Following the departure of provocative but much-loved host Jonathan Ross from the BBC, Claudia Winkleman has been named as next in line for the coveted Film 2010 presenter’s job.

However, it has now been revealed that joining her in the presenting duties will be film journalist Danny Leigh.

Ross hosted the BBC Film series for more than ten years, taking over from legendary film critic Barry Norman in 1999. Now that Ross has stepped down, it seems that two people are needed to fill his shoes. Winkleman had already been named as Ross’ successor, but the latest news is that Guardian film blogger Danny Leigh will be her co-presenter.

With the new presenters will also come a change in format for 2010, moving from the monologue style that Ross preferred to a ‘topical debate and discussion’ format. The show will have a new extended running time of 40 minutes (the previous series was allotted 30 minutes per programme) and will be broadcast live. New contributors will be Empire Magazine’s Chris Hewitt and novelist and journalist Antonia Quirk.

Speaking of the reasoning behind the changes, BBC1 Controller Jay Hunt said:

“We are moving away from the idea that the film programme is a monologue and one person’s take on film, and really engaging with what film buffs and occasional viewers love best which is dialogue and debate about what really is exciting at the heart of films, so there’s a huge opportunity there.”

The next series of Film 2010 is set to start up again on BBC One in October2010, in order to coincide with the launch of the London Film Festival.

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