Background
20th September 2014 – London – Open House Final Visit to Television Centre – the world’s first purpose built TV studios. The studios are clustered around the famous circular central building, designed by Graham Dawbarn in 1960, and the site includes the famous statue of Helios and the John Piper mural.
From Reception to the Studios ..
Ian Moody
Ian went on the Open House Visit to Television Centre on the 20th September 2014.
Pictures here are from Ian Moody’s Face Book Page.
(words by Alec Bray – hope Ian does not mind …)
The studios are empty. The sets are struck and gone,
The cranes and cameras derigged, the lighting pale and wan.
The tracking ladders rubbed out, the wax marks on the floor
Have gone and so have Racks, and Sparks and microphones – and more …
No cables figure-eighted for the cranes and peds to pull,
No cables hitched to yellow rails, no caption rolls to spool …
No make up girls with scented hankies wafting in the air,
No actors, dancers, scenemen, FMs – no commissionaire …
Bare walls are all we’re left with – soon they will be destroyed.
The television factory made progs we all enjoyed –
A made-for-purpose centre, with everything to hand –
But going, gone, it’s in the past, the whole place now is canned.
I came to Telly Centre – a young man straight from school
To BBC TV Tech Ops where quality would rule –
The BBC! The Best in World for Camera work and Sound,
A monument to this you want – just take a look around
the programmes made by Tech Ops crews with cameramen Mike Bond,
Ron Green, Geoff Feld, Dave Mutton too, Jim Atkinson, beyond
the credits – never known to viewers sat at home –
as shots were tracked and craned and zoomed and mic booms raised and roamed.
The studios are empty. The dramas bled away,
The LE “shiny floor” shows still go out on Saturday
From Elstree, Pinewood, Ealing (yes!) – from anywhere but here
That’s purpose-build, a decent size – equipped with all the gear…
The studios are empty, the audience long gone,
Musicians packed their music stands, the singer’s sung her song.
The mixing desk has faded down, the VM cut to black –
Consigned to Tech Ops stories – what’s the use of looking back?
The Gallery glow’s a ghostly blue but no directors rant or rave
orchestrating shots and shows the viewing public craved.
First Drama fled, then serials – producer choice to blame? –
The studios are empty now. It is a crying shame.
The studios are empty. Talkback cans not needed here –
No AFMs to call the cast, the dressing rooms are clear.
The tea bars serve no coffee, the crew rooms now deserted
like all of Telly Centre – a decision quite perverted.
The studios are empty now. There’s no echo – there’s no sound –
The Beeb has lost – destroyed – its grand Theatre in the round.
The icon’s smashed – bean counters won the game,
Whatever it becomes the site can never be the same.
Tony Crake
In the collection of TVC shots featuring lifeless studios filled with Auction Items… the attached shot looks to me like the final turn in the Inner Ring Road down by what became TC8.
Pat Heigham
I deliberately did not go to the ‘last visit’ as I wished to remember TVC in the wonderful 1960s when I was happy working there.
The empty studio photos – I was half expecting the Tardis to materialise in the middle!
I am in touch with fellow sound colleagues (although now retired for a number of years), and hear horrendous stories of trying to shoot useable sound in old warehouses and hangers which are cheap to hire and in which to build sets (great under the Heathrow flightpath and in the rain!).
Such a pity to think that a perfect purpose-built facility is just thrown away by non-technical people who haven’t a clue how to produce TV and films. It is my belief that the accountants decided to charge programmes for the technical facilities, but the budgets didn’t reflect this, so producers went outside to competitive venues, thus the studios at TVC fell into disuse (TC1 being used as a scene store!)
A great pity.
