Monday, 2 September 2013

2013: THE LAST DAYS OF BBC TV CENTRE - PART SEVEN

BBC TELEVISION CENTRE was far more than the oft-seen-on-TV "concrete doughnut" that Roy Castle tapped his way around; it was a vast complex of several buildings that seemed to merge into one another thanks to various passages, bridges and walkways.

There were some parts of the site that I barely set foot in whilst I worked there which I made a point of exploring in the final few months of the Centre's life.

I hope this exterior direction sign, located near the Wood Lane entrance to the site, gives some idea of the complexity of the overall site.  Some of these ancillary buildings had changed their names in the time I worked there.  The EBX Building was previously the PBX Building and - as I understand it - originally housed the telephone exchange for TVC.  The Drama Building was originally the Design Building and was originally built to house the Corporation's in-house scenic designers and builders.  Those were the days...


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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous2 September 2013 at 14:45

    Was the Blue Peter garden at Television Centre? Out of curiosity I watched the January 2000 episode of Blue Peter when they dug up the time capsule buried in the '70s. What a disappointment, water had seeped into the container and all the contents were waterlogged and ruined !

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    1. SLOW ROBOT3 September 2013 at 07:49

      Hi Colin

      Yes indeedy it was. It was behind the Restaurant Block. Have a look at PART EIGHT for a picture of what it looked like - after the show vacated - in the final few days of the Centre.

      I managed to miss the time capsule going in... and coming out again. TVC was full of "legacy" stuff from old programmes. For years, there was still a SATURDAY SUPERSTORE (?) logo marking something-or-other. I wish I'd taken a picture of that before it disappeared!

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