Pioneer Productions is a British television production company based in London, United Kingdom, specialising in scientific and other documentary productions.
History Founded in 1988 by Nigel Henbest, Heather Couper, and Stuart Carter, Pioneer targeted science broadcasting in a period of global telemedia expansion and sought relationships with US factual television broadcasters.
In the 1990s, it produced series entitled Raging Planet and Extreme Machines. Later CGI films included Journey to the Edge of the Universe, The Unsinkable Titanic, , Extraordinary Animals, In the Womb, and Catastrophe. In 2009, it helped produce the six-part series Christianity: A History for Channel 4.
In 2026, Pioneer secured exclusive access to Tupac Shakur murder suspect Keefe Dsecur and will produce a documentary about the trial.
Awards Pioneer has won the "Best Science Film" award twice at the Banff World Media Festival, the Grand Award at the New York Television Festival, a UK Indie award, Sony Award, CINE Golden Eagles, and other prizes in the U.S., France, Italy, and Greece. Recently, Pioneer Productions has won an Emmy Award and awards at the Royal Television Society.
Content Produced by Pioneer Productions +ShowFormatProduced forMother Undercover (2023)TV miniseriesHuluGold: A Journey with Idris Elba (2023)MovieWorld Gold CouncilThe Windsor Castle Fire (2023)MovieChannel 4Animals Like Us (Unknown)TV miniseriesLove Nature Sky NatureRob Cell's Engineering Reborn (2022-2023)TV miniseries5SelectIn the Womb: Animal Babies (2022)TV miniseriesNational Geographic WildSecrets of the Royal Gardens (2022)TV miniseriesMore4V-Day (2020)MovieSmithsonian ChannelOcean Autopsy (2020)MovieBBC Four#Trump: How Social Media Changed the Presidency (2020)MoviePassion Distribution AMC/SundanceWhat Happens to Your Body When You Climb? (2020)Short filmRed BullChasing the Equinox (2020)MovieNational GeographicSecrets of the Superfactories (2019-2023)TV seriesMore4One Hour that Changed the World: Moon Landing (2019)MovieEden Passion DistributionSuperstructures: Engineering Marvels (2019)TV miniseriesNational GeographicAnimals After Dark (2019)Channel 5Planes Gone Viral (2018)PassionCharlie Head Standing up for the Amazon (2018)TV episodeRed BullThe Great American Eclipse (2017)MovieScience ChannelSecrets of Christ's Tomb (2017)National GeographicCradle to Grave (2017)Voyage of the Finnmen (2016)Red BullOpen Space Namibia (2016)Treasures of the Earth (2016)TV miniseriesPBSDavid Baddiel on the Silk Road (2016)TV miniseriesDiscovery ChannelYour Face Says It All (2016)Channel 4Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary (2016)MovieBBC TwoMail Order Murder (2014-2015)TV miniseriesInvestigation DiscoveryThe Next Mega Tsunami (2014)MovieNational GeographicHow Sex Works (2013)BBC ThreeStrangest Weather on Earth (2013-2015)TV seriesThe Weather ChannelDisasters at Sea: Why Ships Sink (2012)Movie / TV Episode*Channel 4 *NOVAStorm City 3D (2012)TV miniseriesSkyHow Drugs Work (2011)BBC ThreeThe Year The Earth Went Wild (2011)MovieChannel 4Witness: Disaster (Unknown)National GeographicUFO UK: New Evidence (2011)CuriosityEgypt: What Lies Beneath with Brendan Fraser (2011)TV episodeDiscovery ChannelHow Will The World End with Samuel L. Jackson (2011)What's Beneath America with Martin Sheen (2011)Why is Sex Fun with Maggie Gyllenhaal (2011)Japan Tsunami: How It Happened (2011)MovieChannel 4The Year Britain Froze (2011)Birth of Britain (2010)TV miniseriesMad and Bad: 60 Years of Science on TV (2010)MovieBBC FourThe Volcano that Stopped the World (Unknown)Channel 4How The Universe Works (2010-2023 )TV seriesDiscovery Channel Science ChannelOklahoma's Deadliest Tornadoes (2013)TV episodeNOVABuried Alive: Chile Mine Rescue (2010)MovieChannel 4The Bible: A History (2010)TV miniseriesChristianity: A History (2009)The DaVinci Shroud (2009)MovieThe Unsinkable Titanic (2008)Channel 4 National Geographic
Discovery Canada
FremantleMediaJourney to the Edge of the Universe (2008)National GeographicCatastrophe (2008)TV miniseriesChannel 4 Discovery ChannelHindenburg (2007)MovieChannel 4 Smithsonian Channel
ZDFFloods - The Year Britain Went Under (2007)Channel 4Inside the Living Body (2007)National GeographicBritain's Worst Weather (2007)TV miniseriesChannel 4How The Earth Was Made (2007*, 2009-2010**)*Movie; **TV seriesHistory ChannelChallenger: Countdown to Disaster (2006)MovieChannel 4Extraordinary Animals in the Womb (2005-2010)TV seriesChannel 4 Granada International
National GeographicKrakatoa (2005)Channel 4Naked Science (2004-2011)National GeographicRaging Planet (1997, 2009)Discovery Channel (US) Channel 4 (UK)
References
External links
Naked Science, the official YouTube channel of Pioneer Productions Universe - Space Documentaries, which is the second YouTube channel of Pioneer Productions dedicated to space documentaries