Steve started his career as a researcher on BBC Nationwide in 1981 before going on to produce a number of series for Channel 4 in the mid-eighties, including The Friday Alternative and Diverse Reports. In 1987 he began working on factual programmes at the BBC and in 1990 he became producer and then editor of the BBC1 documentary strand Inside Story. From 1995 to 1997 Steve was editor of current affairs flagship Panorama (during the time when it broadcast the BAFTA award-winning Princess Diana's 1995 interview with Martin Bashir) and executive editor of Special Projects. He was executive producer of the first two series of Children's Hospital, as well as The Skipper, Rough Justice, States of Terror, and The Diamond Empire.
Steve took over as Director of Programmes, Carlton Television, in September 1998, having previously been Head of Factual Programmes and Features at Channel 4. He became Managing Director of Carlton Productions in January 2001 with responsibility for Carlton TV Productions, Planet 24 and Action Time. His instinct for a strong story helped establish him thereafter as an outstanding media commentator.
Most recently, in 2013, he was nominated for a BAFTA for Britain’s Hidden Housing Crisis (a Panorama Special). Prior to that in 2011 he won the BBC's Nick Clarke Award for "the best broadcast interview of the year" for his interview with Peta Buscombe, former chair of the Press Complaints Commission. He was nominated for a BAFTA in 1993 for Inside Story and in 2011 for Scenes from a Teenage Killing.
His producer credits include Panorama, Reinventing the Royals, Scenes from a Teenage Killing, Frontline, Aftershock: The Untold Story of the Birmingham Pub Bombings, Inside Story, Chappaquiddick, Rough Justice, The Essential History of Europe, and Franco: Behind the Myth. His presenter/reporter/media commentator credits include Reinventing the Royals, LeagueOne: In the Spotlight, Newsnight, China’s Model Army, Rupert Murdoch: Battle with Britain, The Man Who Killed Michael Jackson, BBC Breakfast, The Review Show and The One Show.
Steve was also previously the Chair of Sheffield Doc/Fest; a Board member at Screen Yorkshire and a Fellow of the Royal Television Society. In 2016 and 2017, Hewlett took part in a series of interviews with Eddie Mair, broadcast as part of BBC Radio 4's PM, in which he described his treatment for cancer of the oesophagus. He has been praised for being able to talk about it being both objectively reportorial and subjectively.
Steve was honoured with a BAFTA Special Award in 2017 but he had yet to formally receive it at the time of his death.
