Carlton Productions

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

This is the production arm of Carlton Television. It briefly merged in 1995 with Central Productions to form Carlton UK Productions before reverting back two years later to just Carlton Productions.


Carlton Productions (1st era)

Logo (January 1, 1993-November 22, 1996)

Visuals: On a dark blue fern background, the text "A CARLTON PROGRAMME" are in the middle of the screen.

Variants:

  • Sometimes, "PROGRAMME" may be reworded to either "PRESENTATION" (the latter of which was seen at the end of movies and imported shows such as Home and Away), "PRESENTATION FOR ITV", or "PROGRAMME FOR ITV". The latter two variants have the 1989 ITV logo below on networked programmes.
  • On some shows, the logo is placed on a teal cloudy background.
  • Another background variant has the logo against the same gray marble background as the 1995 Central endcap.
  • In several other instances, the logo is superimposed into the end credits.
    • This variant may also lose the 1989 ITV logo and instead might be shown with other co-producers.
      • There are also rare instances where the logo is seen within another co-producer's logo sometimes with the 1989 ITV logo on the bottom right of the screen. For example, in Beam & DaSilva, it is shown within the Chrysalis Television logo and is also blue.
    • On one show, the Carlton logo is shown on top of the Celador logo and has "Christmas Entertainment for" on top of the former and the 1989 ITV logo on the bottom right of the screen.
  • On one show, the logo is blue.
  • On season 1 of Talking Telephone Numbers, the Carlton logo appears on a black background with the Celador logo, with the text reading "A Celdaor Production for CARLTON" (with Carlton being in the form of the 1993 logo) appearing below, with both the copyright notice reading "© Carlton Television 1994" appearing on the bottom left and the 1989 ITV logo appearing on the bottom right.
  • A zoomed-in version of the 1995 background variant also exists, which was seen on a October 3, 1996 UK airing of the Old Bear Stories episode "The Colour Chase" on CITV.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: The closing theme of any show, or just silence.

Availability: Seen on shows by Carlton from the time-period until 1996. In its last-two years, it would be used in tandem with the 1995 Carlton UK Productions logos.

  • The standard variant is seen on Body and Soul, The Chrystal Rose Show, The Spooks of Bottle Bay, Alphabet Castle, The Visit, Lose a Million, Terror Towers (following the 1993 The Media Merchants Production logo), and A Carlton New Year, respectively, among others.
  • The cloudy background variant is seen on Scavengers, and season 10 of Catchphrase, and was also seen on a May 1994 Carlton airing of Home and Away, among many others.
  • The 1995 Central background variant is either seen after the 2nd UK Productions logo or as an alternative logo during said company's lifespan.
    • These include seasons 2 and 3 of Talking Telephone Numbers, a Challenge airing of season 10 of Catchphrase, and Lance Burton Master Magician: The Legend Begins, among others.
    • However, most of the time, the 1995 Central logo appears after said logo.
  • This logo is also plastered by the 1999 Carlton International logo on later prints of The Upper Hand.

Carlton UK Productions

1st Logo (1995-August 26, 1997)

Visuals: This is an in-credit notice of the Carlton logo with "UK Productions" added.

Variants:

  • On the Wolves, Witches & Giants special "Cinderella", the notice is in black.
  • On Dale's Supermarket Sweep, the logo takes place on the same grey marble background as the 1995 Carlton and Central endcaps. Plus, the text is also stylised like the next logo.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: The closing theme of any show, or just silence.

Availability: Seen on shows by Carlton from the time-period until 1997. It was used in tandem with the next logo.

  • These include episodes of Family Fortunes, Link, Dale's Supermarket Sweep, and Tots TV, among others.
  • Some episodes of Cadfael such as "A Morbid Taste for Bones" also contain this logo.
  • However, most of season 2 and one episode of season 3 uses the next logo below and season 1 has no closing logo whatsoever.
  • On a different note, Cadfael was the last show to bear the Carlton UK Productions name with the finale of season 3, "The Raven in the Foregate".

2nd Logo (March 15, 1995-August 19, 1997)


Visuals: Next to a black planet with fire glowing out is the text "CARLTON UK Productions" on the top right hand side of the screen. If there is a co-producer (e.g. Ragdoll Productions), their logo will appear above Carlton's with "FOR" appearing on top of the latter.

