Central Productions

Credits

Compiled by
Camenati

This article is about the production logos. For ATV's TV idents, see Associated Television (UK). For Central's TV idents, see Central Independent Television (UK).

Background

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

ATV Productions

1st Logo (October 1955-1970)

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Logo: We see the 1955 ATV logo with the text "An" and "Production" above and underneath it respectively.

Variants:

• A variant has "PRODUCTION", replaced with "TELERECORDING".
• An early variant used from 1958-1960 had the logo arranged alongside a "Z" made from several dots, with "PRESENTS" or "Production" at the other end. "An" can be seen with "Production" as well.
• From 1960-1962, it had the logo without any letters, but with "An" in the top space, "ATV" in the middle, and either "Production" or "Outside Broadcast". This was either on a black background or in-credit.
• On Johnnie Ray Sings, all of the letters are inside the middle eye. Likewise, the closing to said program has "An" and "Production" in the top and bottom spaces respectively.
• On a 1963 Beatles performance, the following credit was added underneath:

by arrangement with
BERNARD DELFONT

• On Noddy and the Moon, "MADE FOR" in a drawn font appears above the logo. A copyright stamp reading "©COPYRIGHT MCMLV ASSOCIATED TELEVISION LTD." is shown underneath.
• On George and the Dragon, the logo is inverted.
• On A Tale of Two Streets, "PATHFIDER" was added above "PRODUCTION".
• On Twelfth Night, the background is brown and the logo is yellow.
• On The London Palladium Show, "A" was omitted and the logo is gold.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Ultra rare, as many ITV programmes were destroyed, lost, or generally hard to find on home media. It can be found on The Golden Shot (a late 90's print kept this logo), The London Palladium Show, A Tale of Two Streets, among many other ATV original programmes. Some of them can be found through archival sites or BFI Player. The 1960 variant can be seen on The Last Night of the Crazy Gang albeit the Outside Broadcast variant.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (February 17, 1956-1959)

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Logo: A still version of the 1956 schedule ident where "PRODUCTION" replaces "PRESENTS" and "An" is placed above "A".

Variant: A telerecording variant exists; not only is "PRODUCTION" replaced with "TELERECORDING", but "AN" was moved over to the left-most bar and the ATV logo was shifted downward.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Extinct; appears on The Johnnie Ray Show and Should Every Picture Tell a Story?. The telerecording variant was seen on the former.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (November 1969-December 31, 1981)

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Logo: The 1969 ATV logo is within a white rectangle. Underneath it is the stacked text "COLOUR PRODUCTION"

Variants:

• An in-credit version exists, showing the logo in custom colors.
  • On Supercar, "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" and the full company name is shown above and below the logo.
• On Outside Broadcast programmes, "COLOUR PRODUCTION" is replaced with with "OUTSIDE BROADCAST".
• Sometimes, the logo is on a black background.
• Starting from 1975, the logo has a copyright date added below and it, alongside the copyright stamp, became yellow.
• On Tiswas, the endcap replaces "COLOUR" with "TISWAS" in a different colour. The colour palette is also somewhat randomised from time to time, even having a variant shifting from blue to pink barring the green text.
  • Another variant where the logo is white on a red background also exists.
• On Crossroads episodes from 1984 and 1986 the endcap is in black and white, this is due to the fact that both episodes were originally broadcast in colour, but the videotapes that they were stored on were wiped by ATV shortly after broadcast, and those shows only survived via 16mm telerecordings.

FX/SFX: For the most part, none. One of the Tiswas variants has the logo changing colors.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Rare.

• Can be seen on any British programmes produced by ATV during this time.
• A good source on which to find this on home video is the 1981 Magnetic Video of the Rudolf Nureyev version of Giselle.
• Can also be found on DVDs of Crossroads released by Network DVD.
• The in-credit variant can be also found on the Kaye Ballard episode of The Muppet Show on Disney+, and surprisingly, disc one and Peter Ustinov episode on German DVD releases of The Muppet Show, despite all of the ATV and ITC logos from both UK and US versions being wiped and cut by Disney. The former was likely the result of the episode featuring a unique ending which did not facilitate the typical edit of replacing the final shot of Zoot playing his saxophone.

