The BBC was initially based in the London area, and started television broadcasts from Alexandra Palace. They took over the old Lime Grove film studios at Shepherds Bush, and the nearby Shepherds Bush Empire became the Television Theatre. Lime Grove was OK for individual single shot "takes" on film, but had low ceilings and little ventilation and was not really suitable for continuous live television production. The older cameras were very insensitive and required huge amounts of light, so sound boom operators stood and sweated above and between the lights, while everyone had to duck or walk around the low lights. The start of BBC2 together with losses to independent broadcasters required an enormous increase of specialist staff, so a residential training centre was opened near Evesham with a core of permanent training staff supplemented by experienced staff on short term loan from the "front line". It was definitely not a case of the blind leading the blind. They began using Riverside Studios close to Hammersmith Bridge, but although there was more room the floors were uneven. Camera mountings wobbled as they were wheeled around, and powered cranes with hard tyres lost floor contact, so the driver often needed to get off and push, so one studio was used more for training. Television Centre was located in White City for easy access for people visiting or working in central London, and designed to be used to efficiently produce a large range of television programmes 24/7 at the lowest possible cost, with flat and level floors, very high ceilings, silent air conditioning, two foot thick sound insulation in the walls, built-in lighting mounting bars suspended on powered hoists provided with power sockets fed from dimmers, silent remote controlled general purpose electric hoists capable of lifting scenery, etc, and plenty of wall mounted technical and power facilities. Some studios had folding seating that could be pulled out for an audience. The state of the art analogue PAL TV system posed precision timing problems which were sorted by hiding miles of cable beneath the floor in corridors. Lighting and scenery were set up overnight, floors disguised as carpet, wood, cobbles, etc, with water washable paint, ready for the production and technical teams to arrive in the morning. Rehearsals and recordings or live transmissions were followed immediately by rigging crews to change the lighting and scenery ready for the following programme. Scenery was built and assembled to ensure that it was as required, then stored until needed for the programme. Main lighting units were built to act as focussing spotlights at one end or diffuse flood lights at the other, to reduce the need for heavy and delicate lighting units to be carried around. Initial rehearsals took place in any space they could find, such as church halls, with floor tape marking the proposed locations of scenery, etc. The sound and camera crews saw the programme for the first time during the first walk through in the studio, followed by first then final run-throughs and the usually live transmission. Outside facility charges began to rise, so the BBC purchased the entire island site between the Western Avenue and North Acton Station and built its own wardrobe and props stores, scenery, metal, and plastics workshops, and rehearsal rooms with floor plans to match the real studios. Staff were proud of the programme quality they produced, and keen to get the best value for money. They were happy to work very long anti-social hours and adjust to the programme requirements, and willing to follow late changes where at all possible. Television Outside Broadcasts were based near Wembley Stadium for many years before moving to a new base at Kendal Avenue, close to West Acton and Park Royal stations. Equipment was as robust as possible, but still delicate, heavy, and very expensive. Special vehicles carried as much equipment as could be crammed into the space available, and were hugely expensive. Regional bases were set up around the country, but as the technology increased and roads were improved there were several suggestions for combining resources into just a few larger bases in totally new locations. The numbers of staff involved meant that entire new housing estates would be needed to house BBC staff, and there was opposition from many of the specialist staff. Central London property prices were rocketing, so the BBC decided to move staff and facilities from numerous rented properties to the newly acquired White City site. There was opposition from staff who would need to extend their travel times and costs, and the BBC was obliged to retain Broadcasting House, which had been made a listed building. Independent broadcasters complained that the BBC was unfair competition, forcing them to spend real money in order to compete. The government in power at any time tended to dislike the sometimes rather too honest reporting from the BBC. The BBC was instructed to provide reports from independent business consultants who charged enormous fees to suggest a limited number of very minor tweaks, saying that in general they were surprised how efficient and cheap the BBC was in comparison with other broadcasters. The BBC was then required to accept more independent facilities from commercial companies who appeared to quote very low rates for their services but charged extra for every last pencil and paperclip, so that the final bill that arrived perhaps a year later was often far higher than the costs in-house. Meanwhile the now underused in-house facilities appeared to be over-expensive, so the BBC was required to offer the use of its own facilities to other organisations under normal commercial arrangements. Equipment which used to be carried as normal standard items on the mobile units and could be used as alternatives and spares, was removed to the base stores unless specifically ordered and paid for, with any additional items delivered around the country as and when requested. creating more unnecessary work carrying delicate, heavy, and very expensive equipment and requiring protective transport and storage cases in addition to that provided by the normal working vehicles. "Total costing" was introduced, with higher administration costs that far outweighed the costs of the many cheaper and often disposable items. The training facility near Evesham was opened up to staff from other countries and organisations, but became too expensive for most BBC departments. Other training colleges are now available, but their staff do not always have real broadcast experience. The specially designed buildings around North Acton became under-used and were sold, even Television Centre is up for sale, although it is now a listed building with use restrictions.
Chris Bell ● 4830d