For the history of the Centre, please see the history of the TV studios in London: http://www.tvstudiohistory.co.uk/.
This is White City in the 1920s.
There are so many features of interest. In the foreground, the Central Line loops around in an anti-clockwise direction into the White City station. The initial part of that curve is still there, but the line then turns sharply to the right to get to the new White City station and then on past Wormwood Scrubs prison out to Ealing Broadway and West Ruislip.
The White City Stadium – right hand side, half way up – built for the 1908 Summer Olympic Games – looks in reasonable condition. By the 1960s it was in a very parlous state. Athletics were still taking place there but the structure looked in bad condition. The Stadium was demolished in 1985.
The White City Stadium features in the climax to the 1950 film “The Blue Lamp”. This film starred Jack Warner as PC Dixon, and became the inspiration for the 1955 to 1976 TV series “Dixon of Dock Green”, where Jack Warner continued to play PC Dixon until he was 80 years old (even though Dixon’s murder is the central plot of the original film). In the middle 1960s (certainly) “Dixon of Dock Green” was telerecorded (2” quad Videotape) in Television Centre Studios TC3 or TC4 – not that far away from the White City Stadium!
Roger Bunce
The Royal Television Society’s celebration of TV Centre’s 60 Anniversary, in super-lock-down-scope, soon to have its gala, red-carpet premiere on YouTube.
