BBC1 lands Granada's big fish as its new controller

people

The man who brought "Pot Night" and Wallace and Gromit's Wrong Trousers to British television screens has been named as the new controller of BBC1. Peter Salmon, 41, since last year the director of programmes at Granada, where he oversaw the injection of new life into Coronation Street, will replace Michael Jackson, who took over the running of Channel 4 in May.

The appointment completes a frantic round of musical chairs among the major broadcasters that has seen executives rotating between Channel 4, ITV and the BBC.

Mr Salmon worked previously at the BBC for 12 years. He left a job as head of features at BBC Bristol in 1993 to join Channel 4 as controller of factual programmes.

At the BBC he produced programmes as diverse as Crimewatch UK, the flagship wildlife series Nature, and The Wrong Trousers, the Christmas cartoon hit from Oscar-winning animator Nick Park.

But Mr Salmon makes a radical choice for the BBC. At Channel 4 he was forced to defend the channel's night of programmes devoted to cannabis, "Pot Night", from accusations that it encouraged drug use. He was also in charge of the late-night strand about sex called the Red Light Zone, which came under attack from morality campaigners.

At Granada he was responsible for almost one-third of the ITV station's programmes, including the dramatisation of the Hillsborough stadium tragedy and the ambitious Daniel Defoe adaptation, Moll Flanders.

Mr Salmon said yesterday: "I shall be sorry to leave Granada, which is Britain's biggest and best commercial television producer. It'll mean swapping the Rover's Return for the Queen Vic as my local."

"BBC1 is a cornerstone of British popular culture, with the richest and broadest programme range of any channel in the world. The challenge of leading it into the 21st Century is an unmissable opportunity."

While at Granada, Mr Salmon brought a new producer to Coronation Street, which had started slipping in the ratings. This new producer introduced a new, unpleasant family and killed off a number of older, dull characters to make way for more dramatic storylines.

Other candidates for the job are thought to have included Paul Jackson, head of entertainment at the BBC, Mark Thompson, head of factual programmes at the BBC and Tom Gutteridge, an independent producer.