Lime Pictures

Lime Pictures, formerly known as Mersey Television, is a British television production company owned by All3Media, founded by producer and writer Phil Redmond in the early 1980s. It produces drama and entertainment shows for the international market, including Hollyoaks, The Only Way Is Essex, Geordie Shore and Free Rein.

History

Mersey Television's first major production was the soap opera Brookside for Channel 4, which ran from the channel's foundation in 1982 until 2003, when it was taken off air due to declining ratings. A three-part spin-off ('soap bubble') of Brookside was produced in November 1987, titled Damon and Debbie.

In 1995, the company began producing a second soap opera for Channel 4, Hollyoaks, which still runs.

Both Brookside and Hollyoaks were created by Redmond himself, and in 2003 the company took over production of another series he had created, the children's drama Grange Hill, which had first been broadcast on BBC1 in 1978 and had been made in-house by the BBC until Mersey Television took over. The company moved production of the series to its Liverpool base, with the fictional school no longer being established as in London but instead at an unspecified UK location.

North West Television franchise bid

Acqusition by All3Media

By 22 June 2005, British production group All3Media had brought Mersey Television, the acquisition of Mersey Televusion had gained All3Media's entry into the scripted production genre as Mersey Television became a subsidiary of All3Media[2] and, in a contractual requirement, renamed as Lime Pictures in 2006. Since then the company has produced the following series:

In February 2008 when Lime Pictures' long-running soap opera Hollyoaks entered HD production, Lime Pictures had upgraded its in-house post-production facility unit with the launch of its HD production facitlies which would be supplied by Data Direct Networks and had started its operations four months later in June of that year.[7]

In November 2018, Lime Pictures expanded its operations into Leeds and had partnered with former Shiver founder Mark Johnson to form a non-scripted production subsidiary based in Leeds entitled Wise Owl Films with Mark Johnson became its president of Lime Oictures' new lroduction subsidiary Wise Owl Films.[8]

In September 2019, Lime Pictures' parent All3Media had brought the former together with its fellow London-based factual production subsidiary Lion Television (which All3Media had brought it in 2004), with Lime Pictures folded Lion Television's London-based production office into the former own London-based production office while Lion's managing directors & co-founders Richard Bradley and Nick Catliff became CCOs and joined Lime Pictures' London production office while Lion Television continued operating as it became a label under Lime's Londom office.[9]

In September 2024, Lime Pictures had shuttered its London production office with Lime Pictures transferring its unscripted productions that were formerly produced by its London office such as The Only Way Is Essex and Celebs Go Dating to All3Media's fellow production subsidiary Objective Media Group (whom Lime Pictures had previously produced Fresh Meat with them) via the latter's new unscripted label Objective Entertainment with Lime Pictures's joint managing directors of Lime Pictures' London production office Kate Little and Claire Poyser depatured Lime Pictures after 12 years as All3Media's fellow subsidiary Lion TV which was housed at Lime's london office became a separate label, while Rebecca Kenny-Smith who formerly headed Lime's London office had joined Objective Entertainment to head the production takeover of the brands.[10][11][10]

In 2007, Lime Pictures produced an eight-part series called Living on the Edge, documenting the real lives of a group of teenagers in Cheshire, which was shown on MTV.

In 2007, it produced the short-lived ITV sitcom Bonkers.

In 2008, it produced the first (and so far, only) series of Apparitions, starring Martin Shaw as an exorcist.

In 2009, it produced the BBC Switch reality drama The Season filmed in Val-d'Isère.

In 2010, Lime Pictures produced a pilot episode for the E4 sitcom Sex and the Chippy, written by Heather Robson and Neil Jones.[3]

Since 2010, Lime Pictures has produced the award-winning reality series The Only Way Is Essex for ITV2.

Through 2011 to 2013, Lime Pictures, along with Nickelodeon Productions and Studio 100, produced House of Anubis, which aired on Nickelodeon.

From 2011 to 2022, Lime Pictures produced Geordie Shore

former name	Mersey Television (1982–2006)
type	Subsidiary
foundation	1982
founder	Phil Redmond
location city	Liverpool
location country	United Kingdom
key people	Claire Poyser and Kate Little (Joint Managing Directors) Mirella Breda (Chief Creative Officer)
industry	Television production
products	Television programmes Grange Hill (1978–2008) Brookside (1982–2003) Damon and Debbie (1987) Hollyoaks (1995–present) The Courtroom (2004) Living on the Edge (2007) Bonkers (2007) Apparitions (2008) The Only Way Is Essex (2010–present)
parent	All3Media (2005–present)
divisions	Wise Owl Films
homepage	limepictures.com

History

North West Television franchise bid

Acqusition by All3Media

Awards and nominations

External links

References