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Private company

AP Films

Logo: Redvers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

UK film and television production company

AP Films or APF (renamed Century 21 Productions in 1966) was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette television series – most significantly Thunderbirds – produced for British ITV network companies Associated-Rediffusion, Granada, ABC and ATV. At its height, the company employed more than 200 staff.2 It was founded by Arthur Provis and Gerry Anderson.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1957Founded1
  • HeadquartersSlough Trading Estate1
  • Founded inMaidenhead1

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AP Films or APF (renamed Century 21 Productions in 1966) was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette television series – most significantly Thunderbirds – produced for British ITV network companies Associated-Rediffusion, Granada, ABC and ATV. At its height, the company employed more than 200 staff.2

The story

Founded by Arthur Provis and Gerry Anderson in 1957, in Maidenhead.1

Established in 1957 by editor-director Gerry Anderson and cinematographer Arthur Provis, following the liquidation of their employer Polytechnic Films, AP Films was set up, named after the initials of Anderson and Provis. They took with them producer Reg Hill, cinematographer John Read and secretary, then known as Sylvia Thamm. Thamm would later become Anderson's second wife. The company was created with the intention of it becoming a conventional film production house.

With no commissions and funds running low, APF were approached with an offer of collaboration with children's author Roberta Leigh and her colleague Suzanne Warner to produce the puppet TV series The Adventures of Twizzle for Associated-Rediffusion. With some reluctance, the company took on the commission and the programme was such a success that it immediately led to a further collaboration with Leigh for the first series of Torchy the Battery Boy.

In 1959, Provis left the company amicably following disagreements with Anderson over future strategy. APF then went on to make its first wholly independent production of Four Feather Falls, a puppet Western created by Barry Gray who was better known for his musical contributions to the company's productions, for Granada Television. In 1960, APF made a live-action thriller feature film, Crossroads to Crime, for Anglo-Amalgamated, and a series of TV advertisements for a London travel company.

From Wikipedia’s article on AP Films, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led AP Films, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

The following were made under the AP Films name.

The Adventures of Twizzle, 1957–1958 (Associated-Rediffusion)

Torchy the Battery Boy, 1960 (ABC)

Four Feather Falls, 1960 (Granada)

Read the full text

Crossroads to Crime, 1960 (film)

Supercar, 1961–1962, (ATV)

Fireball XL5, 1962–1963 (ATV)

Stingray, 1964–1965 (ATV)

Thunderbirds (first series), 1965–1966 (ATV)

From Wikipedia’s article on AP Films, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Owners

  • Lew Grade

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1966Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1957Founded Founded in Maidenhead1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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