Opening of Television Centre

Image: Helios statue in the middle of 'the doughnut' at Television Centre, 1960.

Television Centre, the world's first purpose built television production complex - described as the Hollywood of the Television Industry - was officially opened on 29 June 1960. The opening was marked by a special variety programme called First Night, broadcast from studio TC3, presented by David Nixon and featuring performers including Arthur Askey and Richard Hearne.

The opening sequence of 'First Night' from June 1960.

The building was conceived in 1949 when the 大象传媒 acquired a 13 acre site in White City, West London. Architect Graham Dawbarn designed a ring of studios radiating from a central courtyard, with a service road running around the outside to supply scenery and equipment. In 1960 only four studios of the eventual eight were complete. The famous question mark floor plan wasn't realised until the spur was added in 1966, housing the news centre. The building has been extended further over the years and its gradual development means it has kept pace with technological developments.

The 大象传媒 sold Television Centre in 2012 and the majority is now a hotel and apartment complex. However, 大象传媒 Studios, the 大象传媒鈥檚 commercial sales and production arm moved into the re-modelled Stage 6 section of the building in 2015. Studios 1, 2 and 3 have been refurbished and are used by the 大象传媒 and other UK broadcasters.

What does Television Centre mean to you?

Which 大象传媒 programmes does it bring to mind, and do you remember the big events such as Children in Need, or Roy Castle鈥檚 record breaking tap dance routine? Did you ever attend a big audience show at Television Centre, such as Strictly, or The Two Ronnies? Let us have your thoughts and ideas.

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I once had a lucky opportunity to visit 大象传媒 TV Centre in the summer of 1982. I was thirteen years old and lived in a village in Oxfordshire many miles from London. I had only been to London once before on a school trip in the late 1970s. In the early 1980s a 大象传媒 production assistant moved in to our village and befriended myself and my parents. She was called Sue and was a lovely lady. She had a small dog which I loved. Me and my friends would walk the dog around the local fields. I would talk with Sue for hours about her job and what it involved. She was always busy and would commute to TVC nearly every day. I remember that she was a Production Assistant on a 大象传媒 drama called Beau Geste. She talked about the show a lot. She then arranged to take me to TVC for a day. I was so excited and could hardly sleep the night before. The day arrived on a hot summers day in June and we drove up to the amazing Television Centre. Sue had to do some work and then promised me a behind the scenes tour. We first went to some production offices where Sue used a vintage Shibaden video tape recorder to view some monochrome video footage. She took timings and wrote notes. I鈥檓 sure the Shibaden was very state of the art at the time. Sue showed me round every studio. I think there were seven or eight and everyone seemed to be buzzing with activity. I was lucky enough to visit the gallery of the huge studio one, and go to one of the video suites in the basement. I was in total awe! Then we visited the canteen for lunch. I think there were maybe two or three different canteens. We ended up in one of them and saw many famous people. At the time I went they were recording Hi-de-Hi! and I saw the actor Paul Shane and his wife having lunch. I can鈥檛 put names to anyone else but I used to like Paul Shane because he was loud and funny. I was in total awe and will never forget my visit to Television Centre. Sue moved away from our village around 1984. I never saw or heard from her again but I hope she is well.

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