Luke Mcfarlane bolsters Channel 4 Factual Entertainment

25 October 2022

Channel 4 has appointed Luke Mcfarlane as commissioning editor in Alf Lawrie’s Factual Entertainment department, to help it expand its reality output.

Luke is an experienced and award-winning TV executive with extensive experience across reality, factual entertainment, and live studio shows. He has worked most recently at Lifted where he was Executive Producer on the live and anarchic The Big Breakfast.

Prior to this, Mcfarlane was Executive Producer at Naked TV, a Fremantle company, and Supervising Exec at ViacomCBS International Studios UK. His credits include the reality and factual entertainment formats The Only Way Is Essex, Celebs Go Dating, Britain’s Next Top Model, Life on Marbs, Sexpod, and MTV Cribs.

Luke joins Channel 4’s factual entertainment team as they expand their hunt for young-skewing reality formats to complement Married At First Sight and the upcoming Rise and Fall. He replaces Becky Cadman who left Channel 4 to join Lime as Creative Director: Formats and Talent.

Alf Lawrie, Channel 4’s Head of Factual Entertainment, said, “Luke is a hugely respected and accomplished reality showrunner, and I’m thrilled he is joining the team. Reality is ever more important to the portfolio, as we pivot to All4, and he will help us expand our offering.”

Luke said, “I am so happy to be joining Alf Lawrie and his team at Channel 4. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to work on some of the channel’s noisiest brands and have always been a fan of the anarchy, mischief and conversations that Channel 4’s shows can bring. I can’t wait to get started.”