They made a sizzle tape which included bits and pieces from the Internet. This seems to be quite common now, you can construct a reel that shows your idea with only the minimal amount of editing. BBC liked the idea and gave them a little bit of development money to prove that the show was actually possible. It is a show that allows characters to pop.
Michael saw the Tape first, he though it had a clear and interesting proposition. The idea was developed quite a bit and then it fell into what BBC2 were looking for. Big Fat Entertaining programs.
Emma asked what the BBC thought of a show that had no obvious Talent on it. During the development phase they did think about doing a Celebrity version, almost as a backup – the idea was Big enough to cater for two versions. However Authenticity is key for the BBC2 audience.
Emma asked about funding, big on everyone’s list! Although the show had been commissioned by the BBC it was such a large show that more funding was needed. Tim worked with Louise (Pedersen?) at All3Media as this was obviously an International show. Lambert also part funded the show. The International sales (pre-sales) helping to fund it was crucial. They never went to an SVOD or Streamer.
A key reason to avoid the SVODs is that they want Rights and Lambert obviously wanted to keep them. There is an interesting implication that the BBC did not expect Rights – even though they have BBC Worldwide. Once again it was stressed that although the BBC are a major funder they still want to know where the rest of the money is coming from. It would be very bad if a show failed mid-way in production.