Richard Henry Klein (born 12 October 1958) is a British television executive who was the former controller of

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

. He became controller in 2008, taking over from

Janice Hadlow Janice Vivienne Hadlow (born November 1957 in Lewisham) is a former BBC television executive. She was the controller of the BBC television channel BBC Two, taking over this position in November 2008 having previously been controller of BBC Four. At ...

, who became Controller of

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

Early life

He was born in

Burwash Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish language, Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Ca ...

in Sussex (now in

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

) to Hans Klein and Bernadine Thorne. He attended

Prior Park College Prior Park College is a co-educational public school for both boarding and day pupils in Bath, south-west England. Its main building, Prior Park, stands on a hill overlooking the city and is a Grade I listed building. The adjoining Prior P ...

, a Roman Catholic independent school near

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in Somerset. From the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

he gained an MA i
English
in 1983, and from

City University London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" and ...

, he gained a

Diploma of Journalism A Diploma of Journalism (or Diploma in Journalism) is an academic qualification in journalism issued by a university or college. Overview The diploma is generally issued after one year of study. As is common with diplomas in general, diplomas in ...

in 1985.

Career

He was a director on ''

Weekend World ''Weekend World'' is a British television political series, made by London Weekend Television (LWT) and broadcast from 1972 to 1988. Created by John Birt, not long after he had joined LWT, the series was broadcast on the ITV network at midday ...

'' on

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 ...

from 1987 to 1990.

BBC

He joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 1996 as a current affairs producer director, having worked as a freelancer for some years before. From 2005 to 2007 he was a

commissioning editor In book publishing, a commissioning editor is essentially a buyer. It is the job of the commissioning editor to advise the publishing house on which books to publish. Usually the actual decision of whether to contract a book is taken by a senior m ...

for documentaries; most output of BBC Four comprises documentaries. He was succeeded by Charlotte Moore. From 2007 to 2008, he was Head of Independent Commissioning for Factual TV, of the BBC. He became Controller of BBC Four in December 2008. In November 2009, his salary was revealed by the BBC to be £195,000.

ITV

Following his departure from BBC Four, he was Head of Factual commissioning for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

and later joined the executive board of the independent production company Plimsoll Productions.

References

External links

BBC Press Office biography

Video clips

Meet the controller

Future of BBC4

Northern Film Media
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Richard 1958 births Living people Alumni of City, University of London Alumni of the University of Aberdeen BBC executives BBC Four controllers British television executives People educated at Prior Park College People from Burwash