Stuart Neil Luke Murphy (born 6 November 1971 in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

) was the Chief Executive of the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British 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 E ...

(2018–2023). He was educated at St Mary's School, Menston and Clare College, Cambridge. From 2012 to 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 television channel, channel owned and operated by Sky Limited, Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living yet became Sky Living by 2011. H ...

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, films, 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, Sky Group Limited that launched in 2011 and broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel airs original British-produced dramas like ''Fortitude (TV series), F ...

. 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 service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

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 Stuart Murphy, the ENO broadened the appeal of opera and mixed the age, ethnicity, and social background of ENO's audience by introducing radical ticketing schemes by offering free tickets for under-21s and subsidised tickets for under-35s (ENO being the only opera company in the world to offer such a scheme). 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 in West Yorkshire. He studied Political Geography at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 Unive ...

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.

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 '' ...

programming. He then worked on shows such as ''Reportage'', ''

The Sunday Show ''The Sunday Show'' is a British entertainment show that was broadcast on 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 ...

'', ''

Fist of Fun A fist is the shape of a hand when the fingers are bent inward against the palm and held there tightly. To make or clench a fist is to fold the fingers tightly into the center of the palm and then to clamp the thumb over the middle phalanges; i ...

'', 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 Jane Marianna Root (born 18 May 1957) is an executive in the media industry. She was controller of BBC Two from 1999 to 2004, and the first woman to serve as a channel controller for the BBC. She became president of Discovery Networks in the Unite ...

in the Independent Commissioning Group, and later developed ''Radio One TV'' for Roly 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

In 2000, Murphy became the Head of Programmes at 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 ...

's digital entertainment channel

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 United Kingdom, British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in Digital television, digital format, as well as t ...

, the forerunner to BBC Three, before being promoted to channel controller. Whilst at the channel, he commissioned the nightly entertainment news programme '' Liquid News''.

BBC Three

Having been the controller of its predecessor, Murphy continued and was the first channel controller of

, which launched in February 2003 replacing BBC Choice. He commissioned comedies including '' Little Britain'' (which had been originally commissioned by BBC Radio 4), '' Pulling'', and '' Early Doors'' as well as various dramas including ''

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 ...

'', and ''

Conviction In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is Guilty (law), guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a ...

''. 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 imagery, computer-generated images and technology of what their children may l ...

'', ''Little Angels'' and ''The House of Tiny Tearaways'' both presented by

Tanya Byron Tanya Byron ( Sichel; born 6 April 1967) is a British psychologist, writer, and media personality, best known for her work as a child therapist on television shows ''Little Angels'' and '' The House of Tiny Tearaways''. She also co-created the ...

. Other commissioned shows included ''Flashmob The Opera'' (a live opera from

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

) and ''Flashmob The Opera: Meadowhall''. He announced he was to step down from BBC Three in October 2005, with

Julian Bellamy Julian Bellamy is managing director of ITV Studios. Career Bellamy began his career as a freelance assistant producer working on ITV's ''World in Action'' and ''The Big Story'', and Channel 4's '' Dispatches''. He was appointed editor of current ...

taking over as the second channel controller. 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 channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

in 2007. In 2004

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

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

Twofour Twofour Broadcast Limited, trading as 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 ha ...

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,

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). It stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Ma ...

Terry Pratchett's Going Postal ''Terry Pratchett's Going Postal'' is a two-part television film adaptation of ''Going Postal'' by Terry Pratchett, adapted by Kurti & Doyle, Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle and produced by The Mob (film company), The Mob, which was first broadcast ...

, Strike Back, Mad Dogs, The Runaway, Little Crackers, Ross Kemp: Middle East Special,

Pineapple Dance Studios Pineapple Dance Studios is a dance studio complex, performing arts school, and associated dancewear, clothing, and eyewear brand, based in London, England. Origin Pineapple Studios was founded by former model Debbie Moore, who had started dan ...

, Louie Spence's Showbusiness,

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 Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

content in the UK. He bought

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

(previously at the BBC), Entourage (previously at ITV) as well as Blue Bloods and The Borgias. He commissioned screenwriter Paul Abbott to make Sky Atlantic's first drama, Hit & Miss, starring Chloë Sevigny, commissioned cult comedy This is Jinsy, 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 writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...

. 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, Murphy was appointed Chief Executive of the English National Opera, where he worked with

Annilese Miskimmon Annilese Miskimmon (born 1974) is a Northern Irish opera director who has been the artistic director of English National Opera since 2020. She previously held equivalent posts at Ireland's Opera Theatre Company (2004–2012), Danish National Opera ...

(joined 2020) and

Martyn Brabbins Martyn Charles Brabbins (born 13 August 1959) is a British conductor. Biography The fourth of five children in his family, he learned to play the euphonium, and then the trombone during his youth at Towcester Studio Brass Band. He later studi ...

on ENO's leadership team, a position he held until September 2023.

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 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 gossip columnist

Norman Lebrecht Norman Lebrecht (born 11 July 1948) is a British music journalist and author best known as the owner of the classical music blog ''Slipped Disc''. His writings have been accused of sensationalism and criticized for their inaccuracies, while oth ...

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". Murphy was appointed

Commander 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 ...

(CBE) in the

2024 New Year Honours The 2024 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

for services to opera.