COMMISSIONING TEAM
BEN FROW CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER, UK, PARAMOUNT
Ben is Chief Content Officer, UK, at Paramount, with oversight of Channel 5 and its digital brands, the wider Paramount channel portfolio, and the streaming service Paramount+ UK which launched in June 2022.
Under Ben’s leadership, Channel 5 has undergone a creative transformation through continued investment in high quality originations across all genres, and a focus on increasing original commissions for peak time. Channel 5 has broadened the scope of its programming, commissioning drama, history and more, to build on its roots in factual programming and attract talent including Michael Palin, Susan Calman, Jay Blades and Jeremy Vine.
This fundmental shift in the channel’s perception – and wider audience appeal has been recognised with a raft of industry awards, including Channel 5’s first ever BAFTA for Cruising with Jane McDonald, Channel of the Year awards from Edinburgh and the RTS, and accolades for programmes across a range of genres.
ADRIAN PADMORE, COMMISSIONING EDITOR, UNSCRIPTED, CHANNEL 5 & PARAMOUNT+
Adrian Padmore joined Channel 5 as Commissioning Editor, Factual in May 2017. At Channel 5 he is responsible for commissioning the BAFTA and RTS award winning White Nanny Black Child and the high-profile crime documentary My Wife My Abuser: The Secret Footage. He is also commissioner of popular factual series including Inside the Force, The Amazon with Robson Green and Sue Perkins: Lost in Thailand. Also commissioning for Paramount Plus his current productions include Snatched and Protest and Progress authored by world leading photographer Misan Harriman.
Padmore has also overseen a number of other popular Channel 5 documentaries and series including: Captain Tom: Where Did It All Go Wrong, Andes Plane Crash, Motorway Cops, World’s Strongest Man, Traffic Cops, Who Killed Billie Jo, Lost Boy: The Killing of James Bulger, Secrets of the Royal Palaces and Police Interceptors.
DAN LOUW COMMISSIONING EDITOR, NON-SCRIPTED UK ORIGINALS, CHANNEL 5 & PARAMOUNT+
Dan works across Factual, Factual Entertainment and Specialist Factual programming for Channel 5 and its digital portfolio, as well as the streaming service Paramount+.
Dan is interested in a wide range of non-scripted formats and ideas, from history and true crime, through to access-led popular documentaries.
He has commissioned shows like Aldi Vs Harrods; HMP Wakefield: Evil Behind Bars; Noel Edmonds: The Rise and Fall of Mr Saturday Night, as well as long-running returning series such as 22 Kids & Counting and GPs Behind Closed Doors: Mobile Surgery. His Paramount+ projects include the upcoming Fever Pitch - Battle for the Premier League and the structured reality series Strip.
DENISE SENEVIRATNE COMMISSIONING EDITOR, NON-SCRIPTED UK ORIGINALS, CHANNEL 5 & PARAMOUNT +
Denise Seneviratne is Commissioning Editor, Non-Scripted UK originals for Channel 5 and Paramount+. Reporting to Chief Content Officer Ben Frow, Seneviratne is responsible for expanding Paramount’s factual slate.
Amongst her recent commissions for Channel 5 are Wonders of the Moon and Mysteries of the Pyramids with Dara O'Briain. Seneviratne also commissioned BAFTA nominated Endurance: Race to the Pole featuring Ben Fogle and Dwayne Fields, The Yorkshire Vet, Happy Campers, Big Brits Go Large, Inside Tesco: 24/7 and Wife on Strike. She has continually developed the channel’s popular Bargain Loving Brits brand and recently commissioned ‘…By the Sea’ for daytime.
Seneviratne also commissions True Crime programmes for Channel 5 and Paramount+, recent examples include shows such as Killer at the Crime Scene and most recently Killer Makes a Call.
Prior to joining Paramount in 2019, she executive produced Paul O’Grady’s Little Heroes for ITV, as well as Meet the Humans and Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents for the BBC. She was also Series Editor on BBC Two’s Reverse Missionaries and Secret Life of 4 Year-Olds on Channel 4.
