| Ken MacQuarrie | |
| Director of BBC Scotland | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office April 2009 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mull, Scotland |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Edinburgh University, Edinburgh |
| Religion | Church of Scotland |
Contents |
Ken MacQuarrie became Director of BBC Scotland in April 2009.[1] He is the highest paid employee of BBC Scotland earning between £190,000 and £220,000 per annum.[2]
He had been Controller since April 2004 and Head of Programmes from 2000 when he had responsibility for production and commissioning of all BBC output broadcast in Scotland on television, radio and online.
He worked as a radio producer for BBC Highland before transferring to television in 1979, where he worked as a producer in Glasgow. During this period Ken MacQuarrie introduced daily Gaelic children's programmes on television, developed the investigative current affairs programme Prosbaig and launched the award-winning series Eorpa and De a-Nis? In 1992 he became both Head of Gaelic and Features and of Children's, complementing the output in Gaelic with English language factual programmes and also setting up a children's production base for the UK networks which is now the largest production base for children's television outside London. Four years later he was appointed Head of Broadcast and in 2000 became Head of Programmes. Among the major projects he has overseen in that role are In Search Of Scotland, Chewin' The Fat, Still Game, Gruth Is Uachdar (Crowdie And Cream) and Scotland's Empire on television and, on Radio Scotland, Gracenotes, Off The Ball and Lesley Riddoch.
A native of Mull and a Gaelic speaker, he was educated at Oban, Edinburgh University and Moray House College of Education before joining BBC Scotland as a researcher in 1975.
Ken MacQuarrie is a former board member of the Scottish Film Council and the Celtic Film and Television Association. He is Chair of the Skillset Scottish National Board and Vice-President of the Royal Television Society.
He is married with three children and among his many interests are sailing, reading and walking.