Our trainer gives any noisy pups a kong to enjoy while they are talking.
NCIS, yes, it is a shame. Pip has Lurcherboy, but he's such an oversized wuss he lets Pip beat him up and then has a bit of a woof at him that Pip completely ignores, as he knows he's not going to back it up. It's unbelievable to compare the difference in the way he is with Lurcherboy - all cocky and overconfident - to how he is with other dogs - tail under, submissive language, complete set of anxious body signals etc.
He is getting a lot better. This week at puppy class he was happy to lie down a couple of feet away from a beautiful, but very lively springer throughout the lesson and was able to stay at the end of the hall with all the other pups very close around him while we took turns doing recall. Whereas last week I had to take him away during recall, as he wasn't comfortable that close to so many pups.
He'll cautiously approach other dogs now too, but panics a bit if they then want to play with/jump on him.
He was quite keen on one particular cockerpoo pup who was really gentle with him the first time they met - let him approach in his own time and have a sniff. Unfortunately, the next time we met them the cockerpoo obviously considered Pip a friend and wanted to play, but that was all a bit too much for Pip and when he didn't back off in response to his calming signals, Pip actually curled his lip slightly at him. 
The owner didn't notice and kept trying to encourage them to interact, so in the end I had to tell her that Pip was feeling stressed and needed to be left alone. So hard to get other owners to understand that just because he said a tentative hello once, doesn't mean he's miraculously cured and will now want to romp with their puppy. They're all so keen to see him improve and genuinely want to help.
BUT We've had two consecutive weeks now where he hasn't even attempted to hide behind me or my chair, so we must be doing something right. 
If he starts to look panicked or stressed I usually just say 'let's go' and walk off in the opposite direction with him to diffuse the situation. That takes the pressure off and usually fine then.
I want to try a bit of BAT training with him, but haven't really had the opportunity so far. At puppy class I just toss him a treat if he's watching other dogs calmly or chooses to give a calming signal to an approaching dog, rather than panicking and trying to escape.
I do think a few walks with a group of confident adult dogs would be the making of him. If we could go somewhere safe and have them all off-lead, so he could pick his distance/tolerance level and choose to approach if/when he found his confidence I honestly think it would really help him over his fear.
Ideally I'd love to take him here. The people that run it are on another forum I'm on and the videos they have on YouTube of their work with fearful and aggressive dogs is impressive to say the least. They use bombproof adult dogs, who have excellent communication skills, to teach dogs who have 'ishoos' and help them overcome their problems. Unfortunately they are just too far away from us and apparently are booked up months in advance because they are so good.