Will Hanrahan

William (Will) Hanrahan is a British television/radio producer and presenter best known for working on BBC programmes such as Watchdog and Good Morning.^[1] Since 1994 he has headed an independent TV company^[2] which currently produces studio programming and documentaries for the BBC and Sky TV, A&E, Foxtel, Discovery and UKTV. He is a three-times Royal Television Society Award winner and his programmes are currently airing in over 70 countries. He has Executive Produced for both the BBC and ITV working with Alistair McGowan on the BBC Restoration project,^[3] and Chris Tarrant on the BBC Four History of the World in 100 objects series. He has recently Executive Produced a TV series with the renowned Italian criminologist, Massimo Picozzi, for the skyitalia series 'Segreti, Bugie e Omicidi, an Italian language documentary season which helped launch CI Italia. He is a law graduate with experience in consumer and legal programming.^[4] In 2013/14, Hanrahan also returned to radio presenting as a guest host on BBC Local Radio in 2014 and 2015.

In his non-broadcast work, he has been a member of the PACT National Executive on two occasions. PACT is the organisation which represents Independent TV Companies in the U.K. He has been a lay member of the Faculty of Public Health, served as a School Governor and contributed to Skillset (UK) strategic policy in the training of young people for Broadcasting in Britain.

Hanrahan's hobbies include keeping fit, Everton Football Club and supporting the Arts. He has become chair of a new Arts venue in Stratford Upon Avon, The Stratford ArtsHouse.^[5] He is an active contributor to the community of Stratford Upon Avon where he chairs Stratford Vision,^[6] a non-political group made up of businesses, local authority members and charities.

Early life

Hanrahan grew up in Bootle, an area near Liverpool, Merseyside. Educated at St. Benet's, now St. Benedicts, and St. Mary's College ^[7] in Crosby.

Career

Hanrahan trained on the Bootle Times newspaper. He subsequently embarked on a career as a radio and television journalist, presenting breakfast shows on BBC Radio York, LBC (London) and Sunday chat shows for syndicated BBC stations in the north of England,^[8] BBC Look North ^[9] and for Network TV as a reporter from the Rwandan Civil War, presenting live from a refugee camp and an orphanage in Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire).

Hanrahan presented programmes for the BBC, including serving as a reporter for Watchdog, the Good Food Programme, Family Matters, On The Line, Verdict, The Arts and Crafts Hour. He co-presented the breakfast show Good Morning.^[1]

Presenting outside of the BBC

As a presenter, he fronted Serve You Right a consumer rights series for Meridian T.V.^[10] presented Buyers Guide and Blue Chip for BSkyB's .tv technology channel.^[11] and, in 2007, for the Sunday Breakfast show for BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire.^[12]

In 2008 he presented Suffolk Strangler for Sky Television, the story of the serial killer, Steve Wright. He then self-produced Dunblane - A Decade On for Channel Five.^[13] In 2009, Hanrahan was a reporter and writer of a series of Documentaries related to Crime for Sky TV.

Alongside his documentaries, he has produced entertainment programming such as the four-year ITV series, Star Lives, and the BBC comedy Trexx and Flipside.^[14]

Hanrahan Media

Hanrahan launched his own media production company, Hanrahan Media, in 1994, with Fatherhood, a series of TV essays for BBC One.^[1] Programs produced by the company include Star Lives for ITV 1, SuDoKu Live for Sky one, and Carol Vorderman's Brain Game, as well as documentaries for ITV ^[15] and Channel Five.^[16] In 2008/09 the Hanrahan-produced Trexx and Flipside became the first sit-com produced for the BBC out of the English Midlands. The six-part series featured viewer-generated Hip-Hop and a largely new-to-TV cast.^[17] Hanrahan also developed a comedy-panel show for UK channel 'Dave' which ran for two series. Street Cred SuDoKu lampooned anything and everything that had ever been fashionable before disappearing from popular culture.^[18]

The company has received a Royal Television Society award for Best Entertainment in 2002 for Stars And Their Lives, and in 2009 for Best News and Current Affairs and Best Documentary.^[19]

firstlooktv

Firstlooktv ^[20] launched in 2010 specifically to make documentaries and gaining commissions from ITV with Going to Work Naked,^[21] "Norway Massacre:The Survivors", Channel 5,^[22] the Crime and Investigation Channel,^[23] with "Evil Up Close" ^[24] and the Arts and Entertainment network's International division in New York.^[25] Additional episodes of the series premiered in Australia late 2012 and the UK in Autumn 2012. In 2013 and 2014, firstlooktv became one of the first British companies to win a direct commission from an Italian broadcaster as its series Segreti, Bugie e Omicidi (Secrets, Lies and Murders) premiered.^[26]

Throughout the period, firstlooktv also gained commissions with the BBC featuring presenters Alistair McGowan and Chris Tarrant. McGowan fronted a BBC One "Restoration" special ^[27] whilst Tarrant presented a History programme charting the importance of canals to the success of Britain's Industrial Revolution.^[28] In 2014, firstlooktv was commissioned to produce the BBC football series Late Kick Off.

References

External links

• Hanrahan Media
• Will Hanrahan's page at the BBC Radio Coventry website
• Will Hanrahan at the Internet Movie Database
• firstlooktv