Peter Arthur Fincham (born 26 July 1956) is a British television producer and executive. From 2008 until 2016, he was the Director of Television for the ITV network. He was also formerly the Controller of BBC One, the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, until his resignation on 5 October 2007, following criticism over the handling of the A Year with the Queen debacle.
Early life
Fincham was educated at the independent Tonbridge School, and then studied at Churchill College, Cambridge. He joined the Cambridge Footlights production team as musical director, alongside a committee which included Griff Rhys Jones, Jimmy Mulville, Rory McGrath and Clive Anderson. After leaving Footlights, Fincham composed songs, none of which were picked up for recording, and then worked on the touring version of Godspell. During a period of increasingly common unemployment, Fincham was walking on Wandsworth Common in the rain and thinking to himself: "Oh my God. What have I done? I have made the wrong decision?" Fincham applied for a job at the BBC in 1984, a position as a researcher on The Late, Late Breakfast Show after his friend Helen Fielding left to concentrate on her writing career. However, he was unsuccessful in this application.
Career
TalkBack (1985–2005) In 1985 he joined the staff of the independent production company TalkBack Productions as a producer. At the time the company, which was founded by comedians Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, produced radio programming, television advertisements and corporate videos. Fincham became the company's managing director in 1986, and in 1989 oversaw the move of TalkBack into fully-fledged television production when it produced its founders' sketch show Smith and Jones for BBC One.
TalkBack became particularly well known for its comedy output, which included such shows as The Day Today (BBC Two, 1994), Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (BBC Two, 1994), They Think It’s All Over (BBC One, 1995–2006), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (BBC Two, 1996–2015), I'm Alan Partridge (BBC Two, 1997 and 2002), Smack the Pony (Channel 4, 1999–2003) and Da Ali G Show (Channel 4, 2000). Fincham served as executive producer on many of these programmes. He also helped to establish TalkBack as a noted producer in other genres, with the company moving into drama with Stephen Poliakoff's Shooting the Past (BBC Two) in 1999.
In 2001, Fincham was given an Indie Award for outstanding contribution to the independent production sector. Also that year, TalkBack was sold to FremantleMedia in a £62 million deal, which made Fincham personally a multi-millionaire. Fremantle merged TalkBack with another of its acquisitions, Thames Television, to form the new Talkback Thames production company, of which Fincham became the Chief Executive in February 2003. He remained in this position until he left at the beginning of 2005, after twenty years at TalkBack and its successor company, claiming he wanted "a new challenge and a new adventure". BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey's appointment to his old post opened up the vacancy at BBC One, which he in turn applied for and won despite being "rich enough never to have to work again".
BBC One (2005–2007) Fincham was regarded in some quarters as a surprising choice as Controller, as prior to his appointment he had never worked for either the BBC or any other broadcaster, having spent his career in the independent production sector. In 2006, The Guardian newspaper reported that he was ultimately responsible for an annual programming budget at BBC One of £873 million.
Fincham oversaw the commissioning of successful BBC One programmes such as Jane Eyre, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (both 2006) and Robin Hood (2006–09). His first full year in charge saw a year-on-year growth in the channel's audience share, with BBC One earning a 23.6% share in August 2006, compared to 22.2% in the same month in 2005.