He will be responsible for leading the BBC Studios Comedy team across the UK in TV, radio and online. He will manage the existing slate of productions and take the lead in developing new hit shows and working with diverse comedy writers and performers. 

Sussman has written, produced and developed a number of successful shows. As well as writing on series such as Monkey Dust and The Peter Serafinowicz Show, Sussman has developed and produced comedy at independents such as Rough Cut Television, Objective Productions and Silver River, where he ran the development team across comedy and entertainment.

For the last five years he has been a Commissioning Editor for Comedy at the BBC, where he has been instrumental in bringing a number of popular series to our screens, including Bad Education, Cuckoo, Rev, Not Going Out, Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe and the award-winning People Just Do Nothing and Him & Her: The Wedding.

Mark Freeland, Controller of Fiction and Entertainment, says: "Deservedly, Chris has a great reputation in the industry, based on his knowledge and passion for comedy, plus his incredibly trusted editorial eye. I am really excited to get the chance to work with him, standing up for comedy at the BBC and beyond."

Sussman says: "BBC Studios is the biggest comedy production company in the UK, with an incredible history in both TV and radio. Pretty much all of the shows I loved growing up - Hancock, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Steptoe & Son, Dad's Army, One Foot In The Grave, The Office, etc - had a BBC logo at the end of them, and the current slate includes some of the best and most watched comedies on TV at the moment. I can't wait to get started, and hope I can do justice to this brilliant legacy."