Central Productions

Credits

Compiled by
Camenati

Editions by
RSX-798, Michael Kenchington and Blue2000

This article is about the production logos. For the TV idents, see Central Independent Television.

Background

This is the production arm of Central Television, formerly ATV.

1st Logo (January 1, 1982-1984)

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  Opening Variant
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  "Presentation" Variant
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  "Production" Variant
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  1982 Copyright Variant
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  1983 Copyright Variant

Opening Variant

"Presentation" Variant

"Production" Variant

1982 Copyright Variant

1983 Copyright Variant

Visuals:

• Opening: Same as the station ID of the era.
• Closing: On the same dark blue background, a flat white planet with a rainbow crescent inside is seen above the text "CENTRAL PRODUCTION", set in the same font as the opening logo.

Variants:

• Sometimes, "CENTRAL PRODUCTION" may be reworded to "CENTRAL PRESENTATION". This was seen on movies and imported programmes.
• Sometimes, a copyright stamp is added underneath, reading "©Central Independent Television plc. (year)".

Technique:

• Opening: Advanced early computer animation, likely done on an Oxberry animation stand.
• Closing: None.

Audio:

• Opening: Same as the station ID of the era.
• Closing: The ending theme of the programme or none.

Audio Variants:

• On 1983 episodes of Family Fortunes, it's silent, or very heavily muted.
• On Season 2 episodes of Bullseye, the music is low-toned, which was done to go with the pitch of the show's theme tune.

Availability: Seen on programmes from the company from this time period until 1984. For its last two years of (official) use, it would be used in tandem with the next logo.

• Both the opening and closing logos can be seen on Challenge airings of Family Fortunes and Bullseye episodes from this period.
• It can also be seen on episodes of the UK version of Blockbusters from this period.
• The bylineless "Production" variant was seen on Season 1 episodes of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
  • However, it was plastered on many episodes by the still version of the animated 1988 Central Production endcap on 1997 UK Gold airings and current UKTV Drama airings.
  • Despite this, it can still be found on a couple of later Season 1 episodes on UKTV Drama.
• The bylineless "Production" variant also appears at the start of the 1991 UK VHS release of Rosie and Jim: Volume 2 from The Video Collection.

2nd Logo (November 1983-Autumn 1988)

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Visuals:

• Opening: Same as the station ID of the era.
• Closing: Same concept as the previous logo, except the moon's rainbow shading is more blended and detail and the logo is now against a black background.

Variants:

• Some versions would have the text below reading "CENTRAL PRODUCTION", "CENTRAL PRESENTATION" (which appears at the end of movies and imported programmes), "CENTRAL OUTSIDE BROADCAST", "A ZENITH PRODUCTION FOR CENTRAL", "ZENITH PRODUCTION FOR CENTRAL", "CENTRAL PRODUCTION FOR CHANNEL 4", "CENTRAL PRODUCTIONS FOR CHANNEL 4", or "A CENTRAL PRODUCTION in association with MOSTPOINT Ltd for CHANNEL FOUR".
• Some versions have a copyright date below.
• On The Little Green Man, the moon is smaller and the company name is also larger than usual.
• On some programmes such as The Little Green Man, Boon, Mengele, Bullseye from 1983 to 1988, the original airings of the first two seasons of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends from 1984 and 1986, Decade of Destruction, and Duran Duran: As The Lights Go Down, respectively, among others, the glow around the moon is not present.
• On 1987 (Season 7) episodes of Family Fortunes, the endcap is seen in a box with a purple outline, which is also used to show the credits. After a few seconds, the box zooms in and the logo becomes full-screen.

Technique: None.

Audio:

• Opening: Same as the station ID of the era.
• Closing: The ending theme of the programme or none.

Audio Variants:

• On Season 3 of Bullseye, the jingle remains the same as the last logo, once again to keep the same pitch as the opening theme to the show. On Season 4 of Bullseye, the show's theme tune was changed, and so the logo went back to using the standard pitch.
• On New Faces of '86/'87, the jingle is played by Harry Rabinowitz and his Orchestra.

Availability: Appears on programmes by Central from the time-period until 1988. For it's first two years, the previous logo was used in tandem alongside it.

