Deserted Places: studio

Sunday, March 17, 2013

BBC Television Centre: The end of an era

For more than 50 years, BBC Television Centre in West London has been the headquarters of BBC Television. Some of the best known BBC productions have been filmed in its studios, including Fawlty Towers, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Doctor Who, and most of the BBC drama series.

During the last decades, TV Centre has also been the headquarters of BBC News, housing the department's central newsroom as well as the studios for BBC News and BBC World News tv channels and other tv and radio news bulletins.

BBC TV Centre opened its doors in 1960, after 10 years of planning and construction. From the air, the overall design has the shape of a question mark. The studios, offices, engineering areas and the News Centre are built around a central circular plaza with the statue of of Helios, the Greek god of the sun in its centre, symbolizing the radiation of television around the world. Its studios are of various sizes and Studio 1 with a surface of 995 square metres (10,250 ft²), is currently the 4th largest studio in the UK.

In 2009, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport decided to list at Grade II parts of the building, due to their architectural and historic interest.

In 2007, BBC announced that it will sell the Television Centre and relocate its staff to the New Broadcasting House in central London as well as to MediaCityUK in Salford, near Manchester. The relocation, which started in late 2011, is to be completed by the end of March 2013, and currently most of the TVC is empty. After renovations will be completed, BBC is going to lease some of the refurbished studios and use them for its productions. The rest of the building will include a mix of leisure, office, and residential space.

Although it is not and will not be abandoned, here are some photos of one of the most iconic buildings of British television.