Richest conversations

Don't tell Tim Davie; BBC Studios has decided to move its annual Showcase back to London. 

The Showcase, in the days of BBC Enterprises, started at the Old Ship in Brighton in 1976. 25 buyers were entertained to a seaside break, dining with various BBC names, and watching and buying shows like Fawlty Towers, The Good Life and Doctor Who.  Michael Palin remembers being given a 'tiny, mean, British measure of Scotch' and 'average meal' in the company of 'a cheerful Finn, an Anglicised-Dane and a well-preserved Swedish lady', followed by 'frightfully uninspired speeches'. 

During the 1980s, the event moved to Bournemouth, Edinburgh, Bristol, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Harrogate before returning to Brighton and then, in 2012, finding a new home at Liverpool’s waterfront exhibition centre. The last two Showcases were virtual.

It looks like Rebecca Glashow, Studios' CEO Global Distribution, is coming over from New York for the event, having spent a number of days constructing this come-on: "As the market, and our own business changes, so does Showcase. Expect to see our offer to customers evolve from a content juggernaut to a series of highly curated match-making opportunities that brings our most valued partners, producers and programmes together so the richest conversations can take place."