Background
Bedell grew up in east London.
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Elaine Bedell
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She studied English at the University of Leeds, graduating in 1983.
Career
Her sister is the novelist Geraldine Bedell. She went to a girls" grammar school in east London (formerly Essex), which became Valentines High School in 1977. She started her career at the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1987, producing radio programmes such as Start the Week, Midweek, Newstand and You and Yours on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4.
Independent media
She left the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1992 and became Head of Factual Entertainment at Tiger Aspect Productions.
In 1994 she became Managing Director of Watchmaker Productions, a company she set up with Clive James and Richard Drewett. Watchmaker was responsible for Jeremy Clarkson"s interview programme Clarkson (1998-2001) which was shown on British Broadcasting Corporation Two, and produced by Bedell.
Watchmaker was bought by the Chrysalis Group in 1998, and she became Managing Director of Chrysalis Entertainment from 2000. Bedell then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2002, establishing a commercial division, Royal Shakespeare Company Enterprise Limited - Royal Society of Chemistry Enterprise.
British Broadcasting Corporation Television
Bedell returned to the British Broadcasting Corporation as Independent Executive, where she oversaw the relationship between British Broadcasting Corporation Television and various independent production companies.
She became Commissioning Editor for Features and Factual Entertainment in July 2005. She commissioned The One Show in 2006, and in Factual Entertainment she worked with Emma Swain, Adam Kemp, Richard Klein and Peter Horrocks. In November 2006 she became the Controller of British Broadcasting Corporation Entertainment, Multi-Platform Commissioning, working with Jana Bennett, the Director of British Broadcasting Corporation Vision launched in November 2006.
Independent Television Network
She joined Independent Television as Director of Entertainment and Comedy in March 2009.
