Talent Television

Talent Television, a wholly owned subsidiary of Talent Group plc, has won a raft of UK and international deals, proving its position as one of the leading independent entertainment companies in the UK.

Talent Television has secured a second commission of Test the Nation - the National IQ Test with Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi. This deal follows Talent's unprecedented agreement last year which saw the producer cracking the Japanese market brokering a deal for the country's first-ever interactive event show.

The new special is co-produced with one of Japan's leading production houses TV Man Union, with Talent Television as programme consultants. Talent TV acquired the Japanese rights for Test the Nation from Dutch creator Eyeworks, along with those for the UK and Ireland. In the UK, BBC One continues to show its commitment to the hugely popular Test the Nation brand, commissioning four specials which aired during 2004.

Test the Nation - the National IQ Test is produced by Kazutaka Hasumi of TV Asahi and Toshiro Uratani from TV Man Union. TV Asahi's Hiroshi Hayakawa, TV Man Union's Yutaka Shigenobu. Co-creator Reinout Oerlemans is Executive Producer for Eyeworks.

Talent TV is further cementing its position in Japan, securing a direct commission from state broadcaster NHK to produce three half hour documentaries, entitled Deep Toscana. Each show focuses on a different aspect of the life of a community centered in a mediaeval hilltop town in Tuscany.

Tony Humphreys, Managing Director of Talent Television, said: "Following our unique deal with TV Asahi last year we are excited about furthering our relationship through a new commission of Test the Nation. We continue to spread our footprint in Japan and winning three direct commissions from NHK is testament to our growing reputation in the territory."

In the UK, CBBC has commissioned a second series of Best of Friends, Talent TV's breakthrough reality TV format for kids. This follows the success of the first series when it was stripped across The CBBC channel in spring this year.

In a separate deal, BBC Worldwide is showing its commitment to Best of Friends, picking up international format rights to series. The show is already making its mark overseas with TPS Jeunesse France securing the option for French-speaking Europe version rights.

Best of Friends features teams of five real-life friends, aged between 10 and 11 years old. Each team faces an escalating series of horrible tasks or tantalising treats, designed to test their humour, loyalties and, key to the format's appeal, their friendship itself. For example, in the first series, one lot of friends found themselves solving mathematical problems against the clock in a stink-bomb filled room, whilst others luxuriated in being pampered at a top beauty salon.

The format is based on an original idea by Mark Robson, developed by Jonathan Wolfman, produced by John Marley and executive produced by Talent's Annie Miles. The second series has been commissioned by Anne Gilchrist, CBBC Head of Entertainment and Dorothy Prior, Controller of CBBC.

For further information:

Janet Balmforth/Aimee Norman
Blueprint PR
+44 (0) 208 868 0511
janet@blueprintpr.co.uk

Notes to editors:

Talent Television (part of Talent Group plc) is a leading independent UK format creator and producer of innovative television, video and interactive programming. The Company's reputation for prime-time entertainment programming is unrivalled. The "Test the Nation" series for BBC1 is now well established as a scheduling event which combines the excitement of live network television with state-of-the-art interactive television and web technology. Subjects covered so far include "The Nation's IQ", "Relationships", "General Knowledge" and "The End of Year Test". Talent was also a pioneer in reality television with "The Villa", which was first produced in 1999 for Sky One.

Talent Television also has strong ties with major Japanese broadcasters and indie production companies, having produced several HDTV documentaries for both NHK and TV Asahi networks. And, last October, the "Test the Nation" format was successfully launched on TV Asahi, in association with Japanese indie TV Man Union.

Talent Kids, the children's division, was established last year to develop high quality, innovative programming for kids. Its first commission was for the Disney Channel, with "Inside Clyde", an original adventure game show, the first 13 x half-hours of which was screened earlier this year. This was followed by a breakthrough reality entertainment format for 6-11 year olds called "Best of Friends". Produced for CBBC, the first series of 15 x half-hours appeared on The CBBC Channel in March 04.