extreme videoPRODUCTION · TECHNOLOGYFILM. BROADCAST. CAMERA TECHNOLOGY.
Production experience. Technical thinking.
From specialist camera systems to film, television and the next generation of imaging.
We bring the production and the engineering together.
NORWICH / BEYONDTHE FILM · 1986 TO NOW
Forty years in just over three minutes: from Eastern Video’s first films in 1986, through Extreme Video’s television and motorsport work, to Epic Studios, Epic Broadcast and Epic EV Studios today.
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THE EV STORY IN LOGOS
A one-minute film of every logo, from Scott Bedford’s first EVS design in 1986 to Epic EV Studios, EVM and EV Canopy today.
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Start with the project. Bring together the right people, facilities and technical approach.
Tell us what you needProduction development and practical support for screen projects. We combine filmmaking experience with a technical understanding of how a production gets made, from the initial brief to the demands of the shoot.
Discuss a production ↗Through Epic Broadcast: studio and location filming, production crews, cameras, lighting and support for live productions. Availability and the right crew and equipment package are agreed for each project. Current Epic services ↗
Epic’s Norwich production facilities connect studio space with people and equipment. Contact the broadcast team to discuss the space, access and production requirements for your shoot. Explore the studios ↗
A background in bespoke cameras and difficult filming environments informs new work in camera-based perception, computer vision and visual navigation. Current research is developmental, not an off-the-shelf product.
Our technical direction ↓
THE EPIC CONNECTION
Extreme Video acquired Epic Studios in 2012. The former Anglia Television studios became the next chapter in a story already rooted in filmmaking and specialist camera technology.
Today, Epic Broadcast provides studio facilities, equipment and crews for film and television production.
Visit Epic BroadcastThe story begins with Jonathan Thursby’s Eastern Video wedding work, then moves into television, bespoke camera engineering and new industries. The early dates below are Jonathan’s approximate recollections, not Extreme Video Limited’s incorporation date.
Jonathan started Eastern Video in summer 1986 after Norwich School and A levels. He intended a gap year before mechanical engineering at Imperial College, but the wedding-video business took off and he never went to university. Eastern Video began as his sole-trader business.
Jonathan stopped filming weddings as he started work on Top Gear. His recollection places that transition around 1992, before the 1993–2004 motorsport minicam period described in the archive below.
Before compact action cameras, Jonathan describes designing complete systems around separate cameras and tape recorders: mounts, power, controls, microphones and interfaces. Rally cars, racing boats and ocean-going yachts each presented different problems of vibration, heat and water.
Jonathan describes applying that extreme-environment camera experience to oil-well inspection through EV Offshore. The separate business later expanded internationally and was acquired by Enersol in 2024; it is a separate business from Extreme Video.
Extreme Video acquired Epic Studios in 2012. Jonathan’s account describes a long-held ambition to own a television studio and develop a media hub in Norwich, with the family involved in filming, editing and running events.
The television-led plan evolved as the market changed. In his 2025 interview, Jonathan describes developing live entertainment and corporate activity alongside production, putting the venue to work beyond individual show nights.
Production remains part of the work. Alongside it, we are exploring how camera systems can interpret a scene as well as record it.
Cold, heat, vibration, salt water. Or simply a camera that needed to disappear into the background.
A system the location crew could operate and keep running in polar conditions.
Extreme Video designed and built HD rigs for both the vehicle and the husky sled, with weatherproofing, insulation and built-in heaters to protect the equipment and tape stock from freezing.
Custom one-push recording controls made the rigs simple for the location crew or presenters to use, because production constraints meant a technical operator could not accompany the expedition.
Fit the recording system safely without compromising the vehicle.
The available recorder space was beside the exhaust, so Extreme Video developed a dedicated cooling system and worked with JCB’s engineers to integrate the video equipment into the car’s electrical system.
The work extended from 3D models, installation drawings and UK testing to operating the system at the Bonneville Salt Flats, supplying run-review footage for the team and rushes for news coverage.
For BTCC and Granada Sport, Extreme Video developed in-car and onboard systems tailored to individual cars, including shock-resistant roll-cage mounts, exterior bullet cameras and integrated recording equipment.
