Paul Jackson (producer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paul Jackson (born 2 October 1947, sometimes credited as K. Paul Jackson - his first name is Kevin) is a British television producer. He has worked on such shows as The Two Ronnies, The Young Ones, and Red Dwarf.
According to the British Film Institute's biography of Jackson, he once said: "I don't think there are that many differences between someone like Rik Mayall and Cannon and Ball," - an attitude that did not endear him to many British new wave comics, notably Alexei Sayle and Peter Richardson who had, according to the BFI, "long suffered a fractious relationship with Jackson".
He was made Director of Programmes for Carlton Television in 1993, overseeing the new company's programmes which received mixed ratings and reviews. In 1995, he became managing director of Carlton Productions but left suddenly. In 1997 he became the BBC's Head of Entertainment, overseeing a much-reduced raft of new TV programmes but, promoted to Controller of Entertainment, he gained creative control over programmes on BBC Radio. While in charge of BBC Entertainment, the radio series In Conversation With... was commissioned, in which Jackson interviewed people he knew connected with comedy; and it was also during this period that Only Fools and Horses duo writer John Sullivan and actor David Jason took their "Micawber" production, long-developed at the BBC, to ITV.
In 1999 Jackson left the BBC because he was "unhappy at restructuring" to work for Granada Television as the managing director of Granada Media Australia. Two years later he was recalled to the UK to become Granada's director of international formats and entertainment. It was during this period that presenter Cilla Black suddenly quit her long-running series Blind Date. In summer 2003, Jackson was appointed president of Granada Entertainment USA, becoming chief executive of Granada America in early 2004, where he oversaw US reality television shows such as Nanny 911 and Hell's Kitchen.
Jackson returned to the UK in February 2006, to take on the role of Director of Entertainment and Comedy at ITV, in a period of terrestrial ratings decline.
