TV JOJ in Slovakia, Israel’s Keshet 12 order local versions of chat format The A Talks

Actor Sam Neil guests on the Australian version of The Assembly

Slovakia’s TV JOJ is among the latest broadcasters to commission a local version of French format The A Talks.

Israel’s Keshet 12 has also ordered a remake of the show, which sees a celebrity or politician face a group of 30 neurodivergent journalists who ask surprising, unpredictable, sometimes funny or poignant questions.

Tedy Productions in Israel is set to record four episodes in January and February which will air in primetime later this spring, while TV JOJ is planning to shoot up to eight episodes in March to air in the second half of 2025.

It comes after Norway’s NRK, Mediacorp in Singapore and Quebec’s Radio Canada commissioned local versions of the format, distributed by London-based Can’t Stop Media, last year.

The latest deals bring the total international adaptations of the format to 13. The show was created by Quad+TEN and Kiosco.TV for France 2 where it was directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, the duo behind 2011 movie The Intouchables.

The format is in its third season in France and has been renewed in Denmark and Poland, by DR1 and Warner Bros Discovery’s TVN respectively. The first season of the Australian version, also called The Assembly, aired on ABC last year.

The format was piloted in the UK on public broadcaster BBC One, produced by Rockerdale, and has since been picked up by commercial broadcaster ITV for a full series.

It has also been remade in Spain on Mediaset España’s Telecinco/Cuatro, produced by Banijay’s ShineIberia; in Sweden on SVT1, produced by Fremantle’s Baluba; and in Ireland on Virgin Media Television, made by Kite Entertainment.