Pioneer Productions
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2009) |
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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television |
| Genre | Entertainment Science History Drama |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Founders | Nigel Henbest Heather Couper |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Stuart Carter, Jeremy Dear, Kirstie McLure, |
| Website | Official website |
Pioneer Productions is a British television production company based in London, United Kingdom, specialising in scientific and other documentary productions.[1]
History
[edit]Founded in 1988, by Nigel Henbest, Heather Couper, and Stuart Carter[2], Pioneer targeted science broadcasting in a period of global tele-media expansion and sought relationships with US factual television broadcasters.
In the 1990s it produced series entitled Raging Planet[3] and Extreme Machines. Later CGI films included Journey to the Edge of the Universe, The Unsinkable Titanic, Hindenburg: The Last Flight, Extraordinary Animals, In the Womb, and Catastrophe. In 2009, it helped produce the six-part series Christianity: A History for Channel 4.
Awards
[edit]Pioneer has won the "Best Science Film" award twice at the Banff World Media Festival,[citation needed] the Grand Award at the New York Television Festival, a UK Indie award, Sony Award, CINE Golden Eagles, and other prizes in the U.S., France, Italy, and Greece. Recently, Pioneer Productions has won an Emmy Award and awards at the Royal Television Society.[citation needed]
| Show | Format | Produced for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mother Undercover (2023) | TV minieries | Hulu | |
| Gold: A Journey with Idris Elba (2023) | Movie | World Gold Council | |
| The Windsor Castle Fire (2023) | Movie | Channel 4 | |
| Animals Like Us (Unknown) | TV miniseries | Love Nature | |
| Rob Cell's Engineering Reborn (2022-2023) | TV minieries | 5Select | |
| In the Womb: Animal Babies (2022) | TV miniseries | National Geographic Wild | |
| Secrets of the Royal Gardens (2022) | TV miniseries | More4 | |
| V-Day (2020) | Movie | Smithsonian Channel | |
| Ocean Autopsy (2020) | Movie | BBC Four | |
| #Trump: How Social Media Changed the Presidency (2020) | Movie | Passion Distribution
AMC/Sundance | |
| What Happens to Your Body When You Climb? (2020) | Short film | Red Bull | |
| Chasing the Equinox (2020) | Movie | National Geographic | |
| Secrets of the Superfactories (2019-2023) | TV series | More4 | |
| One Hour that Changed the World: Moon Landing (2019) | Movie | Eden
Passion Distribution | |
| Superstructures: Engineering Marvels (2019) | TV miniseries | National Geographic | |
| Animals After Dark (2019) | Channel 5 | ||
| Planes Gone Viral (2018) | Passion | ||
| Charlie Head Standing up for the Amazon (2018) | TV episode | Red Bull | |
| The Great American Eclipse (2017) | Movie | Science Channel | |
| Secrets of Christ's Tomb (2017) | National Geographic | ||
| Cradle to Grave (2017) | |||
| Voyage of the Finnmen (2016) | Red Bull | ||
| Open Space Namibia (2016) | |||
| Treasures of the Earth (2016) | TV miniseries | PBS | |
| David Baddiel on the Silk Road (2016) | TV miniseries | Discovery Channel | |
| Your Face Says It All (2016) | Channel 4 | ||
| Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary (2016) | Movie | BBC Two | |
| Mail Order Murder (2014-2015) | TV miniseries | Investigation Discovery | |
| The Next Mega Tsunami (2014) | Movie | National Geographic | |
| How Sex Works (2013) | BBC Three | ||
| Strangest Weather on Earth (2013-2015) | TV series | The Weather Channel | |
| Disasters at Sea: Why Ships Sink (2012) | Movie /
TV Episode* |
Channel 4
*NOVA | |
| Storm City 3D (2012) | TV miniseries | Sky | |
| How Drugs Work (2011) | BBC Three | ||
| The Year The Earth Went Wild (2011) | Movie | Channel 4 | |
| Witness: Disaster (Unknown) | National Geographic | ||
| UFO UK: New Evidence (2011) | |||
| Curiosity | Egypt: What Lies Beneath with Brendan Fraser (2011) | TV episode | Discovery Channel |
| How Will The World End with Samuel L. Jackson (2011) | |||
| What's Beneath America with Martin Sheen (2011) | |||
| Why is Sex Fun with Maggie Gyllenhaal (2011) | |||
| Japan Tsunami: How It Happened (2011) | Movie | Channel 4 | |
| The Year Britain Froze (2011) | |||
| Birth of Britain (2010) | TV miniseries | ||
| Mad and Bad: 60 Years of Science on TV (2010) | Movie | BBC Four | |
| The Volcano that Stopped the World (Unknown) | Channel 4 | ||
| How The Universe Works (2010— ) | TV series | Discovery Channel
Science Channel | |
| Oklahoma's Deadliest Tornadoes (2013) | TV episode | NOVA | |
| Buried Alive: Chile Mine Rescue (2010) | Movie | Channel 4 | |
| The Bible: A History (2010) | TV miniseries | ||
| Christianity: A History (2009) | |||
| The DaVinci Shroud (2009) | Movie | ||
| The Unsinkable Titanic (2008) | Channel 4
National Geographic Discovery Canada FremantleMedia | ||
| Journey to the Edge of the Universe (2008) | National Geographic | ||
| Catastrophe (2008) | TV miniseries | Channel 4
Discovery Channel | |
| Hindenburg (2007) | Movie | Channel 4
Smithsonian Channel ZDF | |
| Floods - The Year Britain Went Under (2007) | Channel 4 | ||
| Inside the Living Body (2007) | National Geographic | ||
| Britain's Worst Weather (2007) | TV miniseries | Channel 4 | |
| How The Earth Was Made (2007*, 2009-2010**) | *Movie;
**TV series |
History Channel | |
| Challenger: Countdown to Disaster (2006) | Movie | Channel 4 | |
| Extraordinary Animals in the Womb (2005-2010) | TV series | Channel 4
Granada International National Geographic | |
| Krakatoa (2005) | Channel 4 | ||
| Naked Science (2004-2011) | National Geographic | ||
| Raging Planet (1997, 2009) | Discovery Channel (US)
Channel 4 (UK) | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "About us - Pioneer Productions". pioneertv.com. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
- ^ Elmes, John. "Thomas Viner exits Pioneer". Broadcast. Archived from the original on 4 March 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
- ^ "What we do". Pioneer Productions. Archived from the original on 17 September 2011.
- ^ "Programmes - Pioneer Productions". pioneertv.com. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Pioneer Productions on Twitter
- Pioneer Productions on LinkedIn
- Naked Science, the official YouTube channel of Pioneer Productions
- Universe - Space Documentaries, which is the second YouTube channel of Pioneer Productions dedicated to space documentaries
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