Hot Picks: Spy School

This location-based gameshow with a narrative tasks young contestants with finding a series of clues as they train to become top-secret spy agents.

These clues are hidden at iconic London locations, including the Science Museum, the Olympic Park, the Cutty Sark and the London Eye, while the school’s HQ is inside Big Ben.

There is a villain, Goldfirst, but the series is “more of an Austin Powers interpretation of what a spy is supposed to be”, says executive producer and Zodiak Kids Studios UK creative director Steve Andrew.

Andrew acknowledges that live-action gameshows can be a tough international sell, but believes that one set around iconic landmarks will be easy to convert into local markets.

“In English-speaking territories, this type of format usually sells as a finished product, but we’ve had strong feedback from places that have not always had the resources or money to be able to make these kinds of shows,” he says.

Zodiak is also showcasing a 4 x 30-minute adaption of Joanna Nadin’s novel Joe All Alone, about a 13-year-old boy who is left on his own in his Peckham fl at when his mum goes to Spain without him.