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Â鶹Éç Worldwide has made its first international sales of Top Gear USA, ahead of Â鶹Éç Showcase – the UK's biggest television export event and the only one of its kind in the world to be hosted by a single distributor. Top Gear USA, the American version of the UK's most popular motoring show, has already been sold to broadcasters in Australia (Nine Network), Iceland (Screen One), Israel (Ego), Italy (Discovery), Finland (MTV3), New Zealand (Prime), Norway (NRK3) and Sweden (Kanal 5), and will be one of the key titles at the 35th Â鶹Éç Showcase, held in Brighton from 27th February to 2nd March.

In its anniversary year, the event will play host to many of television’s biggest names. Keeley Hawes, Dame Eileen Atkins, Rupert Penry-Jones, Philip Glenister, Professor Brian Cox, Anna Maxwell Martin, Bruce Parry, Jean Marsh, Ed Stoppard, Amy Manson, Charlotte Salt, Hannah Spearritt and Andrew Lee Potts are some of the talent who will be mingling with over 550 buyers from around the world. Top Gear USA presenters Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust and Rutledge Wood will be making their UK debut, flying in especially for Â鶹Éç Showcase.

"Â鶹Éç Showcase is the flagship annual event for British television exports," said Steve Macallister, Managing Director, Worldwide Sales and Distribution, Â鶹Éç Worldwide. "By generating programme sales for the Â鶹Éç as well as independent producers, and providing a forum for developing co-productions, it gives a great boost to the UK creative and media industry as a whole."

Macallister added, "We expect Showcase 2011 to be our most successful to date. The overall number of delegates has increased by 12% from last year and we have our biggest ever delegation from Central and Eastern Europe. We're also looking forward to welcoming a number of brand new clients to Showcase from Asia."

Â鶹Éç Showcase has predominantly been held in Brighton since the first event in 1976 at the Old Ship Hotel, although Bristol, Edinburgh, Jersey and Stratford-upon-Avon have also played host. Next year Showcase enters an exciting new era with a move to Liverpool as the event continues to grow. At the very first event , the key titles being launched to the 25 international broadcasters attending included Fawlty Towers, The Good Life, Andre Previn's Music Night, children's series Ballet Shoes, and the original Doctor Who.

This year Doctor Who is back at Showcase, with series 6 of the revamped version in the drama line-up alongside the critically-acclaimed Zen, ratings hit Upstairs Downstairs, the forthcoming second series of Luther, Misfits series 2, Primeval series 4 and the third series of Being Erica – one of Â鶹Éç Worldwide's best-selling titles.

New drama series showcased will include: epic sci-fi series Outcasts, in which Liam Cunningham, Hermione Norris, Amy Manson, Ashley Walters and Ugly Betty's Eric Mabius play settlers on a new planet; a cinematic four-part thriller, Mad Dogs, featuring Philip Glenister, John Simm, Ben Chaplin and Max Beesley; BAFTA-winning writer Peter Moffat's Silk, starring Rupert Penry-Jones and Maxine Peake as barristers on the front line of criminal law; Andrew Davies' adaptation of Winifred Holtby's South Riding with David Morrissey and Anna Maxwell Martin; supernatural thriller Bedlam, starring Will Young and Charlotte Salt; Scott and Bailey, with Lesley Sharp and Suranne Jones as two homicide detectives; and The Shadow Line – Â鶹Éç Two's landmark noir thriller, boasting a stellar cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Eccleston, Sir Antony Sher and Stephen Rea.

Showcase always brings together a great selection of the Â鶹Éç's world-leading natural history titles, and this year is no exception, with Alastair Fothergill in attendance as producer of the much anticipated Frozen Planet, narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Earthflight – an ambitious series that shows viewers astonishing aerial images of the world as seen by birds – is on offer, with The Bear Family and Me, Madagascar, Nature's Miracle Babies and The Truth About Lions adding to the list of top quality natural history output.

A special 3D session will be held for the first time at Showcase. Buyers will enjoy a visual feast with stunning footage from Walking with Dinosaurs amongst others due to be screened.

Professor Brian Cox will be in Brighton to present his new series, Wonders of the Universe, while ambitious new science series Human and Planet Dinosaur will employ breathtaking CGI effects to show audiences the inner workings of the human body and the very latest paleontological findings respectively.

Bruce Parry is another on the longest list of talent attending Showcase to date – he'll be presenting his new series Arctic with Bruce Parry at the documentary session.

Comedy highlights will include ratings smash Come Fly With Me, series 2 of Psychoville, further adventures of the young Del Boy in the Rock & Chips specials, plus new sitcom Friday Night Dinner, with Simon Bird providing the laughs alongside Tamsin Greig.

The Jim Henson Company will be bringing the puppet stars of Me & My Monsters along for the Children's Premiere, and MI High, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Wingin' It all return with new series. Also up for grabs in the children's category are Sadie J and Leonardo.

History shows Civilization: Is the West History?, Inside the Titanic and Egypt: What Lies Beneath round off a diverse range of programming for Showcase buyers to enjoy.

