There is no point in attempting to interest a distributor in taking on a programme or series that does not have a real international appeal. However exquisitely crafted, however starry the names responsible for it, a programme that is rooted exclusively in the experience and culture of Britain will not sell abroad. (At least, that is the received wisdom among distributors.)

On the assumption that you are approaching your chosen distributor before you start production, you will need good positive answers to something like the following six questions - the questions will vary slightly

according to the genre and nature of the particular programme or series, of course:

1. What rights have you acquired in any underlying material?

(Examples might be a book on which your script is based, the performers' rights in a musical performance you intend to record, the archive film around which your programme is built, or any number of other possibilities. If you have obtained permission to use whatever it is throughout the world for the duration of copyright, good; but if even one item of third-party material is