Ed Havard unveils new entertainment team at Channel 4

23 February 2017

Head of Entertainment and TV Events, Ed Havard, today unveiled his new entertainment team at Channel 4.

Recently taking responsibility for the genre, Ed has bolstered his team by hiring Karen Murdoch as Commissioning Editor for Entertainment. Murdoch will join Commissioning Editor Syeda Irtizaali and Commissioning Executive Antonia Howard Taylor. Commissioning Editor Sarah Lazenby continues to work across Factual Entertainment and Entertainment.

Separately, Tom Beck is promoted to Head of Live Events overseeing key channel events from The Crystal Maze to Stand Up To Cancer. He also remains a commissioning editor for Entertainment.

Madeline Ireland is the entertainment and events genre assistant, whilst Katie Buckley remains programme co-ordinator for the department. All the team will continue to report to Havard.

Havard said of Murdoch: “Karen has had huge experience and success in production and has worked with many of the best entertainment indies. She is also a hugely popular figure and we’re incredibly excited that she has joined the team”

Havard said of Beck: “Tom has brought real scale and ambition to live events from Stand Up To Cancer to the TFI Anniversary Special and his new role reflects the importance of events like this on the channel.”

Karen Murdoch

Karen has vast experience across the independent production company sector with Executive Producer, Series Producer and Producer credits for Magnum Media, Zeppotron, Objective, Open Mike, Princess Productions and Burning Bright on her CV.

Prior to joining C4, Karen was most recently Executive Producer on series 5 & 6 of Lee Mack’s hit Sky 1 panel show, Duck Quacks Don’t Echo, having previously been Series Producer on the first two series and Consultant Producer on series 3 & 4.

As a hugely experienced Series Producer, Karen has been responsible for Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, BBC One’s Would I Lie To You? and John Bishop’s Britain, ITV1’s The Marriage Ref and BBC Two’s Let’s Play Darts for Comic Relief.