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Pauline[1] Jane Tranter (born 17 March 1963[2]) was Head of Drama at BBC One from 2000-2006. She was the controller of drama commissioning at the BBC who, along with Lorraine Heggessey, was responsible for commissioning what became known as series 1 of Doctor Who at the beginning of the first Russell T Davies era. Following the success of Christopher Eccleston's outing as the Ninth Doctor — as well as a string of hits including Spooks and Waking the Dead — she became the Corporation's first, and only, Head of Fiction. This meant that she had control over all scripted television shows at the BBC.
She was featured on Doctor Who Confidential in the David Tennant-directed episode, Do You Remember the First Time?, trying — but slightly failing — to give a chronological list of the actors who'd played the Doctor. She was also present in the episode which announced the identity of the Eleventh Doctor, giving context to the hiring of Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant.
In 2009, she left the Corporation proper to head up BBC Worldwide's operations in the United States. Along with her went Julie Gardner and Davies, and it was largely through their efforts that Torchwood became an American co-production for series 4. She is therefore an executive producer on Torchwood: Miracle Day. Despite the amount of support she's given to Doctor Who and its related programmes, Miracle Day is the first time she received an on-screen credit for a DWU programme.
The second time was 12 years later, with the broadcast of Doctor Who's 2023 specials. This was because Bad Wolf Productions, the company Tranter and Gardner co-founded, produced Davies' second era alongside BBC Worldwide's successor, BBC Studios.
Credits[[edit] | [edit source]]
- 73 Yards
- The Blood Line
- Boom
- The Categories of Life
- The Church on Ruby Road
- Dead of Night
- The Devil's Chord
- Dot and Bubble
- Earthshock (TotT TV story)
- Empire of Death
- End of the Road
- Escape to LA
- The Gathering
- The Giggle
- Immortal Sins
- The Legend of Ruby Sunday
- The Middle Men
- The Mind Robber (TotT TV story)
- The New World
- Rendition
- Rogue
- Space Babies
- The Star Beast
- The Curse of Fenric (TotT TV story)
- The Three Doctors (TotT TV story)
- The Time Meddler (TotT TV story)
- Vengeance on Varos (TotT TV story)
- Wild Blue Yonder