Company Profile - Mark Thompson Productions

From brand to stage

Mark Thompson Productions is expert in developing edutainment shows, as well as holding a strong reputation as the UK’s leading company for STEM engagement productions.

With over 900 individual performances planned for 2025, Mark Thompson Productions is leading the way in taking well-known pre-school, family and education brands to the theatre market. Current rights include Milkshake! Live with Paramount, Fireman Sam Live! with Mattel, Science Museum The Live Stage Show with Science Museum Group, Natural History Museum presents Dinosaurs Live with Natural History Museum Trading Company, Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter’s The Dinosaur That Pooped, while the company also produces the Ministry of Science Live shows which tour the UK annually.

Established in 2013, Mark Thompson Productions has built a reputation for taking pre-school and family brands from page and screen to stage. Building on Mark’s 24-year career in children’s entertainment, the company has produced the Milkshake! Live shows independently since 2014 across the UK. A multi-brand show, the current storyline of Milkshake! on Holiday includes a selection of character brands from Channel 5’s Milkshake! including Chase and Marshall from Paw Patrol, Pip and Posy, Milo, Blue from Blues Clues and You!, Dora and Milkshake! Monkey. In 2024, the Milkshake! Live tour will play in over 80 different towns or cities across the UK alone. The twoyear cycle sees the Milkshake! Live show refreshed every 24 months with a new story, new production values and new brands, to ensure that the concept remains in line with current programming on the popular morning broadcast platform.

The company also produces the Fireman Sam Live shows under a licence agreement from Mattel, which was entered into in 2019. Fireman Sam Live Saves the Circus toured to over 120 venues in the UK and the Middle East, and with the second tour - entitled Fireman Sam Live The Great Camping Adventure - the brand has cemented its position as a family favourite in the UK theatre market. The stage rights position has been extended up to the end of 2027 with further stories and tours already planned.

Developing edutainment shows is at the core of the company’s portfolio and it has firmly built a reputation as the UK’s leading company for STEM engagement productions. Self-created brand Ministry of Science Live! has been touring the UK and internationally since 2014 to capacity audiences. In 2023, the show took over sole occupancy of London’s Savoy Theatre in the West End, playing to thousands of people and building on a hugely successful journey so far. The company is often invited to develop STEM based interactive shows and experiences for other international partners with shows developed or performed for the Mishkat Centre for Renewable Energy in Saudi Arabia, the British Council in Hong Kong, BT Young Scientist, Art for All UAE, Engineering UK, Formula 1 and the Abu Dhabi Science Festival, which represent just some of the clients the team has worked with.

Building on this success, the company has partnered with London’s Science Museum and taken a long-term licence agreement, creating the museum’s new live show: Science Museum The Live Stage Show. Launched to the UK theatre market in 2024, the show aims to ignite the curiosity of children through the wonders of science. A long-term plan is in place to develop the show both in the UK and internationally, not only as an extension of the Museum’s outreach but also introducing new audiences to the Science Museum brand through the live entertainment market. The show has already been seen by tens of thousands of people and is extending the reach of the Museum across the UK.

In February 2025, the company will launch a brand-new production: Natural History Museum presents Dinosaurs Live! under a licence agreement with London’s worldrenowned Natural History Museum. The live show will see audiences come up close and personal with life-like animatronic dinosaurs whilst going on an educational yet entertaining journey through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The live show will give an insight into the museum’s long-standing and undisputed position as the home of dinosaurs and explore the connection with Sir Richard Owen, the man behind the Natural History Museum who also coined the word Dinosaur. The long-term rights agreement between Mark Thompson Productions and the Natural History Museum Trading Company will see the new show tour the UK and explore international options for years to come.

The company will also produce a stage adaptation of McFly stars Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter’s hit book The Dinosaur That Pooped, for younger theatregoers. The live show, which is under licence for several years, will be adapted from the series of books which reached the No1 spot in July 2024 with the release of the ninth book of the series. Launching in 2025, the live show will offer children the opportunity to see their favourite characters from the hit book collection come alive on stage.

With a wide and diverse portfolio of productions across family entertainment, the company is in prime position to offer brands maximum exposure in the live events arena. Over 450 separate theatre dates are already scheduled in for 2025, and the company has developed its reputation with UK theatres as a leading, reputable provider of family entertainment, offering theatre venues, festivals and live entertainment programmers a one stop shop for trusted, good quality family shows spanning different target ages and topics. The diversity in the portfolio allows cross marketing opportunities, ensuring that theatres and events organisers benefit from the wider family of shows across the UK, and further afield, with audiences who trust the overall quality of productions from the Mark Thompson Productions portfolio.

For further information about Mark Thompson Productions, visit the website at www.mt-productions.co.uk