Kenton Allen to leave the BBC for Big Talk

Kenton Allen, the creative head of BBC Comedy and Comedy North, has announced that he is leaving the BBC to join Big Talk Productions, the company behind Shaun of the Dead and Black Books.

The BAFTA award-winning producer of The Royle Family, has been a senior executive at the BBC since 2003 and is credited for some of the corporation's biggest hits in recent years. The producer will now be taking on the role of joint chief executive at Big Talk. His task when arriving at the company will be to help it develop more comedies for the TV. Till now, apart from C4 sitcoms Black Books and Spaced, the independent production company has mainly focused on films; these have included Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's hit comedy films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

Allen's list of credits is extensive - That Mitchell and Webb Look, Freezing, The Omid Djalili Show, After You've Gone, The Visit, Ideal, Scallywagga and Freezing are just some of recent BBC comedies which he has executive produced.

BBC Vision Chief Peter Salmon credits Allen for playing a crucial role in the reinvigoration of BBC comedy production: "From That Mitchell and Webb Look to After You've Gone, from Omid Djalili to Comedy North, he has championed talent and teams in London and the north-west".

Allen said: "I leave behind a terrific slate of shows and a talented team... but I feel that the time is right for new challenges."