Sky hires Anne Mensah as head of drama

Sky has today announced the appointment of former BBC executive Anne Mensah as its new head of drama.

Mensah, formerly head of indie drama at the BBC, takes the role vacated by Elaine Pyke, who was recently promoted to director of programmes for Sky Atlantic.

Reporting to Sky's director of programmes Stuart Murphy, Mensah will oversee all drama commissioning for Sky's portfolio of channels, including Sky1, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic and Sky Movies.

In February 2006, she joined BBC Scotland as head of drama, later being promoted to head of independents at the BBC in April 2009.

Her executive producer credits for BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Three include the Emmy-nominated Wallander, Waterloo Road, Single Father and Sweeney Todd.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Sky at such an exciting time in their growth. I'm excited by Sky's real and tangible commitment to UK programming, developed and produced by the best British talent," said Mensah.

"This commitment has already delivered some truly exceptional TV and I look forward to building on this momentum as part of their creative team and not just as an avid viewer."

Murphy added: "Sky's such a great place to work because we hire brilliant people who love what they do. We've increased our investment in original shows, especially across scripted, and cannot wait to welcome someone with as much flair, style and creative gusto as Anne.

"She's stood out in the industry as someone who loves writers, takes thrilling but calculated creative risks and nurtures ambitious projects so is ideally suited to running the slate across five channels."

The appointment of Mensah completes Sky's commissioning executive team, with Duncan Gray as head of entertainment, Lucy Lumsden as head of comedy, Mark Sammon as head of factual entertainment and Celia Taylor as head of factual and features.