Menna Richards

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

was the Controller of

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

from February 2000 to February 2011.

Biography

Born in

Maesteg Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...

, Bridgend County Borough, Wales, Richards was educated at the town's Grammar School, and later at the

University of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic facul ...

. Well known for her contribution to broadcasting, her career began with BBC Wales as a broadcast journalist in 1976 and later as a reporter and producer for HTV Wales in the current affairs department in 1983, including the Welsh language current affairs series, ''

Y Byd ar Bedwar ' ( Welsh for ''The World on Four'') is a Welsh-language current affairs television programme, which has broadcast on S4C since the channel was launched in November 1982. It is produced by ITV Cymru Wales. The programme's reporters have broug ...

''. She rose to become managing director of HTV Wales in 1997, before the company was taken over by United News & Media. Richards rejoined BBC Wales as a Controller in February 2000 and retired in February 2011. It was revealed as part of the BBC's open policy in November 2009, that Richards salary per annum to August 2009 was £185,000, with total remuneration of £192,800. She was responsible for bringing series such as ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British-American 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 i ...

'', ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

'', ''

The Sarah Jane Adventures ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC s ...

'', '' Sherlock'' and '' Upstairs Downstairs'' to global TV screens. She was married to the TV presenter Patrick Hannan, who died in 2009, aged 68, following a short illness.

Honours

Richards was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2010 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2010 were announced on 31 December 2009 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Saint Lucia, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and NevisSaint Chris ...

for her services to broadcasting. In the same year she was also appointed to the board of the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

. In addition, she was awarded a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

in 2015 for Outstanding Contribution to Television.

References

External links

Menna Richards at BBC Info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Menna Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Welsh-language television presenters Welsh-speaking journalists BBC executives Welsh journalists Welsh women journalists Welsh television presenters Welsh women television presenters Officers of the Order of the British Empire