Media
'Maria' producer quits after five months
Published Monday, Sep 25 2006, 12:28 BST | By Joanne Oatts
The executive producer of BBC1's talent show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Ruth Wrigley, is to leave after just five months.
Wrigley joined the BBC at the end of April as head of special entertainment projects, having previously been head of entertainment at independent Leopard Films.
Before that she worked on the first three series of Big Brother for Endemol, rising to the position of head of entertainment and factual entertainment.
A BBC spokeswoman said Wrigley's departure was "amicable", although there are some reports of tensions within the department.
The BBC acting head of entertainment, Mark Cooper, told The Guardian:
"Ruth Wrigley has given a lot to BBC entertainment production in a brief amount of time, not least in her fantastic contribution to How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?.
"Alongside Martin Scott, Ruth executive produced Maria and worked closely with Andrew Lloyd Webber and all the key production talent to give the show the distinctive, fresh flavour that made it a hit. Hopefully, she'll come back soon."
Wrigley joined the BBC at the end of April as head of special entertainment projects, having previously been head of entertainment at independent Leopard Films.
Before that she worked on the first three series of Big Brother for Endemol, rising to the position of head of entertainment and factual entertainment.
A BBC spokeswoman said Wrigley's departure was "amicable", although there are some reports of tensions within the department.
The BBC acting head of entertainment, Mark Cooper, told The Guardian:
"Ruth Wrigley has given a lot to BBC entertainment production in a brief amount of time, not least in her fantastic contribution to How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?.
"Alongside Martin Scott, Ruth executive produced Maria and worked closely with Andrew Lloyd Webber and all the key production talent to give the show the distinctive, fresh flavour that made it a hit. Hopefully, she'll come back soon."
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