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Talkback Productions was formed in 1981 by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. The company is one of the UK’s leading production companies and part of the RTL Group, a major European broadcast and content company. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mel Smith Mel Smith is an English actor, film director, writer, producer born in London on December 3, 1952) He attended New College, Oxford. ... Griff Rhys Jones (born 6 November 1953) is the comedy partner and foil of Mel Smith. ... RTL Group is Europes largest TV, radio and production company. ... Broadcast could refer to: Broadcast, an electronica musical group broadcasting, the distribution of audio and video signals Broadcast address, an IP address allowing information to be sent to all machines on a given subnet. ...

Talkback has a long track record of producing popular shows including Smack the Pony, Da Ali G Show, I’m Alan Partridge, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and They Think It’s All Over. Past credits include shows such as Alas Smith and Jones, Murder Most Horrid, The Day Today, the 11.00 Show, and Big Train. Smack the Pony was a Channel 4 sketch comedy show that ran from 1999 until 2003. ... Da Ali G Show was a satirical Channel 4 show (aired on HBO in the United States) starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who played three bumbling journalists — Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, and Bruno — who interviewed unsuspecting people (sometimes very high-ranking officials) and made them look foolish. ... Never Mind The Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game show with a pop and rock music theme produced for the BBC and usually aired on BBC TWO. The title is a play on the Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks album along with the band Buzzcocks. Format In the show... Alas Smith and Jones was a British comedy sketch series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. ... Murder Most Horrid was a British television sitcom starring comedienne Dawn French. ... The Day Today was a surreal British parody of television current affairs programmes. ... Big Train is a surreal television comedy sketch show written by the creators of the more successful Father Ted, Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan. ...

Talkback’s drama department was set up in 1999. Its first production, Shooting the Past, was awarded the prestigious Prix Italia award for best screenplay and best actor at the Cinema Tour Écran. Other recent drama productions include the 10 x 50 minute family saga In a Land of Plenty and an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honour. The critically acclaimed The Lost Prince for BBC1, which aired in January 2003, is the most recent drama production.

The factual department has gone from strength to strength since it was established four years ago and has produced a string of highly successful new and returning series for major broadcasters including the three BAFTA nominated shows House Doctor, Jamie's Kitchen and Grand Designs. Other highly successful shows include How Clean Is Your House?, Would Like to Meet and Your Money or Your Life. A slate of new programmes is currently in production.

Talkback has produced radio programmes for Radio 1, 2 and 4 and still continues to do so. Most recently Griff Rhys Jones won a Silver Sony award for his Radio 4 show Do Go On. Other recent titles include The Griff Rhys Jones Show for Radio 2, First Impressions and The Two Dannys.

Talkback Management is a leading talent agency, representing a wide range of well-known actors, actresses, presenters and writers.

In March 2001, Peter Fincham, Chief Executive of Talkback, received the prestigious Indie-Vidual award, recognizing the achievement of an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the independent sector of the television industry.

Talkback and Thames were brought together in February 2003 to create talkbackTHAMES, the UK's largest independent production company.

TalkbackTHAMES is a FremantleMedia company. FremantleMedia is the global production and content arm of the RTL Group, Europe’s largest television and radio company.

External links

• TalkbackTHAMES website