Action Time Productions

Background
Action Time Productions was a British production company that was originally started out as a UK-based broker of US game shows from different British broadcasters such as Paramount Television and Ralph Edwards Productions. It was founded in 1978 by Jeremy Fox and they started operations in 1980 with the arrival of the British broadcaster Channel 4 then the company was sold to Zenith Entertainment (a joint venture of Carlton Television and Paramount Television) in 1987 so they would place the company ip for sale. The company had a strong format development side led by Stephen Leahy (who took over the company in 1988 after he left Granada Television) and Trish Kinane, which would later leave to form Ludus Productions. In 1996, the company was acquired by Carlton Communications the then-owner of Carlton Television and by 2000s the company was closed after Stephen Leahy left.

1st Logo (1988-1991)
Logo: On a space background like the 1988 CIC Video Warning, that zooms out with streaks, we see a silver box containing the same logo from before, albeit in metallic, with the text and lines is in blue. The word "AN" and "PRODUCTION FOR" is above and below the lines, and underneath is the channel information (either Galaxy, Sky One or Granada Television) is below the logo, also in blue. Red streaks move from the space background.

FX/SFX: The space background zooming out.

Music/Sounds: The end theme to the show.

Availability: Rare. Appeared on an unknown game show.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1994)
Logo: On a black background, a clock drops down with Mr. Chips (The mascot of Catchphrase, or Herbie in America) wearing a visor and holding a megaphone. The clock ticks and Mr. Chips taps his foot while looking at it. Once the clock is at half past seven, Mr. Chips starts shouting the word "Action!" which flashes. The scene moves to the top as the words "An ACTION TIME Production for THE FAMILY CHANNEL" appears from the right.

Variants: *On Lose a Million, the text is behind the sailboat from the show's opening.
 * On Michael Ball, the logo is behind spotlights.
 * On Family Catchphrase, a clock drops down with Mr. Chips (The mascot of Catchphrase, or Herbie in America) wearing a visor and holding a megaphone. The clock ticks and Mr. Chips taps his foot while looking at it. Once the clock is at half past seven, Mr. Chips starts shouting the word "Action!" which flashes, and the text is shown below the logo.
 * On the 1994 series of Catchphrase, we see Mr. Chips is saying "Action!" through a megaphone next to a sand timer, all set on a blue background.
 * On Series 1 of the UK version of Trivial Pursuit, the logo is on a blue background with an image of a butterfly in it.
 * On Series 2 of the UK version of Trivial Pursuit, the logo is on a teal background with a dark circle and wallpaper of the game's circle board behind it.

FX/SFX: 2D animation in the same style as the show.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show.

Availability: Extremely rare. Was only seen on Family Catchphrase on The Family Channel UK. The show continued to air on Challenge (the successor to The Family Channel UK) until 2008.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1994)
Logo: A similar concept to the last logo. Mr. Chips is saying "Action!" through a megaphone next to a sand timer, all set on a blue background. The text "an ACTION TIME production for" is seen on the top of the picture, and "CARLTON" in its normal font is seen also on the bottom. A small copyright date is seen on the very bottom.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Availability: Seen on the 1994 season of Catchphrase.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1995-1996)
Logo: On a gray stony background, there is a blue circular line with an large "Times New Roman". The text "Times New Roman" (the "A" being filled in by the "Times New Roman") is seen next to it.

Variant: On some shows, a copyright date and/or the co-producer of the show appears below the logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Availability: Seen on the 1995-1996 season of Catchphrase. The logo also appeared on the Sky One game show Spellbound, ''Jeopardy! UK and Wipeout'' episodes from this time period.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1997-1999)
Logo: On the same gray stony background, there is some purple text that says "action time" with "A" on the top and "Production" on the bottom. Starting with the 1998-1999 series of Catchphrase, the text is on the bottom and reads "An Action Time Production".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Availability: Seen on the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 seasons of Catchphrase.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (2000-2002)
Logo: On the same background as Carlton, we see the text "action time" on top of the Carlton logo. The text "A" and "Production" is at the top and bottom. In the 2001-2002 season, the logos are next to each other (Action Time on the left, Carlton on the right).

Variant: In the first version, a URL appears at the bottom sometimes.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: In the 2000-2001 version, it is the same as the last logo. The 2001-2002 version is silent.

Availability: Seen on the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 seasons of Catchphrase.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (2000-2002)
Logo: Just the "action time" text on an orange background on the left with the 2002-2003 ITV styled credits on the right.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Availability: Seen on the final season of Catchphrase.

Editor's Note: None.