A British television executive, who was a leading light on some of UK’s best-loved game shows and competition series. Dean Jones started at the Noel Gay Theatre as a production assistant, which led to showrunning for Noel Gay Television. From there, he went to Talbot Television, which was the format holder for the Mark Goodson game show catalogue, including the likes of Blankety Blank, Family Fortunes, Play Your Cards Right and The Price is Right. Talbot was acquired by various groups, including Grundy and the Pearson Group, until it ultimately fell under distributor Fremantle’s umbrella. Jones was head of production on multiple shows, including Supermarket Sweep, Take Me Out, Too Hot to Handle and I Can Hear Your Voice. Later, he helped create such big hitters as X Factor, Pop Idol and Britain’s Got Talent. He became director of production for Fremantle UK, looking after entertainment, drama and comedy, and created shows for such UK production powerhouses as Syco Entertainment and Thames.
