"The west London complex has seven television studios. The largest - Studio 1 - is 11,000 square feet (3,280 square metres) and can be partially converted into a swimming pool."
A quote from the link above!!!
I never knew that studio had the ability to be partially converted in to a swimming pool. Anyone here know if this ability still exist? Why it was designed that way? Was the swimming pool ever used?
It was planned but never happenned due to issues with tracking cameras smoothly over it when it was in the raised position, but one corner of TC1 has a reinforced floor.
Indeed there were plans for TC1 to have a floor that was partially lowerable and flood-able. This was to partly to provide for water scenes to be shot, but also for circus and variety acts that might want to take advantage of such a feature. While TC1 never actually had the facility because of the aforementioned fears about smooth camera tracking across the join, to this day there are different floor loading regualtions in parts of the studio. AIUI there is still a void beneath TC1 which is used for storage, where the tank would have been...
Elstree Studio-C
does
have a partially loweable floor though! Used famously for the making of The Muppet Show, I've no idea if it is still operational, nor when it was actually last used.
I never knew about the second water tank at Elstree, but I knew about the first one on which the Big Brother house now sits, and films and TV series' such as Dambusters, Moby Dick, The Saint, The Baron and The Avengers were filmed there. I wonder if the housemates know what they are living on.
The TV Studio History site again is the fount of all knowledge on the subject of ELS-C's under-floor tank
Clicky
As for what was made in C, the studio opened un 1961 under the ownership of ATV. They used it primarily for studio dramas and shows without audiences. Under the BBC the first programme to be made in there was EastEnders from 1984-1991. After that it became home to Top of the Pops until the show moved back to TVC under Andi Peters. EastEnders has since moved some sets back into C, but still uses Stage One.