 The ITC Entertainment logo The Incorporated Television Company (ITC) was founded by television mogul Lew Grade in 1954. Image File history File links The most recognisable logo of the ITC Entertainment Company. ...
Lew Grade, Baron Grade (birth name Louis Winogradsky) (December 25, 1906 - December 13, 1998) was an influential showbusiness impresario and television company executive in the United Kingdom. ...
Originally designed to be a contractor for the UK's new ITV under the self-explanatory name Incorporated Television Programme Company, the company failed to win a contract when the Independent Television Authority felt that doing so would give too much control in the entertainment business to the Grade family's companies (which included large talent agencies and theatre interests). ITV (Independent Television) is the name popularly given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the network has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of...
The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was a body created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of Independent Television (ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. ...
However, the winner of one of the contracts, the Associated Broadcasting Development Company had insufficient funds to start broadcasting, so ITC was brought into the consortium and Lew Grade came to dominate it.
ITC continued as a subsidiary of the new company - soon renamed Associated TeleVision (ATV) - and produced its own programmes for syndication in the United States. It also distributed ATV material outside of the UK. Associated TeleVision Limited, later ATV Network and best known simply as ATV, was a British ITV company from 1955 until 1981. ...
The initials 'ITC' stood for two different things - Independent Television Corporation for sales to North and Latin America, and Incorporated Television Company for sales to the rest of the world.
The large foreign sales achieved by ITC during the British government's exports drives of the 1960s and 1970s led to ATV (and its successor company from 1966, Associated Communications Corporation) receiving the Queen's Award for Export numerous times. The Queens Award for Enterprise is an award for British companies and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation or sustainable development. ...
Productions
ITC is best known for being the company behind many successful British cult TV programmes during the 1960s and 1970s, and was also the production company for The Muppet Show which was made at ATV's London studio and distributed in the UK by ATV and in the US by ITC. In 1964 Gerry Anderson's AP Films became part of ACC and produced the hugely successful Thunderbirds and, under its successor company Century 21 Productions, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. ITC also funded other future Anderson-created programs, including Space: 1999. It was at ITC's request that FANDERSON - the Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society - was founded. This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...
The Muppet Show was a television program featuring a cast of Muppets (diverse hand-operated puppets, typically with oversized eyes and large moving mouths) produced by Jim Henson and his team from 1976 to 1981. ...
AP Films (APF) was a British independent film production company of the 1950s and 1960s. ...
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s television show devised by Gerry Anderson, produced by both Sylvia and Gerry Anderson and made by company AP Films using a form of puppetry called Supermarionation. The series followed the adventures of International Rescue, an organisation created to help those in grave danger using...
Century 21 Productions was a British film and television production company of the 1960s and 1970s, best known for the hit TV series Thunderbirds. ...
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to as simply Captain Scarlet, is a science fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Productions Television company of Sylvia and Gerry Anderson and Lew Grade and first shown in Britain (originally on ATV Midlands, but later the whole of the UK...
Left to right: Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell and Martin Landau from Space:1999s second season. ...
As well as television programming ITC also produced several films - including On Golden Pond, Capricorn One, The Eagle Has Landed, The Boys from Brazil, The Return of the Pink Panther and a number of Jim Henson Company productions: The Dark Crystal and the first three Muppet films - The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan. On Golden Pond (1981) was a successful Broadway play written by playwright Ernest Thompson which was turned into a successful and popular movie starring Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda. ...
Capricorn One is a horror/thriller/science fiction movie about a Mars landing hoax. ...
The Eagle Has Landed is a book by Jack Higgins first published in 1975. ...
The Boys from Brazil (1976) is a fiction thriller novel by Ira Levin. ...
The Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released in North America by United Artists and in Europe by ITC Entertainment in 1975. ...
The Jim Henson Company is an American company founded in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. ...
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 fantasy film by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. ...
The Muppet Movie DVD cover The Muppet Movie is the first of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Hensons Muppets. ...
The Great Muppet Caper is the second of a series of live-action musical feature films, starring Jim Hensons Muppets. ...
The Muppets Take Manhattan DVD cover The Muppets Take Manhattan is the third of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Hensons Muppets. ...
ITC were also the world-wide distributor for Thames Television's The Benny Hill Show. Thames Television was an British television production company, and between 1968 and 1992, it was the weekday ITV company serving London. ...
Born Alfred Hawthorn Hill (January 21, 1924/1925 - April 20, 1992), Benny Hill was a prolific comic British actor. ...
