It is with huge sadness that we have to report that Richard Hopkins died on Saturday 7th January 2012. He was just 47 years of age.
Richard was co-founder and joint managing director of Fever and the life and soul of our company, so his death has left us all shocked and saddened beyond belief.
Richard was one of the most gifted TV producers of his generation and one of the few people who could genuinely claim to have changed the TV landscape. He had an extraordinary career and his CV is a long list of some of the most successful shows of the last twenty years.
He was the Executive Producer of Fame Academy, The Big Breakfast and Fear Factor. As a series producer he worked on the BAFTA award winning first series of Big Brother and was series producer of the ground breaking comedy series the 11 O'Clock Show.
Richard developed, pitched and went onto produce Strictly Come Dancing, which has won numerous awards and has been officially recognised as the world's most successful reality TV format. The format has sold to well over 30 different countries and it was Richard's personal persistence and unique mixture of charm and persuasiveness that first got the show sold in America. Richard then went to America to executive produce the show which was rechristened Dancing With The Stars for the ABC network. To this day it remains one of the most successful shows on American Television.
Having run Format Entertainment at the BBC between 2003 and 2006 he then went onto launch Fever Media with David Mortimer in April 2006. Over the last 6 years the company has made a host of programmes for broadcasters in the UK and around the world, many of which Richard executive produced, including The People's Quiz, Move Like Michael Jackson and most recently Catch for American television.
All of us at Fever feel extraordinarily lucky to have known Richard as both a creative collaborator and friend. Richard cared about television hugely, but the centre of his life was his family. At this terrible time our hearts go out his wife Katy and his three beautiful girls Angelica, Joséphine and Julianna.
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In his three years as Creative Head of Format Entertainment at the BBC Richard was responsible for developing, pitching and producing a raft of hit shows including "Strictly Come Dancing" which has now been sold to over 31 territories worldwide, "Strictly Dance Fever", "It Takes Two" (BBC TWO), "Hard Spell" (BBC ONE), "Star Spell" (BBC ONE), "We'll Meet Again" (BBC ONE) and "The House of Tiny TearAways" (BBC THREE).
He has also overseen and exec'd numerous quiz, panel shows and factual entertainment formats such as "Mastermind", "Junior Mastermind", "The Weakest Link", "National Lottery Jet Set", "A Question Of Sport", "Sudo-Q", "Facing The Music", "Restored To Glory", "Traitor", "The Sack Race", "Come & Have A Go", "Wright Around The World", "Dear Father Christmas", "Generation Fame", "Didn't They Do Well" and "Never Mind The Fullstops" (BBC4). Previously he was Executive Producer of "Fame Academy" and "Comic Relief Does Fame Academy"(BBC ONE), "Fear Factor" (SKY), "The Big Breakfast" (C4) and was series producer of the Bafta-award winning first series of "Big Brother" (C4), Series Producer of The "11 O' Clock Show" (C4), Series Producer of "Baby Baby" (C4), and Senior Producer for "Planet 24" in Los Angeles where he produced Entertainment News for "The Word" (C4), "Gaytime TV" (C4) and "The Big Breakfast". He was also Producer / Director for "Hotel Babylon" (C4), and Producer for "Kiss 100"(Emap).
He has been a key part in the success of "Strictly Come Dancing" as an international hit winning the Rose D'Or, Broadcast Award 2005, RTS 2005, Tric Award 2005 & 6, TV Quick 2005 & 6 as well as selling it to ABC in the USA, where it has been nominated for several awards including an Emmy.
Whilst at Fever Richard has Exec Produced "The People's Quiz" (BBC ONE) and "The People's Quiz Wildcard" (BBC TWO), "Murder Most Famous" (BBC TWO), "Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza" (SKY ONE and SKY HD) and "Move Like Michael Jackson" (BBC THREE).