royal Charter, which obliges the organisation to be impartial in its output. Jeremy Hunt, shadow culture secretary at the time, called for Stephenson to make "an immediate retraction and apology", stating "no journalist or editor should be following a political agenda, let alone someone as senior as a controller". Similar concerns were expressed by Peter Whittle and Jonathan Isaby.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterwhittle/100003961/drama-should-be-left-of-centre-bbc-confirms-so-why-pay-the-licence-fee/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809013222/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterwhittle/100003961/drama-should-be-left-of-centre-bbc-confirms-so-why-pay-the-licence-fee/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 August 2009 |title=Drama should be Left of centre, BBC confirms. So why pay the licence fee? |first=Peter |last=Whittle |date=20 July 2009 |work=The Daily Telegraph |accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref>

Critics such as Stephen Glover of the ''Daily Mail'' said that rather than being idiosyncratic, Stephenson "is part of the status quo, conforming to the Leftist beliefs that predominate in the BBC." Stephenson later denied that he had meant his comment to have a political meaning, likening it to the phrase "left-field".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/5873063/BBC-executive-says-corporation-should-foster-left-of-centre-thinking.html |title=BBC executive says corporation should foster 'left-of-centre thinking' |first=Jon |last=Swaine |date=21 July 2009 |work=The Daily Telegraph |accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == *{{IMDb name}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Ben}} Category:British television executives Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester Category:Channel 4 people Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:BBC executives Category:People educated at The Hewett School Category:21st-century English LGBTQ people