Engineers fitted and operated the systems around the race schedule, while permanent, user-friendly installations gave teams another option for recording in their own time.
Working with Indigo Television on the ITV1 documentary, Extreme Video supplied the discreet HD audio and video system used to record Sir Trevor McDonald interviewing Prince Philip as they drove around the Sandringham estate.
The archive records two months of design and planning, including route checks, health and safety checks and a design proof for approval before the system was fitted to the car.
Extreme Video designed waterproof three-chip cameras for external yacht mounting, with specially engineered mounts offering manually controlled pan, tilt, zoom and horizon levelling for the BT Global Challenge.
A combined monitor, recorder and control unit was built to make operation straightforward for the boats’ crews, while the exposed cameras were designed for extended use in severe weather.
Our minicam work spanned the World Rally Championship, British Rally Championship, British Touring Car Championship and offshore powerboat racing. Dates and scope are from Jonathan Thursby’s account of the company’s history.
Camera systems built around the vehicle, the crew and the demands of the event.
Between 1993 and 2004, we handled the minicam work across World Rally Championship, British Rally Championship, British Touring Car Championship and offshore powerboat racing. This period and breadth of work are confirmed by Jonathan Thursby’s account of the EV history.
A July 2002 industry article describes Eastern Video’s years of rally-camera experience and quotes Jonathan on the ambition to run more cameras in each car, subject to size and weight constraints.
The surviving EV history also records British Rally Championship and Vauxhall Rally work, WRC and Formula 1 contracts, and Class 1 powerboats.
Our 2004 Puddlecam release records extensive WRC use of the resin-housed miniature camera for ground-level pictures beneath the action.
A production that drew on more than camera skills.
Jonathan remembers the Botswana production as demanding his whole skill set. As well as protecting cameras against heat and dust, he and the team helped keep the vehicles going.
After Richard Hammond’s car, Oliver, went through the river sequence, Jonathan recalls working with the team on the engine, distributor and fuel lines, getting it running again and driving it back to camp. It is a practical example of the problem-solving behind the pictures, told in his own interview account.
Jonathan’s selected production credits are listed separately below.
SELECTED SCREEN CREDITS
Jonathan Thursby’s listed minicam credits. A selection from IMDb, not a complete filmography.
Polar Special (2007): minicams, credited as “Sir Ranulph Thursby”.
Botswana Special (2007): mini camera operator, credited as “Archbishop Desmond Thursby”.
Vietnam Special (2008): mini camera operator, credited as “Francis Ford Thursby”.
Bolivia Special (2009): mini camera operator.
Jonathan is listed with that credit on Clarkson: The Italian Job (2010).
The same credit appears on Clarkson: Powered Up (2011). These are separate Clarkson productions, not Top Gear episodes.
Extreme Video also designed a hands-free three-way radio system so all three presenters could talk and listen simultaneously. The original case study records its use on the Alfa Romeo challenge.
FROM THE CAMERA WORKSHOP
Two examples from the EV Special Facilities archive. Historical designs, not a current product catalogue.
A miniature camera moulded into a protective resin housing, developed for hard-to-reach ground-level shots and used in World Rally Championship coverage and Anglia Television’s Demolition Day.
A boom-mounted minicam with mechanically linked pan and tilt, used for moving close-ups of the Lotus Elise in the award-winning Change the Rules production.
More of the story, from filming on location to specialist camera engineering.
Eastern Video’s production archive04 / WHAT’S NEXT
Our current technical direction builds on the same practical curiosity: what else can a camera system do?
We are developing research around computer vision, camera-based localisation and visual navigation. The focus is on understanding what is technically possible, testing ideas and developing practical systems.
Research and development. Not a released product.
Discuss a technical collaborationLET’S MAKE A START
A film, a production challenge, a camera problem or a new technical idea. Start a conversation with us.
jonathan@easternvideo.co.ukExtreme Video Limited · Registered in England and Wales · Company no. 03677539.
Registered office: 112–114 Magdalen Street, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1JD.