Variants:

  • An animated variant exists, where as the fire is burning, the Carlton notice fades out and the screen zooms into the flames rising out of a portion of the planet, crossfading into the 1995 Central logo.
    • Another animated variant of the above also exists, which was seen at the end of both the 2020 and March 21, 2023 airings of the Peak Practice episode "Life and Soul" on UKTV Drama, except that it just cuts to the 1995 Central logo instead.
  • Sometimes, the planet is on the bottom left corner of the screen whereas the notice is on the bottom right.
  • A copyright notice, usually containing "CARLTON UK Television", may appear underneath the company's name.
  • For shows co-produced for Channel 4 such as Maradona and Coping with Christmas, among others, the notice from said company in the same font as the Carlton logo is placed underneath, sometimes with a copyright notice appearing at the bottom of the screen.
  • Sometimes, the notice is inside the planet.
    • "FOR" may also be replaced with "AND".
  • On 1997 ITV reruns of Sharpe's Gold, Sharpe's Battle and Sharpe's Sword, the logo fades into the 1997 Central Programme for ITV endcap and also plastering over the gray marble background version of the 1995 Central endcap.
  • On current prints of Sharpe's Gold, Sharpe's Battle and Sharpe's Sword, the copyright notice on the variant with the planet on the bottom left corner is changed to an "ITV Studios" one.
  • On Celebrity Squares, copyright info appears below the logo.

Technique: None for the standard version. The animated variant uses CGI.

Audio: The closing theme of any show, or just silence.

Availability: Despite its short lifespan, it was often seen on many Carlton co-produced shows at the time, especially from 1995 to 1997.

  • The normal variant without any co-producers is seen on Challenge airings of 1995 Bullseye episodes and some seasons 2 and 3 episodes of Cadfael up to "Saint Peter's Fair", which would be the logo's last appearance. Some episodes from said series would also use the previous logo.
  • It is also seen on Peak Practice.
  • The animated variant was spotted on a Challenge airing of an unknown 1995 episode of Bullseye and the 2020 and March 21, 2023 airings of the Peak Practice episode "Life and Soul" on UKTV Drama, respectively.
  • Shows that have the Carlton notice inside the planet mostly consists of game shows such as Challenge airings of Catchphrase, Dale's Supermarket Sweep, and Celebrity Squares.
  • The variant with the planet on the bottom left corner is seen on Sharpe's Gold (as well as Sharpe's Battle and Sharpe's Sword), The Story Store, Cone Zone, The Clive James Story, and Moving Story, among others.
  • Current prints of the three Sharpe episodes also have it intact, however, the copyright notice has been changed to an "ITV Studios" one instead.

Carlton Productions (2nd era)

1st Logo (November 25, 1996-September 3, 1999)

Visuals: On a purple gradient background, the Carlton logo in orange is placed above "Production".

Variants:

  • "Production" may be reworded to either "Presentation" (which was seen at the end of movies and imported programmes such as Home and Away), "Programme", "Presentation for ITV", or "Programme for ITV", with the latter two containing the 1989 ITV logo until October 2, 1998. The last two were removed on October 5, 1998 following the launch of the then-new corporate ITV logo.
  • The original version of the 1996 endcap has the Carlton logo in white, which was used from November 25, 1996 until 1998.
  • From late 1997 to mid-1999, the ITV URL also 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".
  • In a few instances, the logo is seen on a black background either in its original or normal form while paired with other logos.
  • On shows produced for Channel 4, the Carlton logo and the words "Production for Channel Four" appear on a black background, which also exists.
  • On Crown and Country, the URL reading "http://crownandcountry.carltontv.co.uk" appears on the bottom right of the screen.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: The closing theme of any show, or just silence.

Availability: Seen on Carlton-owned shows from the time-period until 1999.

