BBC closes Fiction Lab

The BBC's drama department has abolished its Fiction Lab unit but has kept the unit's head, Richard Fell, who will now work for drama as an executive producer.

Fiction Lab was set up in 1999 in a bid to invigorate drama on the corporation's then fledgling digital channels but the BBC has now decided it does not need a specially named department.

"The unit was important when we were launching new channels but we don't need that any more," a drama source said. "Also the title does sound a bit naff, a bit 'Dramarama'."

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