Meet the Commissioner (Scripted): Jo McClellan, Commissioning Editor, BBC Drama

In this event host Alice Ramsey will be in conversation with Jo McClellan, Commissioning Editor at BBC Drama, discussing the current landscape of scripted drama in TV, her thoughts on what makes a great show and sharing insights on how to get a project commissioned.

Jo’s recent commissions include Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, I May Destroy You by Michaela Coel, US by David Nichols, The North Water by Andrew Haigh and Silent Witness.

Jo McClellan, Commissioning Editor, BBC Drama, North of England

Jo McClellan is a Commissioning Editor for BBC Drama. Since joining BBC Drama in 2018, Jo has worked on Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, I May Destroy You by Michaela Coel, US by David Nichols, The North Water by Andrew Haigh and Silent Witness.

Jo joined BBC Drama from Seven Stories TV where she was Creative Director and Executive Producer on Selection Day (for Netflix, writer Marston Bloom, director Udayan Prasad). Prior to that she was Executive Producer at Sky, where she oversaw many projects, such as The Tunnelseries 1 and 2 (Kudos/Canal+, show creator Ben Richards, starring Stephen Dillane & Clemence Posey), The Last Panthers (Warp/Haut et Court/Canal+, writer Jack Thorne, director Johan Renck, starring John Hurt, Samantha Morton & Tahar Rahim), both for Sky Atlantic. She also Executive Produced many projects for Sky Arts including Birthday (Slam/Free Range, writer Joe Penhall, director Roger Michell, starring Stephen Mangan & Anna Maxwell Martin) and The Nightmare Worlds of HG Wells (Clerkenwell Films, directed by Adrian Shergold starring Michael Gambon, Luke Treadway, Rupert Graves). Before Sky, Jo spent ten years at Film4 in Development on films such as Submarine by Richard Ayoade and Attack The Block by Joe Cornish and as an Executive Producer for short films such as BAFTA-winners Pitch Black Heist (starring Michael Fassbender, writer/director John Maclean) and Dog Altogether (starring Peter Mullan, writer/director Paddy Considine).

Alice Ramsey 

Alice Ramsey works as an Assistant Commissioner in BBC Drama working across both Drama Commissioning and the BBC Writersroom to identify and develop writing talent and supporting the development and production of the drama slate with a specific focus on the North of England.

Prior to this, Alice was a Development Producer at BBC Writersroom in Salford managing Script Room, Writers' Access Group and working closely with CBBC, Drama Commissioning, Continuing Drama, BBC Studios, Radio Drama, Comedy and Indies on a number of talent initiatives.

Event Schedule

17:55: Please join the webinar waiting room

18:00: In conversation with Jo McClellan

18:45: Audience Q&A

19:00: Finish

How will the online event work?

This event will be live streamed via Zoom.us. Viewing details will be sent via your confirmation.

Attending participants will not be visible to others and will be muted throughout the session. After the talk, there will be an opportunity for audience members to ask their questions to the panel by using the Q&A feature.

This event is for existing WFTV members only.

If you are not a member and would like to join, membership costs just £100 + VAT/yr , please click here or email admin@wftv.org.uk

At WFTV we’re really keen to ensure that all our events are accessible for everyone. So if you have any particular access needs, please can you let us know before an event and we will do our best to accommodate you. We would be grateful if you can give us as much notice as possible – please contact admin@wftv.org.uk