The formation and development of TV Centre is covered on the previous page BBC TV Centre. The following are my opinions.

<< TV Centre

Woodlands Redev >>

The big guns gave their backing to the sale. The plan was for a luxury new housing complex. Some equipment was redeployed and much had to be scrapped because it was in use until the new equipment took over.

In 2005-6 the BBC conducted a review of its premises in London as it had done a decade or so before. This was to take into account running costs, future programming, regional diversity and future funding by the License Fee or other. The government Department Of Culture Media & Sport, responsible for the BBC Trust, was both critical of its lack of support for government policies at times and aware that most large institutions were London-centric or at least located in the South-East of England. Newspapers, particularly those owned by Rupert Murdoch, steadily dribbled criticism of the BBC in it’s newspapers so as to undermine it as the BBC continued to out-pour news and current affairs which heavily overlapped with its output which it made a profit from. If the BBC was removed from the market, obviously no small ambition, then he was ready to step in very quickly and grab the market. However other commercial TV companies, like Channel 4, were rightly aware that if the BBC was broken up or made to carry advertising this would divert significant advertising revenue its way and this was already a strongly competitive market.

As a very public organisation the government believed that the BBC should set good examples and, indeed, the BBC did. Even though over the previous 20years the BBC had relocated a number of departments, eg Religious Programming, some Children’s Programmes etc, out of London, especially to Manchester, large scale production remained in London because historically that’s where it started. During the review managers were asked to consider how and where production could be increased outside of London. Dr Who and a number of programmes were located in Cardiff and a vast new complex at Pacific Quay in Glasgow, replaced the worn out facilities in Queen Margaret Drive. The Nations, as they were known, were very successfully producing output for local and national channels. However this was deemed not enough and larger scale changes were hinted at which would placate the government so it would not to tamper with the BBCs License Fee arrangements for a considerable time.

In 2006 a plan was forged. In 2008 the plan was announced.

I think, in some ways, nobody believed the BBC would close Television Centre. It was after all ‘the centre’ of programme making, distribution and Network Control and technically there was a vast investment in modern systems and back ups for multichannel continuous output 24hours a day, 365 days a year. Programme makers loved the purpose built site where everyone rubbed shoulders with everyone else and had to work together within the limitations of the programme’s budget and the site’s equipment. My experience was that if you hadn’t got what you wanted on the day you could always borrow it for a time as long as you brought it back. A very efficient and environmentally friendly way of using what’s available instead of driving up and down the motorways of England from hire company to far off facilities company. Post-production and editing were all on site so Sport and Current Affairs could be turned around within minutes of being needed on air. Live shows loved the acumen of bring star personalities in to a site buzzing with activity day and night.

However the plan was forged. As time progressed a new plan by Salford City Council, near Manchester, were planning redevelopment of their old derelict docks and warehouses. If the BBC moved there others might also be attracted. A plan was forged. Construction began.

Little by little as space became available a few departments were moved. Eventually dates for closure were announced and TV Centre staff realised that yes it was actually going to happen: the jewel in the crown was not sacrosanct. Relocation packages for staff were announced. Petitions were started. By 2010 it was too late. It was happening.

As I’ve said elsewhere (Section5 here) it was a very sad day when I was asked to join the Television Centre Closure team.

There have been some very out-spoken critics. Recently for example this was reported by rival channel ITV:

By Madness (sic)

The last day of the last permanent staff to leave.
(as far as I am aware)

December 2015

(List Of Names)

It was my sad job to take much equipment out of the building (notice necessary paperwork) mainly for redeployment at Broadcasting House but some went to “the other location”.

25th Nov 2013

As more was turned off, by me and others, it either was redeployed it or it was poured into TC8.

(of course any bend shown here is camera wide angle distortion)

The publicity went up (and I was forever being stopped by dodgy people who couldn’t find the place !). Then the vultures were invited in. In the end several £million were recovered.

I’m told no unsold items went to landfill and all cable mangling companies (who all seemed to drive white vans !) were vetted so that they would not just pour petrol on the PVC insulation and set light to recover the internal copper.

Once months of testing of the new equipment, pathways and back up systems were complete Central Area Manager, Jonathan Clinkscales, had the much photographed task of pulling the power plugs on the bays -many of which had been on Uninterruptable Power Supply for decades.

Gone were the utterly skilled staff, the scenery, the lamps, the cameras, the microphones, the booms, the cranes, the monitors, the speakers, the communications, my beloved VR targets, the play in/out/roundabout machinery, the desks of electronics, the power systems, the chilled air plant, the ducting, the sound proofing, the doors, the floors and many tens of thousands of km of cable, the pipes, the sewers, those little tweaky boxes on the walls that made the great shutters on the air con work, the signs, the sandwiches down the back of the filing cabinets, all those damn heavy stage weights, the 3/4 used tins of paint, the slightly frazzled lighting gels, the worn out mic covers, the too many kinds of adaptor cables, the wurgle flangers for flitch plates, the smoke machines, the No Noise -Recording In Progress notices, the Floor Managers chalk, the audience rostra, that lens cover for the camera we borrowed from Elstree, the Unicol trolleys, the trays at the back of the Lighting Gallery (it’s always Lighting) for yet another round of teas and don’t forget a kitkat for Carol, the colour balance knobs, the various pin-patches, those blasted orange PO Jack leads that you could never remember whether they had a phase reversal or not cuz they should’ve been yellow, Dave Markie’s universal fix it screwdriver that he alway kept behind his ear, the list of phone numbers with all the temporary ones scribbled down the side, the TOK1 keys, the Engineer’s tea swindle, the Trafolite indicator strip hat fell off the comms bay two years ago, the Under Monitor Displays that were then put above the monitors, the lighting poles, the Memstick that Barry always used to leave in TC5 Sport, all those different lengths of camera cable, the ground-row lights that singed Mike’s trousers twice, the Stop Knocking lights, the two mini-monitors that they always need for Crime Watch, the Floor Managers reverse talkback boxes - and all their broken headsets, the AutoCues, the Portaprompts etc etc, the Fostex mini-speakers so yet more hangers-on can hear talkback, the password for yet another pc brought in, those chromakey cyc’s that never did match the floor paint, Mike le Fevre’s special gobo for Later With Jules Holland.....

...once all that had gone the bulldozers moved in.

April 2013

(not actually at this site)

Looking in Main Gate

Preservation of “Golden Balls”