After 11 compelling sessions featuring British TV royalty, not forgetting the charming David Beckham and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s maiden voyage at an RTS event, it was time to spool back on some of the convention’s most memorable moments.

Who better to sum up a day of high-powered TV talk than the hosts of the must-listen media podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, Marina Hyde and Richard Osman?

The dynamic duo began at the beginning. Their verdict on Ted Sarandos’s opening session? “He loves Britain, he wants to look after Britain,” pronounced Hyde. 

“That was reassuring,” chipped in Osman, the Pointless creator and erstwhile Endemol executive. “We’ve all been in the business a long time. By and large, we don’t know what we’re doing, but he [Sarandos] knows how to turn 10% of viewing into 25%.”

Osman said Sarandos seemed reluctant to discuss the controversy over the streamer’s Emmy award-winning Baby Reindeer, a subject debated more than once on The Rest Is Entertainment.

He maintained there was a “duty of care” issue involved. Had the show been broadcast on the BBC, he thought it would have carried the warning “some of it has been made up”. To audience laughter, he added: “Had Tim Davie put out Baby Reindeer he probably would have been fired.”

Osman’s favourite bit of the Netflix’s chief’s appearance? Yes, you guessed it: Sarandos name-checking The Thursday Murder Club, written by… Richard Osman, and now a Netflix production. No reason, then, not to bite the hand that feeds you.  

And so the banter continued, barbs coming thick and fast, many of them unprintable. But credit to Netflix for giving these two mischief-makers a platform.

Moving to Session Three, in which Amol Rajan grilled Tim Davie, Osman advised: “Leave the guy alone.” If only, The Daily Mail and its allies could dial down their BBC-bashing. 

Marina Hyde’s take on the BBC Director-General’s encounter with the Today presenter was this: “I would really like it if the BBC was not making so much news.” Wouldn’t we all!

As an aside, Hyde asked Osman if he’d been invited to appear on the new season of Strictly. (Were he to join the BBC entertainment flagship, his height might make finding a suitable partner challenging.) He said that he had – and not for the first time. “I always say I don’t have time to do all the training and have the affair.”

Cue audience laughter, and the in-jokes didn’t let up. Pact chief John McVay, renowned for asking questions at RTS Conferences, didn’t escape. Osman called out: “Strepsils for John McVay – you’ve put in a shift!”   

Next came the duo’s verdict on the session spotlighting Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. “I very much enjoyed hearing all about his plans,” said Hyde. “He was very cool,” agreed Osman. “Imagine inventing Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and not even mentioning it.” Imagine.

“He likened the creative process to dreaming,” noted Hyde. “No one in a dream comes in and gives you a big line of exposition.”

The pair turned their attention to the sensitive topic of Rajan’s interview with Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon. One point of discussion was Osman’s no-holds-barred criticism of Channel 4 in an edition of The Rest Is Entertainment. “Our podcast got a special mention,” Hyde purred. “I enjoyed Amol using you as a stick to beat Channel 4. For your own protection, I’m going to move you on to another session.”

That was ‘The Hitmakers’. “I loved Nicola (Shindler) and Andy (Wilman). They were brilliant,” said Hyde. “I want Jeremy Clarkson to buy a newspaper [Wilman is Clarkson’s producer]. The Observer is for sale.”

Osman: “What is it, £2.20?”

He added: “I tell you who could buy The Observer. The banker Harry Hampson [a panellist on Session Eight: ‘How do we value our industry?’]. He was my favourite speaker of the whole day.”

“There were a few notes of optimism today, but I noticed every single one was from somebody who owns their own yacht”

“He will price you up anything,” said Hyde to guffaws from the audience. “The BBC, a prize fowl. You stick it on the block, and he’ll tell how much it’s worth. I loved him.”

Osman quipped: “There were a few notes of optimism today, but I noticed every single one was from somebody who owns their own yacht.”

Hyde countered: “I’ve heard so much optimism here today that it wouldn’t surprise me if we go outside and the world is on fire.” Osman continued the fire theme: “The optimism always came from people who are used to buying fire-damaged goods.”

Time was running out as delegates turned their thoughts to a well-earned post-convention drink. Glasses of Pimms were already being lined up at the bar, where two masked Squid Game guards stood sentry. Was there one last word from the titanic twosome? Of course there was. “Lisa Nandy believes in public service broadcasting. I got the vibe that she wants everybody to move out of London,” said Hyde.

“If she loves Media City that much, she’s very welcome to come on to House of Games,” was (almost) Osman’s final comment. 

“That felt really quick,” he concluded. “When you think how long some of those other sessions were.” 

Session Twelve: ‘The Rest Is Television’ featured Marina Hyde, columnist and writer, and Richard Osman, author, producer and television presenter, hosts of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast. The producers were Marina Hyde and Richard Osman.