• The opening variant of this logo appeared on Central programmes until ITV abolished frontcaps starting on January 1, 1988.
• The opening and closing variants of this logo appeared on programmes from this era such as Blockbusters, Boon, Sporting Triangles, and Unnatural Causes, among others.
• The closing variant of this logo was also seen on the original airings of the first two seasons of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends from 1984 and 1986, respectively, however, current prints of the show and U.S. prints remove this logo.
• It can also be found at the end of The Little Green Man, Bullseye, and Family Fortunes episodes from this era, among others.
• It also appears at the end of Decade of Destruction, Gentry, And There's More, Mengele, and Duran Duran: As The Lights Go Down, respectively.

3rd Logo (Spring 1988-1995)

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Visuals: Same as the 1988 Central ident until September 1, 1989.

Variants:

• Most of the time, the 1988 animated logo has the text saying "CENTRAL PRODUCTION" below the logo, but on some programmes like The Nuclear Age and Saracen, and also on movies and imported programmes, the text just says "CENTRAL".
  • The 1988 animated logo exists as both filmed and videotaped versions, with the filmed version being seen on Woof! and Press Gang (both season 1), respectively.
  • A still variant of the 1988 animated logo also exists, which was seen on some episodes of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet on 1997 UK Gold airings and current UKTV Drama airings, respectively, plastering the 1st logo.
  • A version of the 1988 animated logo with the text reading "A CENTRAL PRODUCTION FOR CHANNEL FOUR" also exists.
  • A version of the 1988 animated logo with the text reading "A ZENITH PRODUCTION FOR CENTRAL" also exists, which was seen on Inspector Morse from 1989.
• From September 1, 1989 until 1993, the Central cake logo appears less 3D and flatter looking and the words "A CENTRAL PRODUCTION FOR" and the 1989 ITV logo both appear below.
  • Another 1989 variant which features the flatter looking Central cake logo and the words "CENTRAL FOR" and the 1989 ITV logo appearing below also exists which was seen on movies and imported programmes.
• Beginning in early 1990, a still version of the 1988 Central ident is used, but with the cake smaller and the fourth and fifth blocks of the cake logo are also recoloured from light green and light blue to green and blue, respectively.
  • A filmed variant also exists on the 1990 version of the logo, which appears on some drama programmes until 1992. It was also strangely seen on original airings of some episodes of The Dreamstone.
• Sometimes, "PRODUCTION" may be reworded to "PROGRAMME" or "PRESENTATION" (the latter of which appears at the end of movies and imported programmes such as The Pink Panther Show (1969) and Home and Away, among others).
• The 1989 ITV logo also appears underneath either the "A CENTRAL PRODUCTION FOR", "A CENTRAL PROGRAMME FOR" or "A CENTRAL PRESENTATION FOR" notice on networked programmes.
• Beginning in 1994, the Central cake logo is larger and more colourful, which appears on the 1994 series of Blockbusters, 1994 episodes of Family Fortunes, The Upper Hand (season 6), Soldier Soldier (season 4), a March 7, 2023 airing of the Peak Practice episode "Losing Out" on UKTV Drama, Outside Edge, and also on the original 1994 airing of the Mr. Bean episode "Back to School, Mr. Bean", respectively, among others. However, some programmes such as Sharpe's Company, Sharpe's Enemy and Sharpe's Honour continued to use the 1990 version of the logo.
  • Another version of the 1994 variant with the text reading "A CENTRAL PROGRAMME FOR CHANNEL FOUR" also exists, which appears at the end of programmes for Channel 4.
• A superimposed version of the 1994 variant of this logo with the words "A CENTRAL PROGRAMME" also exists, which was seen on Central Weekend Live.
• 1989 (Series 9) episodes of Family Fortunes use a similar concept from the previous logo, the endcap is seen inside a box with a orange outline, which again contains the shows credits. It also then zooms in after a few seconds, making the endcap as usual take up the full screen.
  • 1990 (Series 10) episodes took a slightly different concept. The credits are now on a cube which rotates to the left and now has a purple outline. The cube eventually turns to the 1990 version of the endcap, which then zooms in per usual to take up the full screen.

Technique: None, or CGI for the 1988 animated logo.

Audio: Same as the 1988 Central ident until September 1, 1989.

Audio Variants:

• Sometimes, the synthesized sweep is absent in the seven-note orchestral fanfare, which is heard on the filmed version of the 1988 animated logo.
• On the New Faces of '88 final, the orchestra playing the seven-note fanfare is heard.
• The ending theme of the programme or none beginning on September 1, 1989.

Availability: Seen on the company's programmes from the time period until 1995. Nowadays, this is either preserved or plastered over.

