Talkback (1984-2006)

Background

Talkback Productions (also known as Talkback-UK or simply Talkback) was formed in 1981 by comedy duo Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones and it was one of UK's leading production companies. In July 2000, the company was sold to Pearson Television (which itself was sold and merged with CLT-UFA in 2000 to create the RTL Group and rebranded as FremantleMedia in 2001) for £62 million and was merged with Thames Television in 2003 to form Talkback Thames. Both brands however, continued to be used separately at the end of programmes until 2006, when a new logo for Talkback Thames was introduced. On January 1, 2012, Talkback was reintroduced as a production company for comedy programming after Fremantle split Talkback Thames into four companies: Talkback, Thames, Retort and Boundless.

Contents

1st Logo (January 31, 1984-December 17, 2004)	2nd Logo (February 9, 2003-June 9, 2006)

1st Logo (January 31, 1984-December 17, 2004)

Visuals: It's only an in-credit logo saying:

A
TalkBack
PRODUCTION

with "TalkBack" in a bigger and bolder font with gear-shaped holes in the "a"'s. Sometimes, it would have "For BBC TELEVISION" or "for CHANNEL FOUR" and a copyright stamp.

Variants:

Sometimes, this logo shares the screen with other logos (including the 1988 and 1997 BBC logos).
Sometimes, this logo would be placed outside the credits and have its own card.
On The Armando Iannucci Shows, the logo has a byline reading "A Pearson Television Company", the Talkback logo and "production" are lowercase, and an in-credit Channel 4 logo is used rather than "for Channel Four". Also, all are animated: Channel 4's logo fades in first, "talkback" flips in after that, and then the rest of the text fades in.
One variant reads "A Talkback Features Production".
In 2000, the logo was slightly modified with the lowercase "t" and "b". A byline was also added in 2001, reading "A FremantleMedia Company".
On House Doctor, the logo simply consists of the logo, the byline, and a bottom notice that reads "a talkback production for five".
On QI series B, the text "a Quite Interesting", with "a" above "Quite Interesting", is added above the Talkback name. The text "~ uk" is also added to the logo and the background writing overlaps with it.
On The Day Today, the logo as well as its full notice is in one row.
On Smack the Pony, the logo is black.
On In Search Of Happiness, the top of the second "k"'s stem resembles fan blades.

Technique: Fading effects or none.

Audio: The ending theme of the programme or none.

Availability: Appears on such UK shows like Alias Smith and Jones, A Life in Pieces, Murder Most Horrid, Da Ali G Show (UK episodes only), Grand Designs and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, among others.

2nd Logo (February 9, 2003-June 9, 2006)

Visuals: On a white background with bits of green on several corners and the top after a bright light flashes at the beginning, the "talkback" name in green and in bold, is seen when it fades in. Below it would have the "talkbackTHAMES" logo below and the byline "Part of the FremantleMedia Group" (or "A FremantleMedia Company") which both fading in, and sometimes below that, the copyright stamp to FremantleMedia.

Trivia: This logo was used during the Talkback Thames era before the company had its own logo in 2006.

Variants:

Sometimes, the logo is completely still.
Sometimes, this logo also shares the screen with other logos (including the 1997 BBC and 1999 Channel 4 "Square" logos).
Some co-productions would have "PRODUCED BY" above and "for (name/logo of network)" below the Talkback name.
Sometimes, the Talkback name would read "talkback~uk".
On QI series A, the text "a Quite Interesting" is added above the Talkback-UK name and the background has math scribbles from the show's background.
- On series C, the "a" in "a Quite Interesting" is on the same row as the other words and "production" is added underneath the Talkback logo. Also, the regular background from the show is used.
On series 3 of "Bo' Selecta!", the logo is in credit and shares the screen with the 1999 Channel 4 "Square" logo.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: The ending theme of the programme or none.

Availability: Seen at the end of shows produced by Talkback Productions from the time period until 2006.

Examples include reruns of Da Ali G Show (UK episodes), Nathan Barley, The Sex Inspectors (excluding the pilot), Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI, early episodes of How Clean is Your House? and Monkey Dust, among others.
Although the new Talkback Thames logo was introduced in November 2005, this logo continued to be used at the end of series 20 of They Think it's All Over until June 2006.

Talkback (1984-2006)

Talkback Thames

►