Summary
Purple Productions, led by creative director Pam Cavannagh and Dympna Jackson, specialised in factual entertainment formats and observational documentaries. The company was part of Objective Media Group, which was owned by All3Media before its takeover last year by Abu Dhabi and New York-based venture RedBird IMI.
Banijay and All3Media completed their merger last week, creating Banijay Entertainment with an enterprise value of £8bn. The combined entity owns over 265,000 hours of content and includes major shows such as The Traitors, Big Brother, MasterChef and Peaky Blinders, alongside other Northern production companies including Lime Pictures in Merseyside and Leeds-based Wise Owl Films.
The closure comes as the UK television production landscape undergoes significant consolidation, with a proposed Sky-ITV merger also under consideration. RedBird IMI had previously stated that the All3Media takeover would not impact jobs at Northern labels, but Purple's closure suggests otherwise for Manchester's production sector.
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Common questions
- What is this article about?
- Purple Productions, a Manchester-based independent television company behind BBC's Doorbell Detectives, has closed following the completion of the £5bn merger between Banijay and All3Media. The closure marks the first job losses from the deal, which created a London-based production giant with a catalogue exceeding 265,000 hours.
- When was this published?
- This article was published on 15 July 2026.
- Who published this article?
- This article was published by Prolific North.