Century 21 Films, a multi-faceted production company whose work spans drama to documentary, miniature effects to puppet shows, has announced an agreement preserving hundreds of hours of interviews and programmes. The agreement should see new releases of documentaries, interviews and commentaries spanning a host of cult TV shows.
Century 21 Films was founded by a group of filmmakers who first collaborated on Filmed in Supermarionation, first released in 2014, the story of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s hit puppet shows including Thunderbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlet.
Network Distributing Ltd distributed classic TV series in the UK, and also co-produced documentaries on these series. Following the company’s liquidation of June 2023, Century 21 Films have been able to reach a deal with the company’s liquidators to acquire the full rights to the documentary.
The company, whose wide ranging work includes Thunderbirds – The Anniversary Episodes and the puppet series, Nebula 75, has also taken control of rights for a large part of Network’s DVD extras catalogue which comprises hundreds of hours of documentaries, interviews and commentaries relating to titles such as The Persuaders!, Due South, Upstairs Downstairs, The Ipcress File and more.
“We are pleased to have saved a large archive of interviews with the people who shaped the face of television and film,” the company says in a short statement, “and hope to make much of this available again soon, including many hours of previously unreleased footage.”
Run by Susan Buck, British film producer, writer and actor Stephen La Rivière and Andrew Smith, Buckinghamshire-based Century 21 Films has worked for a multitude of high-profile clients including ITV, BBC, Mammoth Productions, British Film Institute and the Halifax working on projects such as Endeavour, Doctor Who and The Twilight Zone.
Writing on X, Stephen posted photos of some of reels rescued. “Now the hard work begins,” he said. “20 years I’ve carried these around. Hundreds of tapes of interviews with cast and crew of a huge range of classic shows. First step — to transfer and watch them for the first time in years.”
• Century 21 Films is online at century21films.co.uk
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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