  • The normal version is seen on Catchphrase episodes on Challenge, Noah's Ark, Loved by You, The Bill, and Routes of Rock: Anarchy In The UK, among many others.
  • It is also intact on current prints of season 4 of Cadfael, plastering the 1998 Central endcap.
  • The "Programme for ITV" variant of the original 1996 version of this logo was also seen at the end of The Brit Awards '97 and the final season of Talking Telephone Numbers, among others.
  • The "Presentation for ITV" variant of the original 1996 version of this logo is also intact at the end of a UKTV Play streaming print of the premiere episode of season 13 of The Bill, following the mid-1996 production variant of the 1990 Thames Television endcap and before the 2018 Fremantle logo.
  • The "Presentation for ITV" variant of the original 1996 version of this logo was also seen at the end of Princess Diana: The Week The World Stood Still, following the 1995 An ITN Factual Production endcap.
  • The "Presentation" variant of the original 1996 version of this logo was also seen at the end of 1997 Carlton reruns of Taxi, following the 1975 Paramount Television logo.
  • The "Presentation for ITV" variant of the 1998 version of this logo is also seen at the end of some season 1 episodes of the UK version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on Challenge.

2nd Logo (September 6, 1999-June 8, 2004)

Visuals: This is a still version of the 1999 TV ident where we see the Carlton logo with "A" and Production" being seen on the top and bottom, respectively.

Variants:

  • For shows that were produced in Central England, the text underneath new reads "A Carlton Production for Central England".
  • For shows that were produced in London, the text underneath now reads "A Carlton Production for London".
  • For shows that were produced in the West of England and the West Country, the text underneath now reads either "A Carlton Production for the West of England" or "A Carlton Production for the West Country".
  • For shows that were produced in English and made at Wales, the text underneath now reads into "A Carlton Production for ITV1 Wales".
  • Sometimes, the background is blue. It was dodger blue from 1999 to 2001 and dark blue from 2001 to 2004.
  • A 16:9 widescreen variant exists.
  • An open matte version exists.
  • Like the idents, a squished variant of this logo exists.
  • The logo can be seen as an in-credit version can be seen on most shows.
  • From 2001 until 2004, the Carlton star background is enhanced and the text now reads "A Carlton Production" and appears underneath the Carlton logo.
  • Sometimes, this logo also shares the screen with other logos and sometimes either the words "for" or "in association with" can be seen above the Carlton logo with the background being changed depending on the show.
    • Sometimes, other logos appear next to the Carlton logo and the text underneath changes.
    • On co-produced shows, the text "A Co-Production of" can be seen on the top.
  • The logo was also used as a video game notice, consisting of the Carlton text in black and the star in orange on a white background. Underneath is copyright information.
  • On Bertie & Elizabeth, "Productions" is added next to the Carlton logo while it is side-by-side with the Whitehall Films logo.
  • Programmes from 2000 to 2004 that were produced for Channel 4 has the logo aligned to the left.
  • On shows produced for Channel 5 such as TV Bust-Ups, the text "A" and "Production for Channel 5" appear above and below the smaller 1999 Carlton logo, respectively, with the copyright notice reading "© Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited (year)" also appearing below.
  • On Who Got The Bay City Rollers' Millions?, the logo appears within a black background. The star is also glowing and "a" and "production" are beside the Carlton logo.
    • On reruns after Channel 4's revamp on December 31, 2004, the 1999 Channel 4 "Square" logo is covered by the blue background with studs variant of the 2004 Channel 4 logo.
  • On a later print of Palestine is Still the Issue, the ITV URL appears at the bottom of the screen reading "itv.com" which also exists.
  • On Heroes & Villains, this logo appears with the 2001 ITV Sport Channel logo.
  • On Starstreet, the text reading "in association with Byrne Blood Productions Ltd" appears below the Carlton notice.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: The closing theme of any show, or and silence.

Availability: Seen on shows by Carlton from the time-period until 2004 and is still intact on modern prints of several of them.

  • It was also used for plastering, replacing the WB logo on The Big Brawl on Showtime.
  • The blue background variant was seen on seasons 7-9 of Police Camera Action for the 1999 version and season 15 of Catchphrase for the 2001 version.
  • It is also seen at the end of A Profile of 'In Which We Serve' on all disc-based releases of In Which We Serve (1942), since the UK Special Edition DVD of the movie, such as the Criterion Blu-ray boxset of David Lean Directs Noel Coward, the 2001 TV movie Lloyd & Hill on Virgin Media Four, and at the end of Challenge airings of some 2000 episodes of Family Fortunes, all of which are then followed by the 1999 Carlton International logo.
Central Productions
Carlton Productions
Granada Media Group
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