Century 21 Productions

Background

A.P. Films (later becoming "Century 21 Productions") was a British independent film production company of the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s founded by husband-and-wife producers Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and cinematographer Arthur Provis (hence its initials "A.P."). The company became world-famous with its imaginative children's action-adventure "Supermarionation" marionette shows - most notably Thunderbirds - produced for British independent broadcasting companies Associated-Rediffusion, Granada, ABC Weekend TV and ATV.

A.P. Films

1st Logo (November 13, 1957-August 6, 1961)

Logo: In an oval, we see the words "MADE BY" positioned over the letters "APF".

Variants:

One show had the otherwise-superimposed logo as a live-action sign hanging from a bar.
Some shows have "MADE BY" positioned above the oval.
Some shows have "MAIDENHEAD" (presumably the location in which it was produced) below the oval.
Torchy the Battery Boy has "in association with GRANADA T.V. NETWORK" below the oval.

FX/SFX: None, but the live-action shape swings a little.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Supercar and Torchy the Battery Boy.

2nd Logo (February 2, 1962-June 27, 1965)

Logo: We see the APF oval logo from the last logo, now stretched out at the center making the logo seem rounder. Above it we see "AN", and below it we see "TELEVISION PRODUCTION".

Variant: There is a colorized version of this logo, seen on later episodes of the Gerry Anderson show, Stingray. In this version, the background is red, the APF oval logo is now gold gradient while the "APF" text is now goldy-brown. Also, the "AN" above, and "TELEVISION PRODUCTION" below texts remains in white.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None, but sometimes it used the show's closing theme.

Availability: Rare. Seen on A.P. Films-produced shows of the period (primarily Fireball XL5, Stingray and Supercar).

Century 21 Productions

(September 30, 1965-July 24, 1971)

Logo: We see a slanted gray "CENTURY" above a much bigger 21, which is red and also slanted. Underneath that, we see the slanted words "TELEVISION PRODUCTION" (for TV shows) or "CINEMA PRODUCTION" (for movies); "TELEVISION/CINEMA" are gray, while "PRODUCTION is red". Next to the word "CENTURY" is the phrase "a GERRY ANDERSON" in a thick white font (thin stretched-out font for movies). Behind the whole design, we see several ripples. After a few seconds, we see an orange-colored cone shape (presumably representing a rocket) zoom up from the bottom-left corner of the screen and fly through the numbers "2" and "1", eventually lodging itself in between them. The presentation freezes, then fades out.

Variants:

Sometimes, the logo has black bars on all four sides (red in some cases, or blue like the 1953 MGM Cartoons logo in rare cases).
There is also an open matte version of this logo.

FX/SFX: The radio tower circles, the cone flying.

Music/Sounds: A high violin note, which rapidly falls in tone, ending with a cymbal crash when the cone hits. The crash leaves an echo, which is heard as the logo fades out.

Music/Sounds Variant: A high tone variant also exists.

Availability: Rare.

Seen on all Century 21-produced shows and/or movies of this period, namely Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90, the live action/puppet hybrid series The Secret Service and the live action series UFO.
The "Cinema" version is only on the two Thunderbirds feature films: Thunderbirds Are Go! and Thunderbird 6.

Editor's Note: While the logo's unique appearance was advanced for its time, others may find it uncanny, and the very loud and tense music alongside the rocket flying out of nowhere are more than enough to freak out some viewers.