Experiencing the magic of Channel 4’s first-ever EXTRAVA GANDER

A view from the inside by Emma Flaxman, Senior Commercial Comms Lead

In October 2023, 4Sales became Channel 4 Sales. Not a major move in a new direction but a move to align ourselves better with the wider Channel 4.

The teams within 4Sales are known to our advertisers and clients alike as Channel 4, so it made perfect sense to see ourselves as department within the channel and not a business sat outside of that.

Over the last year, this movement started a journey of collaboration and has allowed us work in a way that benefits our stakeholders as well as all the teams across all commercial departments.

The biggest benefit of this collaboration came in the form of our latest event – EXTRAVA GANDER. An event which brought together commercial, commissioning, press, and our brilliant talent, altogether differently under one roof, to show off the incredible purpose, remit, and content slate that only Channel 4 can deliver.

So what did Extravaganza deliver?

On a chilly but dry afternoon on Thursday 13th Feb, over 200 folk rocked up the black carpet outside the fabulous Shaw theatre on Euston road for an experience like never before. Channel 4’s vivid green logo plastered the walls in the lobby and carried through to the bar where a host of Channel 4 folk stood eagerly waiting to greet our guests.

As everyone is ushered to our seats, a vast array of Channel 4 green snack boxes filled every seat and while the huge 4 hung above the stage. As we sat there scanning the theatre, the atmosphere among the audience was electric. The invites gave very little away and Channel 4 haven’t held an event like this since the famous ‘upfronts’ of years gone by.

The lights go down and the room fills with silence. On stage we’re welcomed by Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer, Ian Katz who riles the excitement by giving us an insight in what we’re about to experience. The first big surprise is the guests hosts of the show – Taskmaster’s finest, Greg Davis and Alex Horne.

We’re immediately laughing at the array of jokes that follow from the duo while they immerse the audience in their very own rendition of a live task throughout the show.

After a brief intro from Alex Mahon who shares why Channel 4 remains to be special in a world of devastating news, fear and lack of trust, whipping the crowd into an emotional rollercoaster of standards, remit and steadfast purpose. Looking around the audience, you see the pride in the Channel 4 employees among the smiles of our stakeholders who want Channel 4 to win.

In-between more humour from our comedy hosts, Channel 4’s CMO, Katie Jackson and CCO, Rak Patel appear on stage sharing the passion that sits behind the brand and the benefits this brand can bring to our advertisers. It feels exciting…electric almost.

And then we’re onto the real purpose behind the event. The content. No one makes content like Channel 4 and what followed here was a deep dive into every emotion you can fathom. Each of Channel 4’s commissioning leads from each genre joined the stage with VERY special guests to talk about what we can expect to see over the coming months and year.

From our Director of Film4 & Channel 4 Drama, Ollie Madden, the room lit up with excitement to hear that Russell T Davies will be back on our screens with new drama Tip Toe. After the success of Queer as Folk and It’s a Sin, this news went down very well among the guests of the night when the man himself joined us on stage to share the story of what we can expect.

We then heard from Head of Reality & Entertainment, Steve Handley who shared our exciting reality slate including  The Inheritance from the studio behind the Traitors, and the most openly exposing relationship show Honesty Box which was brought to life on stage by the show’s hosts, Vicky Pattison and Married at First Sight Australia’s Lucinda Light. 

Head of Comedy, Charlie Perkins was joined on stage by Mitchel and Webb who tantalised the room with their comeback sketch show and reminded the room of what we have aways loved about the Channel 4.

Adeola Patronne and Chole Burrows shared the excitement that will come from our digital first channel, 4.0 before we were all immersed into an emotionally fuelled musical piece from Brad Kella, winner of last seasons The Piano to bring the event to a close.

There were more surprises to the upcoming slate which you can read about here but what a show!

If that wasn’t enough the event then continued over the road at the Standard where guests and more stars from Channel 4 filled the room enjoying drinks and music by guest DJ, Annie Mac.

To say our guests were overwhelmed with excitement and emotion was one thing, but as a Channel 4 employee and someone who knew most of what was happening behind the scenes, this event was like no other I’ve been to before and the delivery and execution blew me away.

Never have I been so proud to be Altogether Different.

To see more of what the event included, plus a sneak peek at the highlights, click here