NOTES TO EDITORS

• Â鶹Éç Worldwide is the largest distributor in the world outside the USA
• Â鶹Éç Worldwide sells programmes on behalf of the Â鶹Éç and independent producers
• Â鶹Éç Showcase will be held in Brighton from 27th Feb – 2nd March 2011
• 1500 hours of programming will be available for buyers to view
• At Â鶹Éç Showcase the average buyer sits at their viewing booth for 10 hours a day, for four days, to preview as much programming as possible
• Â鶹Éç Worldwide has around 50,000 hours of programming in its catalogue

Titles

• Top Gear USA (9 x 44' plus 1 x 44' best of) – Produced by Â鶹Éç Worldwide Productions for Â鶹Éç Worldwide and HISTORY. Based on an original format produced by Â鶹Éç
• Doctor Who series 6 (13 x 45’ & 1 x 60’ Special) HD – A Â鶹Éç production
• Zen – Italian Detective (3 x 90’) HD – A Left Bank Pictures production for Â鶹Éç in association with Mediaset, Masterpiece on PBS and ZDF
• Upstairs Downstairs (3 x 50') HD – A Â鶹Éç/Masterpiece PBS co-production
• Luther series 2 (4 x 50’ or 2 x 100’) HD – A Â鶹Éç/Â鶹Éç America co-production
• Misfits series 2 (6 x 50’ plus 1 x 50’ special) HD – A Clerkenwell production for E4
• Primeval series 4 (7 x 50’) HD – An Impossible Pictures, ProSieben and Ingenious Broadcasting co-production for ITV/Â鶹Éç Worldwide in association with WATCH and Â鶹Éç America
• Being Erica series 3 (13 x 45') HD – A Temple Street production for CBC
• Outcasts (8 x 50’) HD – A Kudos Film & Television/Â鶹Éç America co-production
• Mad Dogs (4 x 45’) HD – A Left Bank Pictures production for Sky
• Silk (6 x 50’) HD - A Â鶹Éç production
• South Riding (3 x 50’) HD – A Â鶹Éç production
• Bedlam (6 x 50') HD – A Red production for Sky Living HD
• Scott and Bailey (6 x 50’ or 3 x 90’) HD – A Red production for ITV
• The Shadow Line (8 x 50’) HD – A Company Pictures/Eight Rooks Ltd/Baby Cow/CinemaNX production for Â鶹Éç
  
  
• Frozen Planet (6 x 50’) HD – A Â鶹Éç/Discovery/Antena 3 Television S.A./ZDF/Open University/Skai co-production in association with Discovery
• Earthflight (6 x 50') HD – A John Downer production for Â鶹Éç and Discovery Channel
• The Bear Family and Me (3 x 50') HD – A Â鶹Éç production
• Madagascar (3 x 50') HD – A Â鶹Éç/Animal Planet co-production
• Nature's Miracle Babies (5 x 50') – A Â鶹Éç production
• The Truth About Lions (2 x 50') – A Â鶹Éç production
  
• Walking with Dinosaurs 3D – A Â鶹Éç Earth Films and Evergreen Films co-production
• Wonders of the Universe (4 x 50’) HD – A Â鶹Éç/Discovery channel co- production
• Human (4 x 50') HD – A Â鶹Éç/TLC co-production
• Planet Dinosaur (3 x 50’) HD – A Â鶹Éç/Discovery channel/zdf co-production
• Arctic with Bruce Parry (5 x 50’) HD – An Indus/Endeavour production for Â鶹Éç and Animal Planet
  
  
• Come Fly With Me (6 x 30’) HD – A Little Britain Productions/Â鶹Éç Production
• Psychoville series 2 (6 x 30') – A Â鶹Éç production
• Rock & Chips specials (2 x 52’) HD – A Â鶹Éç/Shazam production
• Friday Night Dinner (6 x 25') HD – A Popper Pictures/Big Talk production for Channel 4
  
  
• Me & My Monsters (26 x 25') HD – © 2010 Tiger Aspect Productions/The Jim Henson Company/Sticky Pictures Pty Ltd)
• MI High series 5 (13 x 30') HD – A Kudos Film and Television production for Â鶹Éç
• The Sarah Jane Adventures series 5 (12 x 30’) HD – A Â鶹Éç production
• Wingin' It series 2 (28 x 25’) HD – A Temple Street production for the Family Channel
• Sadie J series 1 (13 x 30’) HD – A Â鶹Éç production
• Leonardo (13 x 28’) HD – A Kindle Entertainment production for CÂ鶹Éç
  
• Civilization: Is the West History? (6 x 50’) HD – A Chimerica Media production for Channel 4
• Inside the Titanic (1 x 90’) HD – A Dangerous Films production for Discovery Channel France Télévisions, ProSieben and Discovery Channel Canada in association with Handel Productions
• Egypt: What Lies Beneath – (1 x 90’) HD - A Â鶹Éç/discovery co-production

Ben Nolan