Helen Bullough, head of kids and family productions at BBC Studios, is leaving the company after more than 11 years at the pubcaster, Kidscreen has confirmed. She will continue in the role until later this year.

Until this spring, Bullough was the head of BBC Childen’s In House Productions team, overseeing programs such as  JoJo & Gran Gran and  My Mum Tracy Beaker. In April, the in-house unit was folded into the pubcaster’s commercial arm.

Her departure comes only about a week after longtime BBC Kids exec Michael Towner, who oversaw popular kids shows such as Teletubbies and Moon and Me, also announced he was participating in a voluntary buyout as part of BBC’s restructuring.

This May, the pubcaster revealed it is reorganizing its operations to become a digital-first broadcaster as it seeks to cut costs and realign its business to modern viewing habits. It is estimated the reorg will involve the loss of roughly 1,000 jobs and will see its CBBC channel for six to 17s shutter.

In other BBC news today, the pubcaster announced a pickup that reflects the new strategy: Australian studio Aquarius Films’ live-action series Born to Spy. Debuting this Wednesday, June 27 on its iPlayer streamer, the 10 x 30-minute spy series features two siblings who live a boring life until they discover their parents are international spies and their home hides a secret headquarters.

Justine Flynn (The Unlisted) created the six-to-12 series, and distributor ABC Commercial has previously sold it to TVNZ (New Zealand) and SVT (Sweden). Aussie pubcaster ABC ordered the series and it premiered in December 2021.

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