Behind These Doors - BBC Television Centre Studios
Behind these doors are the main-block studios of BBC Television Centre. Most of them have closed for the final time, the rest will in coming days. Chances are you've never stepped through these doors, but chances are you've seen what's happened behind them.
Behind these doors, David Jason fell through the bar, and Miranda fell over everything. John Clease met hotel inspectors, tried not to mention the war, and wished to register a complaint about his parrot. Spike Milligan formed a disorderly Q. Jeremy Paxman asked if Michael Howard has threatened to over-rule anyone, and Terry Wogan asked us to give generously for Children In Need.
Behind these doors, Ronnie Barker told Richard Beckinsale how to get through his first night inside, showed David Jason how to handle the till, and tried to buy handles for forks, while Ronnie Corbett answered the question before the one he was asked. Eric Morcombe played all the right notes (not necessarily in the right order...) while Ernie Wise prepared the grapefruit.
Humpty and Hambell looked through the windows, whilst Roy Castle and friends tapped. Famous actors told bedtime stories. Advent crowns were lit, Tracey Islands were built. Time Lords had early encounters. Philip giggled with his gopher, whilst Trevor and Simon didn't do duvets.
The new millennium was rung in around the world, new governments announced, One Small Step For Man was watched, and shared. Further afield, Live Aid, Live 8, Live Earth, The Olympics, World Cup, events from around the world, all pulled back in to this building, and then sent back to the screens of millions.
And now, the old building is falling silent. Offices abandoned. Fixtures and fittings lifted for keep-sakes. Lights turned out. Corridors echoing with single footsteps where once they buzzed with the electricity of live television.
–-----------
I've worked in this building for just under 15 years, including working on many of the large, live events. I still have to pinch myself to believe that I got to walk in to this iconic building every day. I remember seeing the building through the window at White City station, on the day I came for my interview. I remember the first day I sat at the control room desk. I remember the first time I took a network off-air (BBC Choice), and the day we stayed on air by our fingernails, guiding continuity announcers around the pitch-black doughnut with my keyring torch when the power failed. I remember coming in the day after the terrorist bombing of the building. I remember exactly where I stood, and which monitor in the 100-strong stack that I was looking at, watching all the live-feeds when the Twin Towers were struck.
BBC Television lives on, but nowhere will ever have the buzz or the history of the BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, White City, London.
Behind These Doors - BBC Television Centre Studios
Behind these doors are the main-block studios of BBC Television Centre. Most of them have closed for the final time, the rest will in coming days. Chances are you've never stepped through these doors, but chances are you've seen what's happened behind them.
Behind these doors, David Jason fell through the bar, and Miranda fell over everything. John Clease met hotel inspectors, tried not to mention the war, and wished to register a complaint about his parrot. Spike Milligan formed a disorderly Q. Jeremy Paxman asked if Michael Howard has threatened to over-rule anyone, and Terry Wogan asked us to give generously for Children In Need.
Behind these doors, Ronnie Barker told Richard Beckinsale how to get through his first night inside, showed David Jason how to handle the till, and tried to buy handles for forks, while Ronnie Corbett answered the question before the one he was asked. Eric Morcombe played all the right notes (not necessarily in the right order...) while Ernie Wise prepared the grapefruit.
Humpty and Hambell looked through the windows, whilst Roy Castle and friends tapped. Famous actors told bedtime stories. Advent crowns were lit, Tracey Islands were built. Time Lords had early encounters. Philip giggled with his gopher, whilst Trevor and Simon didn't do duvets.
The new millennium was rung in around the world, new governments announced, One Small Step For Man was watched, and shared. Further afield, Live Aid, Live 8, Live Earth, The Olympics, World Cup, events from around the world, all pulled back in to this building, and then sent back to the screens of millions.
And now, the old building is falling silent. Offices abandoned. Fixtures and fittings lifted for keep-sakes. Lights turned out. Corridors echoing with single footsteps where once they buzzed with the electricity of live television.
–-----------
I've worked in this building for just under 15 years, including working on many of the large, live events. I still have to pinch myself to believe that I got to walk in to this iconic building every day. I remember seeing the building through the window at White City station, on the day I came for my interview. I remember the first day I sat at the control room desk. I remember the first time I took a network off-air (BBC Choice), and the day we stayed on air by our fingernails, guiding continuity announcers around the pitch-black doughnut with my keyring torch when the power failed. I remember coming in the day after the terrorist bombing of the building. I remember exactly where I stood, and which monitor in the 100-strong stack that I was looking at, watching all the live-feeds when the Twin Towers were struck.
BBC Television lives on, but nowhere will ever have the buzz or the history of the BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, White City, London.