• Reruns of both Family Fortunes and Bullseye episodes from 1988 and 1989 on Challenge have the 1988 animated "Central Production" variant of this logo intact.
• The filmed version of the 1988 animated logo appears on Woof! and Press Gang (both seasons 1 only), respectively, among others.
• The 1988 animated "Central Production" variant of this logo also appears on God, The Universe and Everything Else (1988), and Saracen, and was also seen on season 6 of Blockbusters, Gardening Time, Playbox, the original 1989 airings of both Huxley Pig (Season 1 only) and Bangers and Mash, and the final edition of Central News at Six (South Edition), respectively, among others.
• The filmed version of the 1988 animated "Central" variant of this logo also appeared at the end of the Press Gang episode "Page One" as part of CITV's Old Skool Weekend in January 2013.
• The 1989 version of the logo appears on programmes by Central from September 1, 1989 until 1993 such as the 1990 UK gameshow Steal, Cliff Richard: The Event, the original airings of the first series of Nellie the Elephant, and the first two seasons of The Dreamstone, among others, and was also seen on the Children's ITV airings of The Wombles.
• The CENTRAL FOR ITV variant of the 1989 version of the logo was also seen at the end of a 1990 Central airing of an unknown episode of Here Come the Double Deckers, following the 1981 20th Century Fox Television logo.
• The 1990 version of the logo appears on original programmes by Central such as Huxley Pig and Nellie the Elephant (both season 2), The Upper Hand, The Gingerbread Man, Tots TV, Rosie & Jim, and Dale's Supermarket Sweep, respectively, among many others.
• The "Programme for ITV" variant of the 1990 version of the logo was also seen on the 1991 reruns of the second season of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends on Children's ITV, the first season of The Legends of Treasure Island, at the end of the original airings of Astro Farm, at the end of The Driven Man with Rowan Atkinson (following the 1989 Tiger Television logo), at the end of the 1990 UK VHS release of Rosie & Jim: Volume 1 before The Video Collection's 1986-1995 ident, at the end of the original airings of season 9 of Strike It Lucky (following the "Thames Television Production for Central" variant of the 1990 Thames Television endcap), and on the original 1993 airing of the Mr. Bean episode "Mr. Bean in Room 426" (and also appears intact on the DVD print thereof).
• The "Programme for ITV" variant of the 1990 version of the logo also appeared at the end of the Rosie & Jim episode "Washing" as part of CITV's Old Skool Weekend in January 2013.
• The 1990 version of the logo was also seen on Rosie & Jim on the now-defunct Canadian cable channel BBC Kids (which was available in the United States as a VOD service on select providers).
• Also found on some Inspector Morse tapes by BFS Video, as well as a Cineplex Odeon/MCA VHS of Woof!.
• Challenge airings of Blockbusters also has the 1990 version of the logo intact.
• VHS and DVD releases of The Dreamstone also feature this logo, although on the Tempo TV Classics DVD releases of the show's first-two seasons (which had FilmFair's involvement), the length of time the logo stays on after the credits end is shortened for the 2004 Cookie Jar Entertainment logo.
• Current prints of Sharpe's Eagle and Sharpe's Company, Sharpe's Enemy and Sharpe's Honour also have it still intact, although current prints of Sharpe's Rifles plaster it with the 2009 ITV Studios Global Entertainment logo.
• The 1994 version of the logo appears on the 1994 series of Blockbusters, 1994 episodes of Family Fortunes, The Upper Hand (season 6), Soldier Soldier (season 4), a March 7, 2023 airing of the Peak Practice episode "Losing Out" on UKTV Drama, Outside Edge, and also on the original 1994 airing of the Mr. Bean episode "Back to School, Mr. Bean", respectively, among others.

4th Logo (1990)

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Visuals: On a purple background with moving dark shaded shapes, the cake symbol is formed through a rotating black sphere, which crossfades into said logo. It then rotates and lays flat on the ground, followed by "CENTRAL", while parallel to the object, slides in and rests on top of the cake symbol. Underneath, "A CENTRAL PRESENTATION" fades in and then it, alongside the logo, fades out.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A funky percussion soundtrack accompanied with an announcer.

Availability: Only seen on original Central airings of various movies from this period such as An Officer and a Gentleman.

5th Logo (1995-December 31, 1996)

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Visuals: On the same grey marble background as the 1995 Carlton UK Productions logo, the cake, now with added shading, is above "A Central Programme".

Variants:

• Like before, "Programme" may be replaced by "Presentation" or "Production".
• The 1989 ITV logo also appears underneath either the "A Central Programme For" or "A Central Presentation For" text, which appears on networked programmes.
• On the seventh and final series of The Upper Hand, it is preceded by the Columbia TriStar Carlton UK Productions logo, which also takes place on the same background.