FEDERICO RUIZ COMMISSIONING EDITOR, CHANNEL 5 & PARAMOUNT+
Federico Ruiz works across a wide range of unscripted programming for Channel 5 and its digital portfolio, as well as the streaming service Paramount+. Reporting to Ben Frow, Chief Content Officer, UK, at Paramount, Ruiz is interested in a wide and varied range of unscripted output, including crime, history, gritty 9pm access docu-series, formats and adventure/travel. He also looks after the morning shows on Channel 5, including the hugely popular Jeremy Vine show.
Ruiz has commissioned shows such as the award-winning The Incident Room, Into the Congo with Ben Fogle, Trauma Room One, Body In The Bag and The Girl In the Box.
Ruiz joined Paramount from Firecracker Films where he held the role of Head of Factual Entertainment, exec producing a wide range of programming; including multiple seasons of hit series Big Fat Gypsy Weddings US. Previous credits include TOWIE, Coach Trip and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Now!
GREG BARNETT COMMISSIONING COMMISSIONING EDITOR, UK ORIGINALS, CHANNEL 5 & PARAMOUNT+
Greg Barnett works across Factual, Factual Entertainment and Drama for Channel 5 and its digital portfolio, as well as the streaming service Paramount+. Reporting to Ben Frow, Chief Content Officer, UK, at Paramount, Barnett is interested in a wide range of ideas, from access-led popular documentaries and concepts that celebrate national icons or institutions, to scripted thrillers.
In Factual, Barnett has commissioned Coastguard: Search and Rescue SOS; Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild; Reuben Owen: Life In The Dales; Our Great Yorkshire Life; Foxes: Their Secret World and The Cruise: Fun Loving Brits At Sea.
In Factual Entertainment, he has commissioned Cruising with Jane McDonald; Stock Aitken Waterman: Legends of Pop; Joanna Lumley: In My Own Words; and Remembering The 70’s: Those Were The Days. Barnett’s drama commissions include Suspects; Lie With Me; Riptide and Heat.
For Paramount+, Barnett commissioned Simple Minds: Everything Is Possible and Millionaire Holiday Home Swap.
GUY DAVIES COMMISSIONING EDITOR, FACTUAL, CHANNEL 5 AND PARAMOUNT+
Guy Davies has been Commissioning Editor, Factual at Channel 5 since September 2013. He is responsible for commissioning a diverse slate of peak-time programming across the channel in all factual genres.
At Channel 5, Davies has commissioned three world exclusive series with Michael Palin sending the much-loved presenter to North Korea then Iraq, and to Nigeria 2023; the award-winning 999 Critical Condition; BAFTA RTS and Grierson Award nominees Rich House Poor House and The Accused and other long-running documentary series and formats. He also commissions successful blue light content such as Police Suspect No.1 and Forensic Murder Scene. This year he has brought James May to Channel 5 for ‘The Great Explorers’ to TX later in 2024, and also commissions Michael Portillo’s travel series.
He has also commissioned a range of box sets and feature docs for Paramount+ including the series Monster: The Loch Ness Mystery and Flight MH370. Davies’ other commissions have included the Grierson winning Suicidal: In Their Own Words, the RTS Best Single Documentary winner and BAFTA nominee Raped: My Story; and Edinburgh TV Awards Documentary of the Year winner The Abused.
KATE ANSELL FACTUAL COMMISSIONING EDITOR, CHANNEL 5 AND PARAMOUNT+
Kate Ansell joined Paramount in 2022 and is responsible for a broad range of factual programming for Channel 5 and its digital portfolio, as well as the streaming service Paramount+ UK.
Ansell has commissioned several series including Casualty 24/7, Secret Life of the Forest and Shop Smart, Save Money, as well as Car Pound Cops for digital channel, 5Star. In addition, she has commissioned one-off films including Depp vs Heard: The Winners and Losers and several consumer films, including How Do They Really Do Its on IKEA and Bicester Village.
