Pioneer Productions (UK)

This article is about the British television production company. For the Canadian video game development company of the same name, see Pioneer Productions.

Credits

Compiled by
Camenati

Editions by
Michael Kenchington

Background

Pioneer Productions is a London-based television production company that produces science and history documentaries. They were founded in 1988 by Nigel Henbest and Heather Couper.

1st Logo (December 4, 1994)

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Visuals: The text "PIONEER PRODUCTIONS" in light green is shown on a horizontal green marble slab, which zooms in and rotate to face the screen. In the process, the right portion of the slab shines. After the logo finishes flying, additional in-credit information such as a co-producer's name and the copyright notice fade in below the logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The ending theme of the programme.

Availability: So far, the logo appeared on the Equinox documentary "Electric Skies".

2nd Logo (September 27, 1995-September 8, 1997)

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Visuals: On a white-black gradient wall background, two copies of "PIONEER" slide in from opposite directions: the positive and negative copies. When they overlap, portions of the text disappear. After they finish sliding, they merge to form the normal, black copy before "PRODUCTIONS" and the underline fade in below said word. Additional credit information involving a co-producer's name and the copyright notice may follow suit.

Variant: On the Equinox documentary "Black Holes", the print logo in white was used. As the background flashes white, the logo alongside the in-credit information becomes black.

Technique: Analog computer animation.

Audio: The ending theme of the programme or none.

Availability: It appears on Wonders of Weather, the Horizon documentary "The Runaway Mountain", and the Equinox documentaries "Avalanche" and "Black Holes". However, international prints of the latter do not contain this logo.

3rd Logo (October 10, 1997-March 9, 2007)

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Visuals: On a black background, "PIONEER" in white appears through multiple thin blue lines drawing around the boxed contents of the logo and a deblurring effect. The lines continue to shine around the logo until they disappear, leaving a blue underline below the logo and some of the letters to shine said colour. "productions" appears below the underline alongside a co-producer's name and the copyright notice.

Variants:

• In some cases, the logo is still.
• On programmes produced for Channel 4, the logo appears with the 1999 Channel 4 "Square" logo.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A laser buzzing sound effect.

Availability: The logo made its debut on Raging Planet and it later appears on Britain's Worst Weather, Alpine Rescue, and made its final appearance on The Bible Revolution.

4th Logo (September 17, 2007-)

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Visuals: A white vertical laser ray scrolls to the right, revealing the fill of "PiONEER PRODUCTIONS". The text's outline appears first with a small portion of the layer briefly appearing through a wiping effect before the laser adds the text's fill. After the text is filled in, the laser quickly scrolls back, briefly defiling and shining a portion of the logo, before moving back to the centre and disappearing.

Variants:

• Sometimes, the logo and laser are blue and placed on a white background.
  • On Meteor Strike: Fireball From Space, this variant is inside a horizontal white box.
• Starting in 2015, the logo received a byline reflecting its subsidiary status, reading "a Tinopolis company" with the Tinopolis logo to the left.
• On Catastrophe, the logo sequence is inside a horizontal black box.
• On The Year The Earth Went Wild, the logo sequence is superimposed on the ending shot of the programme.
• On Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary, the logo shares the screen with the 1997 BBC logo.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: Same as before.

Availability: The logo's overall debut was on Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies.

• The white variant appears on Catastrophe, Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary, and How It Happened.
• The blue variant appears on The Secrets of Hell, Steve Jobs: One Last Thing, and Meteor Strike: Fireball From Space.