BBC Television Centre

I suppose it doesn't include the central wedge either?



Most people weren't important enough to make it up to the 7th floor!

The listing letter says:

which at first glance might suggest more is listed, once you read the detail you realise that they are excluded from the listing despite the difficulties. I'll hold my hands up - I read this as meaning more was listed when it actually isn't.

I went for a wonder through what's left of it on the 4th floor recently when I had some time to kill. Nothing but office space now. I was hoping 'the broom cupboard' was still there, but sadly not.


Isn't the 7th floor the business lounge and hotdesk space above stage door, or is that the 6th floor? I'm not there often, so if I find an office without doing a lap of the doughnut I consider it a success

The 6th floor is the home of the Sixth Floor Suite - which is where there is a boardroom, and a large function room where many a leaving-do is held. There are also senior management offices up there. They may have some hotdesks there now - I'm not sure. Haven't been up there for a while.

The 7th floor is also office space - and has at least some bits of News in it (believe it or not). BBC Three News used to have their newsroom up there - and Newsnight before them - and News retain that office space I believe.

The 4th Floor Central Wedge was the original home to presentation when it moved from Lime Grove (I think they called it CCR or something back then) well before BBC-2 launched. TV Studio History has a good page detailling what was where when it first opened, although over the years things moved around a bit. You're right in that almost nothing survives. The last use for the old presentation area was for CBBC continuity from Pres-A before it moved to TC9 (1997ish?). Trails were voiced up there as well until around the same time. The old Pres-B is believed to last have been used in around 1996. The whole area was closed off and stripped of asbestos and redevleoped almost in time for the launch of Sky Digital (I have vague recollections of a temporary presentation area being built on the 6th floor central wedge, but can't recall whether that was for rehearsal purposes for the new channels or whether it was used on air.) The area right at the back of the wedge including Pres-A and B survived stripped but essentially intact for some years before they too were redeveloped into a multi-stream presentation area in time for the launch of CBBC, CBeebies and more interactive streams going on-air. It was this area that was first equipped with the automation system and working practices now used at the Broadcast Centre.

It's now been stripped of all technical kit and is used seemingly for costume and props storage. While it's hard to tell what rooms were used for what (unless you worked there) there are still one or two door signs hinting at the past (saying things like "Suite C").

It was for piloting, but they might well have transmitted something from there - remember that digital broadcasts started long before they were publicly available via Sky or On Digital. There were almost certainly test transmissions, possibly of Wimbledon... and remember the windmills?

The 6th floor wedge was totally re-developed at that time - it was the apparatus room for the digital suites on the 4th floor (which was actually the 4 and a half floor, hence there's no 5th floor)



Unlike most areas of the Beeb I don't remember any proper offical signage in that area - just A4 printouts, but then I suppose if you worked theer you knew where you were and it didn't get any casual visitors!

If all the walls are still there it's fairly easy to work out what was what in the front section (suites A-D), especially the continuity booths, which are small and have sound-proofed windows. The central area was where the engineers and technical operators sat and the suites for the 4 channels were set around that. The back half which was suites E onwards was newer and built without them actually knowing what to put in them and they had various uses

Indeed, all the walls remain intact as far as I could tell but no technical equipment renmained at all. Suites E onwards were completely empty as far as I remember for some months before they were filled with kit. Some never did become control rooms, but were used for flexicarts, storage, extra equipment bays. Two were even knocked together to become an ingest room for the multi-stream area.

I know what you mean about the signage. Television Centre still has plenty examples of it's jaunty STUDIOS 1-3 black text on white perspex signing. I seem to recall that the old presentation areas on the 4 & a 1/2th floor had some signs in this style too, certainly the infamous VT department in the basement had italic BBC signs. Pebble Mill also had signs in that style though Studio - a was in upper and lower case ISTR rather than in capitals as the stuff at TVC was. What happened to them I don't know, no doubt most were binned.

Suites F,G etc (no-one ever seemed to know how they were labelled they were just anonymous rooms) were built with no real purpose it seemed at the time.

Suite E became the spare (back-up) suite after the area took over 24/7 transmission (in 1999) and then became BBC Choice/3 after the analogue area closed and it's suite (D) became a short lived analogue opt out suite. F dealt with monitoring the 'interactive' services in about 2001, although IIRC all they did was to watch Ceefax and digital text all day! Suite E then became a show suite for new broadcast centre customers - apparently you could tell which they were pitching to as the channel logos appeared on the automation software! There was also a mess room and the directors/announcers office at the back as well as a VHS logging room.

It was an odd area, like so many places at the BBC it always seemed like things were being changed, installed and there was almost always building work. The facilities were souped up as it started to take over analogue playout with things bolted on here and there, but it never seemed that substantial or permanent a facility, certainly not like the previous TX area which was built like a battleship

Up until about 6 months ago most of Bush House was still had signs in italics all over the place. Facilities then went on the war path removing it along with any customised office door signs, then replaced most of it with the Gill Sans signage you find on any other BBC site. It's a shame really, as there was something about the old italic signs that suited the building.

An example took a bit of finding but here's a pic of the classic BBC signing at Television Centre:
http://www.channel405.net/images/BBC_TVC_Studio_Rehersal.jpg

A 'Live' example of the signing here from a Micro Live special in the 80s, albeit not in great quality:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9129269138572005347&ei=Ko1fStWFFdqd-AaQ1PQX&q=micro+live

You know as odd as this sounds, TV Centre has always held a mystique for me. I actually work for the beeb part time yet have never had a chance to go to TV Centre. It is one of my ambitions to work there for some reason before it closes.

A further example of that style of signage, that those of us who grew up in the 80's will remember

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS0ObVCZihw

Some examples of vintage BBC signage from Flickr:

TV Centre

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackbeltjones/1052949178/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mykreeve/1556664174/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbiggs/2644118818/in/set-72157600288081702/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbiggs/521808510/in/set-72157600288081702/

White City with 3D lettering of a similar typeface

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinhamman/17214249/

Elstree's version used a more stylised font

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistersnappy/41539324/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistersnappy/41539371/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistersnappy/41539014/