Talkback is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

established in 1981 by comedy duo

Mel Smith Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. ...

and

Griff Rhys Jones Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. Rhys Jones came to national attention in the 1980s for h ...

History

Talkback was sold to

Pearson Television Pearson Television was the British-based television production and distribution arm of a British company Pearson PLC. History In 1994 after a bidding war, Pearson PLC bought the former British ITV franchisee Thames Television. Then in 1995 i ...

in 2000. The company merged with

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

in 2003 and the combined entity was renamed

Talkback Thames Talkback Thames (stylised as talkbackTHAMES) was a British television production company, a division of Fremantle (part of the RTL Group, which in turn is owned by Bertelsmann). It was formed by the merger of Talkback Productions and Thames ...

. On 23 November 2011, it was announced that

would split into four separate production companies; ''Boundless'', ''Retort'', ''Talkback'' and ''

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

''. The split took effect on 1 January 2012. On 2 September 2018, FremantleMedia UK was renamed to simply Fremantle UK. The rebranding of the many production divisions from the company soon followed with Talkback receiving the new logo after six-and-a-half years of the old one, which was inspired by the original design from 1984 since its launch whilst retaining the green colour the company has been associated with since 2003, when it merged with Thames to form Talkback Thames. It was designed in-house.

Productions

* '' Alan Carr's Epic Gameshow'' ( ITV, 2020–present) * '' Alas Smith and Jones'' (

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

, 1991–1998; Sketchbook: BBC One, 2006) * ''

Bernard and the Genie ''Bernard and the Genie'' is a 1991 British fantasy comedy-drama television film directed by Paul Weiland and written by Richard Curtis. Co-produced by Attaboy and Talkback for BBC Television, the film was first shown on BBC1 on 23 December 19 ...

'' (BBC One, 1991) * '' Big Train'' (BBC Two, 1998–2002) * ''

Bonjour la Classe ''Bonjour la Classe'' is a British television comedy series which was broadcast on BBC1 in the beginning of 1993. Created and written by Paul Smith and Terry Kyan, the series centred on Laurence Didcott, a new teacher of French at the fictional ...

'' (BBC One, 1993) * '' Brass Eye'' (Channel 4, 1997–2001) * ''

Celebrity Juice ''Celebrity Juice'' is a British television comedy panel game on ITV2, broadcast since 24 September 2008. The show is written and presented by Leigh Francis in the role of his alter ego Keith Lemon, and its current team captains Laura Whitmore ...

'' (

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, ...

, 2008–2022) * '' Da Ali G Show'' (Channel 4, 2000–2004; HBO, 2003–2004) * ''

Demob Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and mili ...

'' (ITV, 1993) * '' Distraction'' (Channel 4, 2003–2004) * ''

Friends and Crocodiles ''Friends and Crocodiles'' is a one-off British television drama production, written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff and first broadcast on BBC One on 15 January 2006. Overview The film charts the shifting power between a boss and his secret ...

'' (BBC One, 2006) * '' Gash'' (Channel 4, 2003) * '' Gideon's Daughter'' (BBC One, 2006) * '' Green Wing'' (Channel 4, 2004–2007) * ''

Hippies A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

'' (BBC Two, 1999) * '' House Doctor'' ( Channel 5, 1998–2003) * ''

I'm Alan Partridge ''I'm Alan Partridge'' is a British sitcom written by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept radio DJ and television presenter who has been left by his wife and dropped from the B ...

'' (BBC Two, 1997–2002) * ''

In A Land Of Plenty ''In A Land Of Plenty'' is a 10-episode British television drama serial produced by Sterling Pictures and Talkback for BBC Two in the United Kingdom. Adapted for television by Kevin Hood and Neil Biswas from the novel by Tim Pears. It was firs ...

'' (BBC Two, 2000) * '' Jam'' (Channel 4, 2000) * ''

Jamie's Kitchen ''Jamie's Kitchen'' is a five-part British documentary television series that aired on Channel 4 from 5 November to 10 December 2002. It follows chef Jamie Oliver as he attempts to train a group of 15 disadvantaged youth, who will—if they comp ...

'' (Channel 4, 2002) * ''

Keith Lemon's LemonAid ''Keith Lemon's LemonAid'' is a British television entertainment series hosted by comedian Leigh Francis as his character Keith Lemon. It aired on ITV from 7 April to 19 May 2012. Each week, with the help of a celebrity guest, Lemon makes pe ...

