Born on 15 December 1964 in
Newport Pagnell,
Buckinghamshire, Richard Hopkins was educated at
Bedford School and at
University College London, where he read
English literature. He worked in
publishing and for various
radio stations in
Britain and
France before he began working for the independent production company
Planet 24, and became
associate producer of
Channel 4's
The Big Breakfast, presented by
Chris Evans and
Gaby Roslin. In 1996, Hopkins became the
producer and
director of
BBC One's
Hotel Babylon and, in 1997, he became the
series producer of
Baby Baby. In 2000, he became the producer of
Channel 4's satirical ''
The 11 O'Clock Show, producer of the British version of Big Brother'', and, as
executive producer, revamped
Channel 4's
The Big Breakfast. He produced
Fear Factor between 2001 and 2003, and
Fame Academy between 2002 and 2003. Between 2003 and 2006, Hopkins ran the
BBC's format entertainment department, and became
executive producer of
Mastermind,
Weakest Link,
A Question of Sport and
Strictly Come Dancing. He left the
BBC in 2006 in order to found
Fever Media, producing ''
The People's Quiz in 2007, and Move Like Michael Jackson'' in 2009. Richard Hopkins died of cancer in
London on 7 January 2012 at the age of 47. ==References==