Lionheart Television

Background : Lionheart Television International, Inc. was formed on May 1, 1981 as a joint venture primarily consisting of Western World Television and Public Media, Inc. Lionheart took over the US distribution rights to the BBC's television output after a previous deal with Time-Life Television expired, and also that of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. BBC eventually bought Lionheart outright by 1987, making it their North American distribution arm (now called BBC America).

1st Logo

(May 1, 1981-1987)

Nickname : "Zooming/Flipping Lion"

Logo : On a plain black background, a crude white drawing of a lion holding a thunderbolt. From the left side of the picture, the words "AN ABC PRODUCTION" or "A BBC TV PRODUCTION" (with "BBC" in 3D) fly out. That then flips to reveal:

Distributed by

LIONHEART

TELEVISION INTERNATIONAL INC.

"LIONHEART" is lettered in a highly ornate style.

Variant : A variation of this logo was used for programmes produced by ABC TV in Australia, in which the words "AN ABC PRODUCTION" zoom below the logo.

Trivia : The Lion in the logo is part of the BBC's Coat of Arms.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor : The Scanimated "zooming-flipping lion" almost looks like it has its tongue sticking out (which is probably intentional).

Music/Sounds : A Moog synthesizer tune that starts with what sounds like a "winning" sound effect on a slot machine or a video game, which is followed by a fanfare.

Availability : Extinct. Usually replaced with the 2nd logo. It may or may not appear on the original VHS of The Home Whovian.

2nd Logo

(1987-1993)

Nicknames: "Lion and Stripe", "The BBC In America"

Logo : Against a black screen, many white dots "dissolve" upwards and form a red and white lion's head. The words "LIONHEART TELEVISION - THE BBC IN AMERICA" appear from the bottom of the screen while a red and white stripe is "drawn" under the lion's head. There is a "V" shaped bend in the stripe at the part below the head.

Variant : Some shows had a copyright date below the logo. Sometimes the animation would begin superimposed over a scene from the preceding program.

FX/SFX : The lion materializing, the stripe being drawn, flying words.

Cheesy Factor : Simple '80s animation.

Music/Sounds : None, or the end music of the show.

Availability : Can still be seen at the end of Are You Being Served?. However, not every episode has it, not by the usage of the "BBC America Presents" bumper as previously mentioned. Also at the end of some Fawlty Towers reruns. The version with the superimposition and the copyright date was seen at the end of the short-lived US adaptation of Top of the Pops, which aired briefly Friday late-nights on CBS in the 1987-88 season.

3rd Logo

(1993-1994)

Nicknames : "BBC-Lionheart Globe", "Computer Originated World"

Logo : The BBC1 1985-1991 "COW" globe is seen spinning around while parallelograms with the letters "BBC" drop over the globe. Under the "BBC", three red lines and the words "LIONHEART TELEVISION"appear with "A BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION COMPANY" in small letters underneath.

FX/SFX : The CGI BBC logo flying into place on the globe; the remaining text fading into place.

Music/Sounds : A synthesized fanfare that sounds vaguely like the one in the first logo. Also used the ITC 1986 music on Madison's Adventures: Growing Up Wild.

Availability : Rare, but it was seen a good deal on A&E (Lovejoy, A Touch of Frost, Pole To Pole with Michael Palin) and PBS until the mid '90s. This was also used to replace the older Lionheart (and Time-Life) logos on reissued BBC library shows (i.e. Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served? (other/later episodes), Good Neighbours, 'Allo,'Allo, To The Manor Born). This also appeared on some of the CBS/FOX-distributed BBC Video tapes (Blackadder's Christmas Carol; Shada).