Ailsa worked as part of a very successful casting team with us on Weakest Link. As a Casting Researcher her role included targeting, casting, briefing and contestant welfare.

Ailsa was very diligent and exercised good editorial judgement when casting her shows, getting a good balance and mix of contestants which fulfilled a number of requisites, her casting always had good representation from across the UK, with great energy and good characters.

An integral part of the casting researchers role was to write detailed biographies for all nine contestants plus stand-bys, which were used by our presenter, Anne Robinson and the editorial production team. These biogs needed to have a wealth of information to provide as much diverse content as possible, Ailsa was responsible for managing her time in scheduling biog chats and getting the best information from contestants in the shortest possible time. She was very organised, good fun to be around and worked really well within our large Casting team.

With nine contestants on each show, we had a huge volume of contestants in the studio on a daily basis. Studio duties included, looking after the contributors and assisting the Series Producer with game statistics, which were essential for editorial decisions and post-show master interviews.

Ailsa is a great team player and would be a positive asset to any casting teams on any Ents or Fact/Ents series.

Nick Gunaydin – Series Producer - Weakest link (Series 11)

Nick Gunaydin

I worked with Ailsa in the Children's Dept at BBC Scotland a few years ago, she is a great team player, very hard working and diligent. She is reliable, organised and works well under pressure, to short deadlines and with tight budgets. We worked on a few CBBC formatted series and Ailsa was good with contributors (both presenters and younger contributors) making them feel at ease in front of the camera and making sure they were well briefed. She wrote short scripts, creatively bringing subjects to life and directed and edit produced. Ailsa is easy to get on with, a fun but organised and professional member of a team. I and the rest of the team enjoyed working with her.

Lou Brown

I mentored Ailsa throughout 2023. She is a creative, multiskilled and ambitious person with a great track record in production and development. Ailsa is a brilliant communicator, easy to get along with and would fit well in any team.

Louise Thornton

Happy to give testimony that Ailsa is a good, hardworking and versatile team member. Working well to brief - or even writing them - Ailsa is a credible all rounder and an asset to any team. Strong in Development, Broadcast & Production.

Sid Cole

I have worked with Ailsa Bannerman for many years in various roles at the BBC (Kids & Family) and have always found her a pleasure to work with. She is creative, hardworking, diligent and very very capable. The sorts of roles she has worked with me as our Producer/Director travelling with a single crew around the country, Edit Producer including working with complicated GFX packages, Scripting and working with young children.

She has a wonderful attitude towards her work and can be left completely alone to complete any task, she is also very strong with more junior members of the team and looks at helping and supporting them

I have no hesitation what so ever in recommending Ailsa Bannerman for future work and i would be happy to work with her again in the future.

Rachel Bazeley, Series Producer, BBC Kids & Family

Ailsa was a director on a comedy travelogue I produced for CBBC a few years ago. I found her to be a creative, collaborative and well organised colleague. She’s incredibly hard working, intelligent and able to make even rather dull subjects come alive. She worked well under the pressure of tight budgets and complicated foreign filming schedules. She successfully post produced her films and created fun digital content to sit along side it. I would be happy to recommend her to others.

María Stewart, Series Producer

Ailsa is a brilliant multi skilled, highly experienced Producer, PD, Edit Producer and Development Producer. I have worked with her in all of these roles in recent years and can vouch for her skills, experience and the value she brings to the productions she is on. We worked together in BBC Childrens then latterly, in BBC Studios Kids & Family and I have always been impressed by Ailsa's work ethic, commitment to her productions, her ability to produce amazing, award winning content, and her creativity in developing a wealth of ideas and securing important recommissions. She is fully tapped into the industry, has extensive contacts cross genre, can run multiple edits with ease and is a creative and inclusive director on both single and multi cam. Ailsa will be a huge asset to any production lucky enough to work with her. Happy to provide further feedback if required. Sarah Young Head of Business BBC Studios Kids & Family

Sarah Young