Editor's Note: None.

Central Productions

1st Logo (January 1, 1982-1984)

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Logo: On a blue background, the rainbow moon is shown above the text "CENTRAL PRODUCTION".

Variant: Sometimes, a copyright stamp is added underneath, reading "©Central Independent Television plc. (year)".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Extinct; it was seen on episodes of Family Fortunes, Bullseye, and the British version of Blockbuster within this timespan. They were all last seen through Challenge airings.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1984-Autumn 1988)

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Logo: 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", "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 larger than usual.
• On some programmes such as The Little Green Man, the glow around the moon is not present.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Rare.

• It was seen on original airings of the first two seasons of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, but current prints of the show and U.S. prints remove this logo.
• It can also be found at the end of The Little Green Men, Bullseye, Family Fortune episodes from this era, among others.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (Spring 1988-1995)

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Logo: A still version of the 1988 Central ident but with the cake smaller and above "A CENTRAL PRODUCTION".

Variants:

• As with other ITV logos, "PRODUCTION" may be replaced with 'PRESENTATION" or "PROGRAMME".
• Sometimes, the 1989 ITV logo is shown underneath the "CENTRAL PRODUCTION" notice.
• One show has the logo resembling its appearance from the previous logo where "CENTRAL PRODUCTION" is almost in the same style as before.
• A version of the 1988 animated logo with the words "A CENTRAL PRODUCTION FOR CHANNEL FOUR" also exists.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Rare.

• Appears on original programmes by Central such as Huxley Pig (Season 2), The Upper Hand, The Gingerbread Man, Tots TV, Rosie & Jim, and also on 1991 reruns of the second season of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends on Children's ITV respectively, among others.
• Could be 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 have the still version of the "Production" variant intact.
• VHS and DVD releases of The Dreamstone feature this logo, though on the 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 Cookie Jar logo.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1990)

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Logo: 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.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A funky percussion soundtrack accompanied with an announcer.

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

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1995-January 1, 1997)

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Logo: On a stone background, the cake, now with added shading, is above "A Central Programme"

Variants:

• Like before, "Programme" may be replaced by "Presentation" or "Production". Plus, the ITV logo may appear underneath.
• On the seventh and final series of The Upper Hand, it is preceded by the Columbia TriStar Carlton UK Productions logo, which takes place on the same background.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Rare. Although it had a short lifespan, it is fairly easy to find thanks to it preceding the Carlton UK Productions logo on most programmes produced within said banner. These include Family Fortunes, Dale's Supermarket Sweep, The Way Through the Woods, among many others. The latter can be found through VHS releases whereas several other programmes such as Cadfael has this logo intact on some episodes on streaming prints.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (January 1, 1997-April 20, 1998)

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Logo: The logo from before is now against a blue cloudy background and the text now simply reads "Central programme".

Variant: From late 1997 until April 1998, the 1997 Central endcap sometimes also features the ITV URL on the bottom right of the screen saying "www.itv.co.uk".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Extinct.

• It was seen on Family Fortunes and Dale's Supermarket Sweep episodes from this period, which can only be found through old video recordings.
• 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 ITV Studios Global Entertainment logo.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (April 20, 1998-September 5, 1999)

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

Variants:

• In late 1998, the URL for "www.centraltv.co.uk" appears on the bottom of the screen in white but was later changed to "www.carlton.com" beginning in mid-July 1999.
• Beginning in mid-July 1999, the logo has the Carlton URL at the bottom of the screen saying "www.carlton.com".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability:

• It appears on the 1998-1999 series (Series 6) of Dale's Supermarket Sweep, but later prints which air on Challenge plaster that and the Pearson/Carlton logo with the 2001 FremantleMedia or the 2018 Fremantle logo, but is retained on at least one episode.
• The 1998-1999 series (Series 18) of Family Fortunes also used this and is normally retained whenever Challenge re-broadcasts the series.
• The 1998 production variant is seen on Central programmes from the era.

Editor's Note: None.