Zeppotron

Credits

Background

Zeppotron is a television production company founded in 2000 by Charlie Brooker that usually produces non-scripted comedic programmes, game shows, and sometimes drama shows. In 2002, Endemol purchased the company.

1st Logo (November 1, 2001-January 2002)

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Logo: Essentially, the logo consists of the stylized white text "zeppotron.com" in between a red and a blue bar.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Extinct, it had a very short lifespan and was only seen on two shows: Unnovations and TV Go Home. Neither programmes are available on home media and are gone from television.

2nd Logo (2002-February 9, 2018)

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Logo: On a black background, a vertical blue object appears by a slash effect, flattening and transforming into a disc. It wobbles, flipping upwards and spinning rapidly, eventually unveiling a 2D eye and forming the same design used by the Endemol logo at the time. When the eyes appear, it not only flickers a blue glow, but the text "zeppotron" whooshes and flies underneath it at a fast pace.

Bylines:

• 2002-March 31, 2016: an endemol company
• August 5, 2016-February 9, 2018: part of EndemolShineGroup

Variants:

• The font may slightly vary on some shows.
• Sometimes, a copyright notice containing the company name is included, either reading "Zeppotron Limited", "Zeppotron Ltd" or just "Zeppotron".
• On 8 Out of 10 Cats, the text has a thick black shadow.
• On early episodes of 8 Out of 10 Cats, the logo is flat and the disc has a white border.
• On one episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, the episode began with the normal introduction before Charlie Brooker suddenly mentions there's no time left in the show and says goodbye as the "end" credits appear, where this logo is shown. This was done as part of a segment against networks pushing back credits at the end of the show--the episode ended with him just dumping his viewers back onto BBC Four once it was over.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A ringing sound when the disc appears, followed by a wobbly whoosh sound and then a streak-like sound when the disc spins.

Availability: Common. Seen on many programmes from this period, most of which are usually produced for the BBC or Channel 4. It debuted on a 2002 Channel 4 rerun of TV Go Home, plastering the previous logo, and was later seen on 8 Out of 10 Cats until series 20 as well as 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown until series 15 (which would be the logo's last appearance), the first two series of Black Mirror, Would I Lie To You? until series 10, among many others. DVD and streaming prints of these shows have this logo intact.

3rd Logo (November 20, 2017-)

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Logo: Within a box cut-out, two diagonal, turquoise lines emerge, growing in thickness and intersecting. After that, another bar forms, sliding downwards and eventually stopping alongside the other lines, creating a striped, transparent box. Before completing their sequence, the text "zeppotron" fades and slides in from the left, tilted 90 degrees clockwise.

Bylines:

• November 20, 2017-October 28, 2021: part of EndemolShineGroup
• December 24, 2020-April 18, 2021: A Banijay company, with the Banijay logo to the left of the Zeppotron logo.
• September 2, 2021: We are Banijay, with the Banijay logo to the left of the byline.

Variants:

• Sometimes, the logo is bylineless.
• On Late Night Mash, the logo is shown within the UKTV Original Production logo and has both the Endemol Shine Group and current Banijay bylines underneath.
• Programmes co-produced with Channel 4 has the logo on top of a thin white bar.

FX/SFX: The bars moving and the text sliding in; 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: Current. Debuted on series 11 of Would I Lie To You? and was seen on recent series of 8 Out of 10 Cats and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, beginning with series 21 and 16 respectively. The byline with the Banijay logo next to Zeppotron's was only seen on series 14 of Would I Lie To You?.