Ragdoll Productions

Ragdoll Productions was founded on 26 July 1984 by Anne Wood, who produced shows for the ITV network. It was incorporated as Ragdoll Productions (U.K.) Limited in April 1985 and was originally based in Birmingham. The company's first show, Pob's Programme, debuted on Channel 4 later that year. The company was later commissioned by Central Independent Television to produce Playbox, which demonstrated the ability for the company to produce their own characters. In 1989, The Magic Mirror and BOOM! marked the company's debut in live-action and animation markets. The company at first produced puppet-based programmes, and their mascot was originally a female rag doll that wore a chequered shirt with matching trousers, and black flats, and was also holding a candle in the earlier logos. The rag doll character was based on the one owned by Anne Wood's daughter.

In 1992, when Tots TV starting filming, the company moved their operations to Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and opened up The Ragdoll Shop on 9 April of the next year.

In the mid-1990s, Ragdoll expanded operations to the United States, and signed a deal with The Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Company to sell all their programmes in the market.

In 1 June 2000, Ragdoll dropped their rag doll mascot for a more simplistic logo designed by Lambie-Nairn, with the company also adopting a new name of Ragdoll Limited by that point. During that time, the company started to move away from puppet-based shows (which started with Teletubbies in 1997), by making costume-based programmes and animated cartoons.

In October 2001, Ragdoll parted ways with Itsy Bitsy following a failure to reach an agreement with the company's majority owner, the Handleman Group. Ragdoll then started to sell their programmes on their own from then-on, renaming Ragdoll USA.

In January 2002, Teletubbies: Everywhere, a spin-off of Teletubbies, was announced to air on CBeebies within its launch debut. On 14 June, a new series titled Boohbah was announced and was pre-sold to CITV and GMTV for a 2003 delivery. The show later saw an international roll-out.

At MIPTV 2005, Ragdoll announced a new series titled Blurrfect and that CITV had acquired broadcasting rights for an autumn 2005 delivery. By September 2005, the series was renamed Blips, and soon premiered on 29 September 2005 as part of the CITV's autumn schedule. On 13 October, Ragdoll unrevealed two new series that were pre-sold to the BBC: In the Night Garden... and Tronji, for a 2007 delivery. In October 2005, Ragdoll subsidiary The Ragdoll Foundation announced that Five's Milkshake! block had commissioned a series of six short films titled What Makes Me Happy?, which would air daily from 19 December 2005.

In September 2006, Ragdoll formed a collaborative venture with BBC Worldwide called Ragdoll Worldwide, to sell and license the company's programmes outside of the UK and North America. In the Night Garden... and Tronji would be the first two programmes created as part of the venture, while existing programmes were handled by BBC Worldwide, which managed the international broadcast sales and the UK and international licensing of all Ragdoll properties (including Blips, Boohbah, Brum, Tots TV, Rosie & Jim, and Open a Door), with Ragdoll retaining all British broadcast rights. A new subsidiary, Ragdoll U.S.A. Inc., part of the new joint venture, would manage Ragdoll's distribution in North America.

The following are some of productions made by Anne Wood before Ragdoll was founded, accompanied by a brief description and vital statistics:

Puzzle Party - first broadcast in 1977. Hosted by Gyles Brandreth and featuring characters Gnigel and Gnu, the show was one of Anne Wood's earliest TV shows for the BBC.

The Book Tower - first broadcast in 1979, hosted by Tom Baker and Stephen Moore.

Ragdolly Anna - first broadcast in 1982, based on the children's books by Jean Kenward.