Logo and animated idents
 A still from the 1974 ITC Entertainment logo ident The production logo featured three diamonds, with the letters of the company placed in each one. For international markets, an animated opening logo was added - featuring the logo followed by the word "PRESENTS", and accompanied by a fanfare. There were several variations on this animation. One included a compass which gave way to a large diamond with a world map, which - in turn - gave way to the three diamonds of the logo. Another logo featured three spinning diamonds (nicknamed the "Space Diamonds" or the "Rainbow Spinning Top") in red, green and blue. The ITC logo appeared in white on top of the coloured diamonds, and the lettering "FROM (ITC logo) ENTERTAINMENT" appeared. This logo was used after showings of The Muppet Show in the US. In Britain, The Muppet Show had an animated ATV logo at the start. The final ITC animation featured a variation on the logo, actually spinning within itself, in gold. Image File history File links ITC Entertainment animated logo still, 1974. ...
Image File history File links ITC Entertainment animated logo still, 1974. ...
A production logo is used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce. ...
Ownership When the Associated Communications Corporation was broken up after losing control of the ATV franchise (it became Central Independent Television when ACC was forced to divest itself of 49% of the company), the rights to the ITC archive were acquired by Polygram, and subsequently by Carlton Television. Today, the underlying rights are owned by Granada International, although Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (via Sony Pictures Entertainment) now owns theatrical distribution rights. Carlton released the most popular ITC programs on DVD both in Europe and North America. There were however a few exceptions: The Adventures of Robin Hood and the other swashbuckling adventure series of the late 1950s and early 1960s were released on DVD by Network Video, as was Strange Report. Man in a Suitcase is due to be released by Network in the near future as a limited edition box set. The rights to The Muppet Show, however, are held by The Muppets Studio LLC (formerly The Muppets Holding Company), a wholly owned part of The Walt Disney Company, with North American and UK home video rights controlled by Disney. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
PolyGram was the name from 1972 of the major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. ...
Carlton Television was the United Kingdom Channel 3 (ITV) licensee for London and the surrounding areas, Monday 9:25am, to Friday, 5:15pm (and for legal formalities still is; see below). ...
Granada Productions UK is one of Europe’s leading commercial television production and distribution companies. ...
For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
European redirects here. ...
World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...
The Adventures of Robin Hood was a popular, long-running British television series (143 half-hour, black and white episodes, 1955 - 1960) starring Richard Greene as Robin Hood. ...
The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ...
The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...
Strange Report was a British television drama starring Anthony Quayle as Adam Strange. ...
Man in a Suitcase was a 1967 television series produced by ITC Entertainment, one of several ITC productions that used an American star in an attempt to boost the shows sales in the US - in this case Richard Bradford, a method actor who had been spotted after appearing opposite...
The Muppet Show was a television program featuring a cast of Muppets (diverse hand-operated puppets, typically with oversized eyes and large moving mouths) produced by Jim Henson and his team from 1976 to 1981. ...
List of ITC Entertainment programs For a list of ITC produced and distributed programs, visit this page.
Studios ITC had no studios of its own. Programmes were made in several facilities but most notably at ATV's own studio in Elstree. However, the MGM-British Studios complex at Borehamwood, the Rank Organisation's Pinewood and Shepperton Studios were also used. Associated TeleVision Limited, later ATV Network and best known simply as ATV, was a British ITV company from 1955 until 1981. ...
The former British National Studio is located on Clarendon Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, UK. It is currently used by the BBC and has been in continuous use since its opening in 1927. ...
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) established a British operation, initially, at Denham Film Studios in 1936. ...
Borehamwood is a town in southern Hertfordshire, just outside London, and part of the London commuter belt. ...
The entrance to Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated approximately 20 miles west of London among the pine trees on what was the estate of Heatherden Hall, near the village of Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. ...
Shepperton Studios, located in Shepperton, Middlesex, England is a film studio with a long history of film making. ...
Associated Communications Corporation companies AP Films (APF) was a British independent film production company of the 1950s and 1960s. ...
Associated TeleVision Limited, later ATV Network and best known simply as ATV, was a British ITV company from 1955 until 1981. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
See also Lew Grade, Baron Grade (birth name Louis Winogradsky) (December 25, 1906 - December 13, 1998) was an influential showbusiness impresario and television company executive in the United Kingdom. ...
AP Films (APF) was a British independent film production company of the 1950s and 1960s. ...
Century 21 Productions was a British film and television production company of the 1960s and 1970s, best known for the hit TV series Thunderbirds. ...
Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson are most famous as the production team for several futuristic childrens television shows involving specially modified marionettes, a process called supermarionation. Their most famous production is Thunderbirds, which was produced by their production company, originally known as AP Films and later renamed Century 21...
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...
Associated TeleVision Limited, later ATV Network and best known simply as ATV, was a British ITV company from 1955 until 1981. ...
ITV (Independent Television) is the name popularly given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the network has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of...
Sapphire Films was a British television production company, active in the 1950s. ...
External links - ITC Entertainment production credits on the IMDb
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