Jane Tranter Urges TV Makers to Tell Stories That Build Empathy

Television producers should look for stories that make the world more empathetic, Bad Wolf chief executive Jane Tranter told the MIA Market in Rome. Her keynote, reported by Deadline, came during the market, which runs from October 19 to 23, 2026. MIA is an international gathering where film and TV programmes are bought, sold and pitched.

"We have to tell stories that change the lack of empathy in our world," Tranter said. To make the point, she described a farmer in his 70s who said he identified with Mary, the central character of The Other Bennet Sister.

That BBC period drama is adapted from Janice Hadlow's novel and told from the point of view of Mary Bennet, the middle sister in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice world. Ella Bruccoleri plays Mary. In the U.S., the series streams on BritBox. A three-part Christmas special has now been ordered, according to Deadline.

Tranter also showed the audience an extended clip from The Night Of, the HBO crime drama. She said James Gandolfini championed the series and was an executive producer on it. He was set to play lawyer John Stone, but he died unexpectedly in 2013 while on holiday in Italy. John Turturro joined the cast afterwards, and the production carried on.

Tranter said that experience on The Night Of shaped her decision to launch a major production studio. That studio became Bad Wolf, which is owned by Sony. Before setting it up, she led BBC drama. Her credits as a producer include Doctor Who and Industry.

MIA's own programme described her talk as a look at her career from the BBC to the founding of Bad Wolf, with Doctor Who, The Night Of and His Dark Materials among the titles covered.

For anyone who has followed her work, the keynote offered a rare look at how a producer explains her own choices. Tranter's argument was simple. Stories that let a viewer see life through someone else's eyes are worth making, whatever the genre or the country they come from.