Stuart Neil Luke Murphy (born 6 November 1971 in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

), is the Chief Executive of the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

. He was educated at St Mary's School, Menston and Clare College, Cambridge. From 2012 - 2015, he was Director, Entertainment Channels at Sky overseeing

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witnes ...

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

and the launch of

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HB ...

. Sky won its first Emmy Awards and Oscar nominations as well as BAFTAs, British Comedy Awards and Royal Television Society Awards during this period. Murphy also had responsibility for

, which as well as a channel is an on-demand library of arts and cultural content in Europe. In 2003 Murphy launched

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

and commissioned Little Britain, Gavin and Stacey and Flashmob The Opera. Before BBC Three, he was Channel Controller of BBC Choice, and previously he ran UK Play, a music and comedy channel co-owned by BBC Worldwide. Previously a board member of the A&E Networks International, and Silicon-Valley based Jaunt Virtual Reality Company. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2016. Under Murphy the ENO aims to broaden the appeal of opera and mix up the age, ethnicity, and social background of the audience at the ENO. As a teenager, he played clarinet for the Leeds Youth Orchestra and Leeds Youth Opera.

Early and personal life

Stuart grew up in Leeds, where his passion for classical music was sparked by playing the clarinet in Leeds Youth Orchestra and Leeds Youth Opera. He attended

St. Mary's Menston St Mary's Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy (formerly St Mary's Catholic High School) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Menston, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1964 and ...

in West Yorkshire. He studied Political Geography at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

in 1990. He has two sons with his ex-wife. He is openly gay and first spoke publicly about his sexual orientation in a 2012 interview. His partner, David Clews is Creative Director of TwoFour, and directed the BAFTA-award-winning

Educating Essex ''Educating Essex'' is the first series of the British documentary television program '' Educating'' produced by Twofour for Channel 4 that ran for seven episodes from September to November 2011. It uses a fly on the wall format to show the ever ...

Career

He started his career as a tea boy at BBC Manchester working in

DEF II DEF II was a programming strand on BBC2, which aired at 6 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 May 1988 to 23 May 1994, to serve the teenage market. It was produced by Janet Street-Porter, and followed on from her influential youth TV show '' N ...

programming. He then worked on shows such as ''Reportage'', '' The Sunday Show'', '' Fist of fun'', and ''Lifeswaps with Paul O'Grady''. He later worked as a producer at MTV on ''Hanging Out with Davina McCall'', and at the ''Big Breakfast''. He re-joined the BBC to work for Jane Root in the Independent Commissioning Group, and later developed ''Radio One TV'' for

Roly Keating Roland Francis Kester Keating (born 5 August 1961) is Chief Executive of the British Library. He took up his post in September 2012. Early life and education Keating was born on 5 August 1961 to Donald Norman Keating and Betty Katharine Keating ...

, on UKTV. He launched and ran UK Play, a music and comedy channel owned by UKTV from 1998. In 2016 Murphy was made a Fellow of the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

BBC Choice

He joined

BBC Choice BBC Choice was a British digital television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in digital format, as well as the BBC's second non-analogue-terres ...

, the BBC's forerunner to BBC Three, becoming Head of Programmes in 2000, and then Controller.

BBC Three

Became the first channel controller of

, which launched in February 2003. He commissioned comedies including ''

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (sketch show), a British radio and then TV show ** ''Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album ''Second Light'' * ...

'' (which had been originally commissioned by BBC Radio 4), '' Pulling'', and ''

Early Doors ''Early Doors'' is a BBC sitcom written by Craig Cash and Phil Mealey. Both writers appear in the series, playing the two characters of 'Joe' and 'Duffy' who are best friends. ''Early Doors'' is set at The Grapes, a small public house in the ...

'' as well as various dramas including ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...

'', and ''

Conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is cons ...

''. He kickstarted parenting programming on TV, with ''Who Rules The Roost'', ''

Honey, We're Killing The Kids ''Honey, We're Killing the Kids'' is a BBC Three television series in which parents are shown the consequences of poor parenting. The program shows computer-generated images and technology of what their children may look like as adults if they ...

'', ''Little Angels'' and ''The House of Tiny Tearaways'' both presented by Tanya Byron. Other commissioned shows included ''Flashmob The Opera'' (a live opera from

Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great ...

) and ''Flashmob The Opera: Meadowhall''. He was tipped as an outsider in the running for the controllership of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in 2007. In 2004

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

included Murphy in a list of 80 young people who they believed would shape people's lives in the early 21st Century.

