Century 21 Organisation

Century 21 Organisation
Industry
Genre
PredecessorAP Films
Founded1962 (name registered)
FounderGerry Anderson
FateDefunct
SuccessorCentury 21 Enterprises
HeadquartersUnited Kingdom
Key people
ParentAssociated Television
Subsidiaries

The Century 21 Organisation was a group of companies founded by Gerry Anderson in the early 1960s to expand on his television production company, AP Films (APF; later Century 21 Productions). In addition to APF, the group included:

  • a property licensing company, AP Films Merchandising (established in 1960 as an APF subsidiary, later renamed Century 21 Merchandising);
  • a record label, Century 21 Records (established in 1964) – a joint venture with Pye Records, producing soundtracks and tie-in audiobooks;
  • a toy manufacturer, Century 21 Toys (established in 1966) – formed by Century 21's acquisition of J. Rosenthal Toys;
  • a publishing company, Century 21 Publishing or Century 21 Publications (established in 1966). In partnership with City Magazines, it created the comics titles TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope, among others. It also published tie-in novels through Armada Books.

Most of the companies' activities were marketing of products created by Century 21 Productions — in particular the TV series Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Joe 90, although some spin-off media were based on characters and machines from other media franchises, often connected to Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.