The commissioning team
Meet the BBC Scotland commissioning team
Louise Thornton, Head of Multiplatform Commissioning
Responsible for: BBC Scotland’s TV, Radio and Digital commissioning
Louise is Head of Commissioning for BBC Scotland, commissioning content across tv and iPlayer. She works across all of Scotland’s scripted, unscripted and sport programming and heads up a talented multiplatform and multigenre team.
She has worked in and out of the BBC since 2002 and has a background in multiplatform production, ranging from linear television programmes to interactive games and short form viral content. Louise has a strong track record in public service broadcasting, working as an editorial lead in Learning for several years and she is one of the founders of the award winning talent development platform BBC The Social.
Louise has worked in Commissioning since 2018 and was part of the team responsible for launching the BBC Scotland channel. She has a keen interest in developing new talent, creating formats across platforms and has a passion for Scotland and all it has to offer. She has numerous television and digital credits across the genres to her name, is one of the co-creators of BBC The Social and has a track record of commissioning award winning podcasts such as Who Killed Emma?, The Missing Madonna and Dead Man Running. In her time as Head of Commissioning, she has been responsible for delivering on Scotland’s network co-commissioning strategy for tv which has resulted in factual series such as Murder Trial, Designing the Hebrides and Body on the Beach, dramas Guilt, Rebus, Mayflies and upcoming Half Man, and scripted comedies Dinosaur and Only Child. Louise also looks after Sport for BBC Scotland and is committed to delivering on multiplatform coverage for both men and women’s sport.
Sandra McFadden, Head of Business
Responsible for the financial and business management of multiplatform commissioning
Sandra is responsible for leading and managing the financial, business aspect of the multiplatform commissioning team for output on the BBC Scotland channel, Digital output including i player & Sounds as well as BBC1 and BBC2 co-commissioned content from BBC Scotland.
A qualified accountant, Sandra joined the commissioning team at the start of 2023 and has extensive experience in the media industry having worked for the past 20 years in a variety of roles – the majority of which has been with News and current affairs in BBC Scotland, but also has experience in Radio and finance.
Has a keen interest in new and emerging talent and how BBC Scotland can play their part to develop great content for our audiences.
Commissioners and their briefs
Audio and Events
Victoria Easton-Riley
Factual
David Harron
Scripted and Entertainment
Gavin Smith