Gurdip Bhangaoo has taken over as head of the Asian Programmes Unit at the BBC, it was announced today.

The 35 year old executive producer has been behind three series of Desi DNA, the award-winning Asian arts and entertainment programme produced by the unit.

His previous credits include the talent showcase Malai, Network East Late, Sacred No More, Paradise Lost, Unholy Row and SAS Survival Secrets. He recently developed two major documentary projects for BBC Two, that are now being made.

Gurdip's appointment follows the departure of APU's previous head Tommy Nagra, who left the post late last year and joined production company Maverick TV as senior executive producer of Specialist Factual programming.

Nagra is widely credited within the industry to have revitalised the unit by axing Network East and introducing Desi DNA, as well as winning a host of new commissions that covered worldwide conflicts to profiling British Pakistanis and now Bangladeshis.

He told AIM today: "I'm delighted that the BBC have appointed the best internal candidate for the role. It's an exciting time in the evolution of the APU and I very much hope he is given the creative freedom to continue the growth of the units output into new and challenging areas."

Gurdip says: "I'm really excited by the prospect of leading the APU. There's a fantastic range of programming and developing the next generation of talent both on and off-screen will be one of my key challenges. I'm also keen to make future programming accessible to a broader range of audiences through new technology and new markets."

The Asian Programmes Unit has a whole raft of upcoming programmes already commissioned, some that will be shown in 2007. The challenge for Gurdip Bhangoo now will be to ensure he can keep landmark commissions coming in to keep raising the unit's profile.