Commercial Broadcasters

After BBC Three he joined

RDF Media Banijay (formerly Banijay Entertainment and later Banijay Group) is a French television production and distribution company which is the world's largest international content producer and distributor with over 120 production companies across 22 ...

in 2006 where he stayed for 11 weeks. Between 2006 and 2008, he was the Creative Director of

Twofour Twofour is a British television and digital media group founded in 1989 by Charles Wace, a former BBC news producer, and Christopher Slade, a BBC presenter. With its headquarters in Plymouth, Twofour has offices in London and Los Angeles. In ...

Broadcast.

Sky1

He joined Sky1 in May 2009 and commissioned a variety of drama, entertainment, and factual programmes including Got to Dance,

Must Be the Music ''Must Be the Music'' is a British television musical talent competition contested by aspiring singers and musicians drawn from public auditions. The show is a music competition and reality show that was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Irela ...

A League of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena ...

, Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, Strike Back, Mad Dogs, The Runaway, Little Crackers, Ross Kemp: Middle East Special, Pineapple Dance Studios,

Louie Spence's Showbusiness ''Louie Spence's Showbusiness'' is a docusoap follow-up series to the hit show '' Pineapple Dance Studios''. After initially indicating that a second series of ''Pineapple Dance Studios'' would be produced, Sky1 reverted this decision due to fail ...

An Idiot Abroad ''An Idiot Abroad'' is a British travel documentary comedy television series broadcast on Sky One, as well as a series of companion books published by Canongate Books, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and starring Karl Pilkington. ...

, Trollied, Mount Pleasant, Spy, Stella, Starlings, among many others.

Sky Atlantic

In November 2010 he was made Director of Commissioning across all Sky Entertainment channels. He was also given responsibility for launching Sky Atlantic, a new entertainment channel which is the home of the majority of HBO content in the UK. He bought

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

(previously at the BBC),

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

(previously at ITV) as well as Blue Bloods and The Borgias. He commissioned screenwriter

Paul Abbott Paul Abbott (born 22 February 1960) is an English television screenwriter and producer. Abbott has become one of the most critically and commercially successful television writers working in Britain, following his work on popular series such as ...

to make Sky Atlantic's first drama,

Hit & Miss ''Hit & Miss'' is a British television series, created by Paul Abbott, broadcast on Sky Atlantic. It stars Chloë Sevigny as a transgender contract killer who discovers she has a child with her former lover. She struggles between caring for her ...

, starring Chloë Sevigny, commissioned cult comedy

This is Jinsy ''This is Jinsy'' is a British comedy series. The pilot was first broadcast on 1 March 2010 on BBC Three. The programme is about the bizarre residents of the fictional island of Jinsy which is based on Guernsey, where the two writers are from. ...

, brought Alan Partridge back to TV, commissioned Kathy Burke's Walking and Talking, Julia Davis's new comedy Hunderby, as well as documentary Flying Monsters with

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histo ...

. Sky Atlantic launched on 1 February 2011. In May 2012, he was made Director of Entertainment Channels at Sky, overseeing all of the entertainment and commissioning portfolio. In November 2015, he made the decision to leave Sky to pursue more creative endeavours, he has signed a deal to develop his own scripts with Sky Vision.

English National Opera

In March 2018, Stuart was appointed Chief Executive of the English National Opera, where he joins Annilese Miskimmon (joined 2020) and Martyn Brabbins on ENO's leadership team.

Free tickets scheme

As part of Murphy's 'seismic' mission to attract a younger audience to ENO, in December 2018 he announced free tickets for under-18s on Friday and Saturday nights in the balcony of the London Coliseum. He saw cost as a 'barrier to entry for under-18s" and by removing it helped to promote the idea that opera is not "elitist". In May 2021, ENO's free tickets initiative was extended to under-21s for every night of the week and was not limited to specific seating, even "the most expensive stall seats". Additionally, the discount has now been extended to under-35s, who are able to get some of the best seats in the opera for £35 and under by having an under 35 membership.

Controversy

His position at ENO has not been without criticism. In an article attacking ENO's 2019 decision to limit reviewers to a single free ticket as "morally wrong", opera critic

Norman Lebrecht Norman Lebrecht (born 11 July 1948) is a British music journalist and author who specializes in classical music. He is best known as the owner of the classical music blog, ''Slipped Disc'', where he frequently publishes articles. Unlike other ...

said Murphy "makes his predecessors seem reasoned and adept. He maintains you don’t have to know anything about opera in order to run an opera house. The damage of his thoughtless actions is already evident and the consequences may be lasting".