The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, Newsnight, is welcoming its inaugural Filmmaker in Residence, who will be in-house director for a new series of projects.  

The role is new, and no decision has been made as to whether it will run long-term; it’s rather a case of suck-it-and-see as to how it develops.

Reporting directly to the programme’s editor, Ian Katz, Olly Lambert is working closely with the editorial team and producers; he will also pursue his own ideas.

Producer/director Lambert has award-winning pedigree when it comes to documentary filmmaking. Among his many gongs are the Foreign Press Association nod for best TV feature for The Tea Boy of Gaza (2006); the organisation subsequently went on to name him their Journalist of the Year.

His documentary Syria: Across The Lines garnered both the Grierson Award for best current affairs documentary and the Rory Peck Award for best feature. It was broadcast on Channel 4 last year.

Lambert also won critical acclaim and more trophy nominations for his film My Child the Rioter, part of the Wonderland strand.

Lambert says: “I’ve loved making documentaries about big, current affairs subjects, so jumped at the chance to work at Newsnight, which is one of the most exciting places in television right now. There’s too little crossover between news and documentaries and it will be fascinating to see what happens when the two worlds meet.”

(We salute Olly Lambert in his new role but, if pushed we’d probably plump for the slightly less taxing and more glamorous post of Writer in Residence at the Savoy Hotel…)