Louis Theroux executive producer Nick Mirsky joins Channel 4

Channel 4 has boosted its factual team by hiring the BBC's Nick Mirsky, the executive producer best known for overseeing some of Louis Theroux's most hard hitting documentaries.

Multi-award winning executive producer Mirsky joins as deputy head of factual, reporting to the new head of factual Ralph Lee.

He has worked with Theroux since 2006, producing around 20 of his documentaries, including The Most Hated Family in America, Behind Bars and A Place for Paedophiles.

Mirsky was also series editor for Wonderland and has overseen various programmes for BBC Two, including The Trouble with Love and Sex, which used animation to document Relate counselling sessions, The Man Who Eats Badgers and the recent My Child The Rioter.

He was executive producer on the Emmy Award-winning Maxwell and various factual dramas, including Best: His Mother's Son, The Secretary who Stole Four Million, and the BAFTA Award-winning Blood on the Carpet.

"Nick is a gifted and vastly experienced executive producer who has a knack for getting to the heart of stories and is renowned throughout the industry," said Lee.

"He is not afraid to take risks with formats or talent and is the creative powerhouse behind some of the most exciting documentaries on the BBC."

Mirsky added: "It is not easy for me to leave the BBC, but this is a unique opportunity to work with the team responsible for much of our most exciting television about contemporary Britain.

"I have sat and admired so many Channel 4 series from afar and I am now really looking forward to being part of the team that commissions them."

Also joining Ralph Lee's factual team is new commissioning editor Lina Prestwood, who arrives from Current TV, the Al Gore-founded broadcaster that is facing an uncertain future in the UK after it was dropped from Sky's pay-TV lineup.

Prestwood is presently director of content at Current TV, where she has commissioned all new factual programmes for the channel and also overseen a major change in the way new content is secured, involving production companies pitching ides over Twitter.

"Lina has a natural eye for emerging issues and stories and has already demonstrated a willingness to be experimental, creative and risk-taking in her commissions for Current TV," said Lee.

"I've also been struck by her innovations in cross-platform ideas and the pitching process. Together, these appointments will complement the strengths of our existing team to create further fresh and impactful content."

Prestwood added: "I am thrilled to be joining the Factual team at what is a very exciting time for Channel 4; mischief, innovation and nurturing new talent have always been part of my DNA as a programmer and I am delighted to be joining a broadcaster that exudes these values."