Independent producer Expectation, the London-based outfit behind Amazon’s breakout hit Clarkson’s Farm, has signed a development alliance with David Flynn’s creative studio Plegazoid to generate new entertainment formats for UK broadcasters and streamers.
Under the pact, announced on 30 June, Flynn will embed with Expectation’s entertainment unit to co-create game-show and reality IP that the two companies will coproduce. “David has created some of the most successful game shows ever made … we are elated to be working together on his next dazzling array of hit shows,” said Expectation’s creative director of entertainment Ben Wicks. Flynn called the West London label “a really creative and talented bunch” whose tastes align with his ambition to build formats that “cut through in the UK and travel internationally.”
Plegazoid, launched by the former Endemol UK chief in 2023, is already behind ITV’s forthcoming daytime quiz Time Is Money, co-produced with South Shore and fronted by Dragons’ Den investor Sara Davies. Earlier this year the nascent studio struck a development partnership with Banijay France, broadening Flynn’s footprint on the Continent.
Expectation, founded in 2017 by Peter Fincham and Tim Hincks and backed by BBC Studios, has grown into one of the UK’s fastest-rising indies. Its factual-entertainment roster is led by Clarkson’s Farm, whose fourth series premiered in May and whose fifth is already ordered despite past controversy surrounding host Jeremy Clarkson. The show continues to drive cultural ripple effects; retailer Waitrose reports a surge in demand for home-grown produce that it attributes in part to the programme’s popularity.
Analysts say the tie-up lands at a buoyant moment for British unscripted IP. The UK reclaimed its position as the world’s top exporter of unscripted formats last year, posting an 18 % jump in overseas adaptations, according to K7 Media’s Tracking the Giants report.
By combining Expectation’s production scale and Plegazoid’s format-creation pedigree, the partners aim to capitalise on that demand and secure a bigger share of the global market. Industry watchers note Flynn’s track record with long-running franchises such as The Million Pound Drop and Pointless—both still travelling internationally—could give the joint slate an instant edge.
ITV’s daytime commissioner Katie Rawcliffe, who greenlit Time Is Money, said high-stakes quizzes remain “a staple for daytime TV,” underscoring broadcasters’ appetite for easily exportable formats. Expectation and Plegazoid will unveil their first joint pitches at next month’s Edinburgh TV Festival, with deliveries targeted for 2026.
