EastEnders to get a new outdoor set

Not quite TVC/BH/SALFORD but this news finally released...

EastEnders to get new, bigger outdoor set at BBC's Elstree studios

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/23/eastenders-bigger-set-bbc-elstree
A very interesting quote here...'

It said rebuilding the set on the existing premises was the most cost effective option, the corporation owning the freehold of the Elstree site.

So what was the excuse for selling TVC for B@gger all, allowing most of it to be demolished and then renting part of it back!

Talk about two faced - or just incompetent management.

I don't get the connection, you mean why didn't they keep TV Centre and sell Elstree? If so they're two totally seperate cases. Also of course if they had have done that they'd still have to find somewhere for EastEnders, I doubt they'd have been able to do it in W12.


The BBC didn't sell the freehold of TV Centre, just the building. That's presumably why it went for the price it did - the building itself was of little use to anyone else (and much of it no use by the BBC any more!) and needed work. The real value is in the land which they kept but might sell in the future. Elstree won't be worth as much.

The point is all the studios at TVC could have been saved and I can't see why the square could not have been built on the site of stage one. Far better to have everything in one place. Borehamwood would easily sell for housing. We all know how figures especially production figures within the BBC can be manipulated. But the cost of moving the CAR plus losing studio revenue back into the BBC and many other of Mr Thomsons crazy decisions is never factored in. Yes TVC was old but built for purpose and needed upkeep nothing more.

You do realise EastEnders isn't the only thing produced at Elstree?

Yes - I'm sure the east tower could be made to look like a 60's hospital

Its going to be strange that the soap is going to be using a temporary set for a good few years.

Stage 1 being the design block? Maybe, although I'm not sure about if it would have fitted there? Using TVC's studio space for EastEnders would probably have been a step back for them - they have a large sound stage studio, I don't think splitting the sets up between TCs 4,6 & 8 would be that useful (and of course it would mean that they weren't available as they won't be from now on!)


As I've said before, the big problem with TV Centre is that the studios are good but they're attached to a lot of less good building. It's not unique in that, but other TV studio centres like Fountain Wembley and Teddington were laid out in such a way that parts of the sites could be sold off self contained

Until TV Centre closed I don't think much was made there except EastEnders and Holby but now the two (?) 'proper' TV studios are being used a lot. It's a nice site, although it's a shame to see TVC go, it's nice to see it being used more

AIUI there is only really one non-EastEnders studio properly equipped at BBC Elstree, which is studio D. It was on long-term hire to CBBC for a while (and shows like Bamzooki were made in it). It was relatively recently refreshed (the make-up, dressing rooms etc. were still very '60s) and even more recently it was technically refurbished (prior to the tech refurb it was really an SD studio that could upgraded temporarily to HD for some shows). Sky have used it for quite a while for "A League of their Own", and other shows have been made there. It's not quite as flexible as a TVC studio - but it is a decent studio, and Elstree is a nice site to work on. When Children in Need came from Elstree, the main CiN show was from Studio D (and its gallery). The One Show came from a SISLive truck parked outside BBC Elstree Stage 1 (using Stage 1's cameras on the Queen Vic set and Stage 1's VAR) The EastEnders dance sequence came from a CTV (I think) truck working with CTV cameras on the Albert Square backlot.

There's a lot of detail about the Elstree facilities, and how they interoperated (the BBC ran two studio floors into a single gallery at one point I believe - before EastEnders expanded) on the http://tvstudiohistory.co.uk site that Martin Kempton runs. (And a great site it is too)

The BBC have a second site now operating in Elstree, confusingly, which is on the site of Elstree Film studios. They have installed production kit in Stages 8 and 9, and the George Lucas Stage, to allow them to operate three studios on that site.

Crossroads anyone...?

It seems an awful lot of work/money to build a temporary set just to make the existing one 20% bigger. Is it really needed? It doesn't look bad on screen now, and I thought they were upgrading each part of the set for HD separately (starting with The Vic which got done after the fire)

I seem to remember reading there was a consideration to move EE to Cardiff at some stage?

And don't forget that LWT's studio centre was built such that the tower and production podium blocks could be operated as two separate areas in the event of LWT losing it's franchise and having to sell the lease on if the new incumbent didn't want Kent House.

I think the thought at the time was that the tower block could possibly be turned into a hotel, and the podium block demolished for something else. They are two interconnected separate parts.