'' (ITV, 2012) * '' Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge'' (BBC Two, 1994–1995) * ''

Lemon La Vida Loca ''Lemon La Vida Loca'' is a British mock reality show created and written by, and starring, comedian Leigh Francis and actress Laura Aikman. The show's title is derived from Ricky Martin's 1999 hit single, "Livin' la Vida Loca". The series fol ...

'' (ITV2, 2012–2013) * '' Look Around You'' (BBC Two, 2002–2005) * ''

Los Dos Bros ''Los Dos Bros'' is a British television comedy about two half-brothers (Darren Boyd and Cavan Clerkin) who find themselves in a series of strange situations. They discuss their experiences back to a psychiatrist (Vicki Pepperdine). The series ...

'' (Channel 4, 2001) * ''

Meet Ricky Gervais ''Meet Ricky Gervais'' is a British television comedy talk show written and hosted by Ricky Gervais. It was produced by Talkback for Channel 4 in 2000 and ran for one series on Friday nights. Overview Guests were supposedly interviewed by Gerv ...

'' (Channel 4, 2000) * '' Monkey Dust'' (

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

, 2003–2005) * '' Murder Most Horrid'' (BBC Two, 1991–1999) * ''

Nathan Barley ''Nathan Barley'' is a British Channel 4 television sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt, Claire Keelan, Richard Ayoade, Ben Whishaw, Rhys Thomas and Charlie Condou. The series of s ...

'' (Channel 4, 2005) * '' Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' (BBC Two, 1996–2015; Sky Max, 2021–present) * '' Perfect Strangers'' (BBC Two, 2001) * '' QI'' (

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, 2003–2008; BBC Two, 2003–2008 & 2011–present; BBC One, 2009–2011) * '' Shooting the Past'' (BBC Two, 1999) * ''

Shoreditch Twat The ''Shoreditch Twat'' fanzine was published and edited by club promoter Neil Boorman on behalf of the Shoreditch nightclub 333 between 1999 and 2004. History Starting life as a listings magazine for the club, it quickly grew to become an irr ...

'' (Channel 4, 2002) * '' Smack the Pony'' (Channel 4, 1999–2003) * '' Sweat the Small Stuff'' (BBC Three, 2013–2015) * '' Sword of Honour'' (Channel 4, 2001) * '' The 11 O'Clock Show'' (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, 1998–2000) * ''

The Armando Iannucci Shows ''The Armando Iannucci Shows'' is a series of eight programmes directed by Armando Iannucci and written by Iannucci with Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil. It was shown on UK's Channel 4 from August to October 2001. Each episode focused on specific the ...

'' (Channel 4, 2001) * '' The Day Today'' (BBC Two, 1994) * '' The Keith & Paddy Picture Show'' (ITV, 2017–2018) * ''

The Keith Lemon Sketch Show ''The Keith Lemon Sketch Show'' is a British television impressions/character sketch show that aired on ITV2 from 5 February 2015 until 10 March 2016. It stars Leigh Francis' character Keith Lemon portraying several celebrities. Episodes Seri ...

'' (ITV2, 2015–2016) * '' The Lost Prince'' (BBC One, 2003) * '' The Sex Inspectors'' (Channel 4, 2004) * ''

They Think It's All Over "They think it's all over" is a quote from Kenneth Wolstenholme's BBC TV commentary in the closing moments of the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, when England beat West Germany 4–2 after extra time to win the FIFA World Cup. In the final few seco ...

'' (BBC One, 1995–2006) * '' Through the Keyhole'' (ITV, 2013–2019) * '' Too Hot to Handle'' (

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

, 2020–2021) * ''

Virtually Famous ''Virtually Famous'' is a British comedy panel game show most recently presented by Chris Ramsey. In each episode, two teams of three panelists compete. The teams were, in the final series, captained by Vicky Pattison and Seann Walsh. The ques ...

'' ( E4, 2014–2017) * '' Would Like to Meet'' (BBC Two, 2001–2004) * '' Your Face or Mine?'' (E4, 2002–2003; Comedy Central, 2017–2019)

References

External links

* . {{Bertelsmann British companies established in 1981 Performing arts in London Television production companies of the United Kingdom RTL Group

History

Productions

See also

References

External links