Technique: None.

Audio: The ending theme of the programme or none.

Availability: Although it had a short lifespan, it is fairly easy to find, thanks to it preceding the 1995 Carlton UK Productions logo on most programmes produced within said banner.

• These include Family Fortunes, Dale's Supermarket Sweep, Rosie & Jim, Tots TV, the first two seasons of Wolves, Witches and Giants, the seventh and final season of The Upper Hand, the first two seasons of Scratchy & Co., and The Way Through the Woods, among many others.
• The latter can also be found through VHS releases, whereas several other programmes such as Cadfael have this logo intact on some episodes on streaming prints.
• It also survives intact on current prints of the 1995-1996 episodes of Sharpe.
• It also appeared on the original airings of Molly's Gang.
• The "A Central Programme For ITV" variant of this logo was also seen at the end of A Tribute to Marti Caine.
• The "A Central Presentation For ITV" variant of this logo was also seen at the end of Des O'Connor's Christmas with the Stars, following the mid-1996 production variant of the 1990 Thames Television logo.
• The "A Central Presentation" variant of this logo was also seen on the original 1995 airings of the Mr. Bean episodes "Tee Off, Mr. Bean" and "Goodnight Mr. Bean", respectively.
  • However, the DVD print of the former uses the "A Central Programme For ITV" variant instead, while the DVD print of the latter plasters it with the 1990 Thames International endcap instead.

6th Logo (January 1, 1997-April 26, 1998)

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Visuals: The logo from before is now against the same dark blue cloudy background as the 1997 ident and the text now simply reads "Central programme".

Variants:

• Like before, "Programme" may be replaced by "Presentation".
• The 1989 ITV logo also appears underneath the Central text on networked programmes.
• From late 1997 until April 1998, the ITV URL also sometimes appears on the bottom right of the screen reading "www.itv.co.uk".

Technique: None.

Audio: The ending theme of the programme or none.

Availability: Appears on Central programmes from the time-period until 1998.

• These include Family Fortunes and Dale's Supermarket Sweep episodes from this period, which can only be found through old video recordings, Rosie & Jim, Tots TV, season 3 of Wolves, Witches and Giants, the final two series of Scratchy & Co., and on Des O'Connor Tonight (following the 1997 Thames logo), among others.
• It also appears on Challenge airings of Family Fortunes episodes from 1997 to 1998.
• It was also seen on Sharpe's Revenge, Sharpe's Justice, and Sharpe's Waterloo, with current prints of them keeping it intact, with it succeeded by the 2013 ITV Studios Global Entertainment logo.
• It was also seen on 1997 ITV reruns of Sharpe's Gold, Sharpe's Battle and Sharpe's Sword, which plastered over the 5th logo.
• It was also seen on original prints of Sharpe the Legend, as current prints plaster this with the 1999 Carlton International logo.
• It was also seen on a December 8, 1997 rerun of the Mr. Bean episode "Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean".

7th Logo (April 27, 1998-September 5, 1999)

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Visuals: Same as the 1996 Carlton Productions logo but with said company's name replaced with "CENTRAL".

Variants:

• At the end of certain programmes, the word "Production", "Programme", "Presentation for ITV", or "Programme for ITV" (with the 1989 ITV logo until October 4, 1998) appears below.
• Sometimes, the ITV URL appears on the bottom right of the screen reading "www.itv.co.uk".
• Beginning in mid-July 1999, the Carlton URL appears at the bottom of the screen reading "www.carlton.com".

Technique: None.

Audio: The ending theme of the programme or none.

Availability: It appears on programmes by Central from the time-period until 1999.

• These include Barbara, the final season of Take Your Pick! (following the 1997 Thames logo), the fourth and final season of Wolves, Witches and Giants, and the 1998-1999 season (Season 6) of Dale's Supermarket Sweep, among others.
• However, later prints of Dale's Supermarket Sweep which air on Challenge plaster that and the Pearson/Carlton logo with the 2001 FremantleMedia or the 2018 Fremantle logo, but is still retained on at least one episode.
• The 1998-1999 season (Season 18) of Family Fortunes also used this and is normally retained whenever Challenge re-broadcasts the series.
• The version without the 1989 ITV logo also appeared on a March 25, 2023 airing of S15E02 of Family Fortunes on Challenge, plastering both the 1995 Carlton UK Productions and the 5th logos.

◄ ATV Productions

Central Productions