Merman Television has today announced the appointment of Faye Dorn, who joins the company in the newly created role of Head of Drama.

Dorn will work alongside award winning co-founders of the company, Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford, with a remit to oversee the development and production of original dramas and further build on the company’s hugely successful scripted content.

Merman has won multiple accolades for scripted content, including four BAFTAs and multiple Emmy and RTS nominations. The company’s recent TV projects include: There She Goes for BBC Two/Britbox, This Way Up for Channel 4/Hulu, Motherland for BBC Two,  Frayed for Sky One/ABC Australia, Women on the Verge for W/RTE2, Catastrophe for Channel 4/Amazon (co-produced with Avalon Television and Birdbath Productions) and Divorce for HBO. Upcoming projects include Frank of Ireland for Channel 4/Amazon, which is written by Brian and Domhnall Gleeson and Michael Moloney (Your Bad Self) and Housebroken for Fox. Merman recently co-produced its first feature film, the Phyllida Lloyd-directed Herself, which premiered at Sundance and will be released in 2021.

Dorn joins Merman from Fifty Fathoms and Tiger Aspect, where she has been Executive Producer of Domina for Sky Italia / Sky Studios.

Before this, she was the Executive Producer of Drama at Big Talk, overseeing the development of their original drama slate. Her previous roles include working with Cowboy Films and Ronan Bennett on Top Boy for Netflix and executive producing Fortitude for Sky Atlantic and Amazon.

Dorn started her career at Company Pictures, firstly in development for George Faber during the production of Paul Abbott’s Shameless and HBO’s Generation Kill, and was part of the development team on Bryan Elsley’s ground-breaking E4 series Skins. Dorn executive produced the long-running BBC One series Inspector George Gently starring Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby.

During her time at Company Pictures she also produced William Ivory’s Truckers and script edited the award-winning serial for Channel 4 The Devil’s Whore by Peter Flannery, BBC Two’s critically acclaimed The Shadow Line by Hugo Blick and the hit ITV series Wild at Heart.

Faye Dorn said: “I am delighted to be joining Merman. They are a world-class production company, whose reputation precedes them for their much acclaimed comedy dramas. I very much look forward to working with Sharon, Clelia and the wider Merman team on developing the next wave of scripted content.”

Clelia Mountford said: “Faye brings a wealth of experience in drama production and development, alongside excellent relationships that span the industry and we are absolutely delighted to welcome her to the team. The introduction of this new role marks an exciting landmark for Merman, as we further expand our award-winning  scripted production and seek out a slate of captivating, original new dramas.”

Sharon Horgan said: “Faye is brilliant with writers. Anyone who’s worked with her wants to do it again. She’s as driven and hungry and excited by the possibilities of TV as we are and I can’t wait to make great shows with her.”