Mark Thompson, Director of Television, today announced the appointment of Lorraine Heggessey, currently joint Director of Factual & Learning, as the new Controller of BBC ONE - the first female controller of the channel in the BBC's history.

The appointment, which follows the announcement of Peter Salmon's promotion to the role of the BBC's first Director of Sport, is a key building block in the new strategy for BBC Television.

Lorraine Heggessey, supported by a four-strong team of expert genre commissioners, will be responsible for co-commissioning all of the channel's output. She will also be responsible for the channel's strategy and the schedule.

Mark Thompson said: "Lorraine has tremendous energy and a fierce commitment to the future of BBC ONE. As well as many outstanding achievements in current affairs, science and other factual programmes, she reinvigorated BBC Children's programming - which is effectively a channel in microcosm. She is a programme maker through and through, and has a great knack of recognising the original idea and making it work. I think she will build on Peter's many achievements with skill and imagination."

Lorraine Heggessey said: "The lure of running a flagship channel like BBC ONE is irresistible to any programme maker. The challenge - which cannot be underestimated - is to set the standards with BBC ONE in a multi channel world. The bonus is a better funded channel, and a renewed emphasis on giving viewers the best from the best. It's the job I have always wanted and I'm determined to surprise and delight the audience."

Lorraine will take over the role on 1st November.

Lorraine Heggessey was appointed Joint Director of Factual & Learning earlier this year and has been responsible for overseeing the management and creative direction of factual programming across all the BBC's television channels, radio networks, digital and online services, including the new digital TV channel BBC Knowledge.

She joined Factual & Learning from her post as Director of Programmes at the BBC, to which she had been appointed in October 1999. She was previously Head of Children's, working across the full range of genres and devising BBC Children's first co-production with Disney, the award-winning Microsoap. She was also responsible for other award-winning dramas including See How They Run and the ground-breaking Pig Heart Boy. She was previously the Editor of QED, BBC ONE's flagship science documentary series as well as creating Animal Hospital, a series which regularly gains an audience share of more than 45%. She was also the Executive Producer of the highly acclaimed science landmark series The Human Body.

Lorraine started her career in television in 1979 as a BBC News Trainee, after working as a graduate trainee on local newspapers for Westminster Press. She has a long track record in making current affairs and popular factual programmes for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and has also worked in the independent sector. In her early twenties she was a producer on Panorama, the BBC's prestigious current affairs series and then moved on to work on ITV's re-launched This Week.

After this time, Lorraine went to Clark Productions as Deputy Editor of Hard News for Channel 4. With Ken Loach directing, she produced and reported a Dispatches on the press treatment of Arthur Scargill during which she turned the tables on Roger Cook by door-stepping him. She was the founding editor of the BBC's right to reply programme Biteback and Series Producer of the BBC's The Underworld for which she secured the first ever interview with Mad Frankie Fraser, one of Britain's most notorious criminals.