Realscreen » Archive » Jonny Keeling named BBCS Natural History Unit head; Fran Unsworth to exit BBC realscreen.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from realscreen.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BBC’s NHU head to stand down
Julian Hector, head of BBC Studio’s renowned Natural History Unit, is to stand down and hand over the reins of the prodco in 2022.
Julian Hector
Hector will leave at the end of 2021 after five years leading the NHU, and almost three decades with the UK pubcaster overall.
Since taking over from Wendy Darke in 2016, Hector has presided over the most successful period in the Bristol-based production house’s 64-year history, with landmark blockbusters Planet Earth II, Blue Planet II, Dynasties and Seven Worlds, One Planet.
The NHU, under Hector’s stewardship, has also won a raft of new commissions with the BBC – including The Green Planet and Frozen Planet II – and with new buyers including Apple’s forthcoming The Year the Earth Changed, National Geographic’s Ocean Xplorers, Endangered for Discovery, and The Americas for NBCU.
Battle Of The Sexes and Wild Africa and on radio,
Slaves To Nature. On becoming editor of Natural History Radio for the pubcaster he led the development and production of award-winning programs such as
Tweet Of The Day,
World On The Move,
Saving Species,
Natural Histories and
Migration Live. He went on to become an executive producer in television, producing Ivory Wars with ‘Panorama’ and Tigers About the House among other projects.
According to the BBC, Hector will “pursue other interests connected to wildlife and championing the natural world” after he exits from the NHU. The search for his successor begins immediately.