Prior to her current role at Paramount, Ansell was an Executive Producer at Firecrest Films, and an Assistant Commissioner for BBC Daytime and Early Peak.
KIT MOREY COMMISSIONING EDITOR, CHANNEL 5 & PARAMOUNT+
Kit Morey (they/them) joined Channel 5 in 2019 and is responsible for commissioning fresh, exciting content in the Popular Factual space. They have ordered hundreds of hours of prime time shows for C5, including Toy Hospital, The Hospital: Life on The Line, Motorhoming with Merton & Webster, Million Pound Motorhomes, Lost Dogs with Clare Balding and Sally Lindsay’s Posh Sleepover not to mention RTS nominated Air Fryer shows. They have also ordered a range of returnable formats such as Ben Fogle’s Make a New Life in The Country, Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, Rich Kids Go Skint and The Hotel Inspector.
Executive producer credits include ITV’s Real Full Monty while at Spun Gold and Channel 4’s Meat The Family as Head of Popular Factual at Rise Films. They have also held Executive Producer roles at betty, Shine, Lambent and twenty twenty, overseeing C4’s One Born Every Minute, Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners and the first series of First Dates. Series production credits include Famous, Rich and Jobless, Babies in the Office and Would Like to Meet for BBC3, BBC1 and BBC2 respectively.
LUCY WILLIS CHANNEL 5 AND PARAMOUNT + COMMISSIONING EDITOR, FACTUAL
Lucy is a Commissioning Editor at Channel 5 and Paramount +, where she looks after a wide-ranging factual slate including documentaries, popular factual and history. She has been responsible for commissioning a number of the Channels peak-time programmes including Warship: Life at Sea; Inside the Tower of London as well as the stripped history event The Great Plague and The Disappearance of Shannon Matthews.
Lucy was also behind the major eight-part drama documentary series Eight Days That Made Rome; Diana: Seven Days That Shook The Windsor’s; and the Cotswolds with Pam Ayres. Lucy's most recent commission was a Secrets of Our Universe with Tim Peake fronted by the British Astronaut.
PAUL TESTAR, CHANNEL 5 AND PARAMOUNT + COMMISSIONING EDITOR, DRAMA
Paul Testar joined Paramount in January 2022 working across the Channel 5 and Paramount+ scripted slates. He works closely with Deputy Director of Programmes Sebastian Cardwell expanding and overseeing the scripted slates on both Channel 5 and Paramount+.
Since joining Paramount, Testar has commissioned over one hundred hours of drama series including Ellis, The Hardacres, Coma and The Inheritance for Channel 5 as well as The Killing Kind, The Serial Killer’s Wife and Curfew for Paramount+.
Before joining Paramount, Testar was a producer for Mammoth Screen with credits including The Serpent (BBC1/Netflix) and The Tower (ITV). He has also been a script editor on numerous shows for the BBC, ITV, Netflix, Amazon and Channel 4.
SEBASTIAN CARDWELL DEPUTY CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER, UK, PARAMOUNT
Sebastian Cardwell is Deputy Chief Content Officer, UK, at Paramount which includes Channel 5 and its digital brands, the wider Paramount channel portfolio, and the streaming service Paramount+ UK. Sebastian is responsible for devising strategy across the portfolio, with a specific focus on drama and original content.
Cardwell first joined Channel 5 in 2011 and has been instrumental in Channel 5’s continued evolution into a destination for high quality originations across a range of genres, with an emphasis on drama and original commissions in peak slots.
Spearheading Channel 5’s increased investment in drama, Cardwell has changed the face of the genre on the channel, giving rise to hit-rating titles such as the All Creatures Great and Small, Penance, and The Drowning. More recently Seb has commissioned The Teacher and The Inheritance and Madame Blanc. Prior to his current role at Channel 5, Cardwell was Digital Controller, responsbile for the day-to-day running of Channel 5’s digital channels.
