Joint entry beats seven other indies in competitive process which followed Destination X tender
Expectation and Plegazoid are to jointly produce a British original, studio-based gameshow for the next BBC-NBCUniversal mega-format, Broadcast can reveal.
The Clarkson’s Farm indie has joined forces with David Flynn’s label, which co-produced ITV1’s Time Is Money with South Shore, to create what the BBC is billing an “innovative and compelling twist” on the gameshow format.
Flynn has said it has “all the drama and jeopardy of the best reality shows, where ordinary people will risk it all to win big”.
Expectation and Plegazoid will now move toward a non-TX pilot for both BBC and NBC, following the much-publicised competitive tender process, announced last summer.
They will team up with Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group, to co-produce the US version for NBC.
The pair beat seven other shortlisted submissions, with each competing label receiving up to £10k to develop their ideas over the past six months. They were Bandicoot, Mettlemouse, Objective Entertainment, October Films, Primal Media, Workerbee and TalkbackThames.
Expectation and Plegazoid partnered up last year to create entertainment formats in the gameshow and reality space, after Flynn’s previous arrangement with South Shore ended. The partnership reunited Expectation co-chief executive Tim Hincks and Flynn, two decades after they worked together at Endemol.
BBC and NBCU’s partnership was formed in 2021 and has so far delivered transatlantic versions of tentpoles The Traitors and Destination X.
The pitching process for the latest show was overseen by the BBC’s interim editor of unscripted Michael Jochnowitz and head of business, unscripted Jason Emerton, alongside NBCU’s senior vice-president of alternative programming Ed Havard – who has recently been appointed as BBC director of entertainment – and senior vice-president of business affairs Steven Bercovitch.
Jochnowitz called it a “very competitive process” and added: “The rallying call for brand new British IP seemed to galvanise the industry and we were thrilled with all the ideas shortlisted which we’ve spent the past few months developing together.
“It was a tough choice, but one idea stood out above the rest and we’re super-excited to see how it develops further. We want to thank all the companies which took part in this opportunity and demonstrated, once more, that British creativity truly is the best in the world.”
Executive vice-president of NBC unscripted Sharon Vuong said: “The response from the UK’s independent community was exceptional, which made it incredibly difficult to select just one.
“Expectation and Plegazoid’s concept stood out for its scale, originality and global potential.”
Expectation’s creative director of entertainment Ben Wicks said: “Opportunities this big come around as often as England winning the World Cup, so when it did, we were fortunate to be pitching to the finest creative minds at two of the world’s leading broadcasters.
“They, like us, feel our idea – a bold reinvention of the gameshow – has the potential to be a global hit. Huge thanks to them for being so generous with their time, creativity and passion, and to our outstanding development team for pulling out all the stops for an idea that truly deserved it.”
It is understood there were around 200 applications for the unscripted original tender, seeing a range of reality competitions, dating and relationships and talent or performance show ideas for delivery by spring 2027.
The broadcasters had a particular interest in formats and ideas built round a shared location or production hub.
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