BBC Television Centre - The Building - Studios

Studios

The centre's studios are run by BBC Studios and Post Production, a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC. The studios themselves are numerous and varying in size. All studios are often abbreviated to initials, such as TC1 (Television Centre 1) for Studio 1.

• Studio 0 - 117 square metres (1260 ft²) - Opened in 1989, it has produced a number of different productions including some for UK Play. It has been home to Liquid News between 2000 and 2002 and CBeebies invision continuity between 2002 and 2008. Since then it has been used by BBC Research
• Studio 1 - 995 square metres (10,250 ft²) — Opened on 15 April 1964 and is the fourth largest television studio in Britain (following The Fountain Studios' Studio A&B, MediaCityUK's Studio 1 and The Maidstone Studios' Studio 5), and is equipped for HDTV production (as are Studio Four, Studio Six and Studio Eight)
• Studio 2 - 223 square metres (2,400 ft²) - Opened in late 1960, it housed a number of comedy programmes such as That Was The Week That Was. It was not converted to colour and closed in 1969, with the space being used as storage, but reopened in 1981. It was used by BBC News until they moved in 1997, and has played host to the Sport and Children's department. It was the main studio used for Blue Peter for the 2007 and 2008 series. The studio has been vacated following the move of both departments to MediaCityUK
• Studio 3 - 594 square metres (6,390 ft²) - Opened on 29 June 1960. It was designed as a drama studio and had panels and fittings that made it customised towards this purpose. The walls are also slightly thicker, so it can block out the noise from the Hammersmith & City line of the London Underground. It housed the first programme and was the first studio to be completed. It was upgraded to colour in 1969
• Studio 4 - 585 square metres (6,300 ft²) - Opened in January 1961, TC4 is similar in design and layout to its neighbour, TC3. The studio was designed as a light entertainment studio and contains a rather unusual sound system called ambiophony. The studio was upgraded to colour in 1970 and to HD and surround sound in 2008. It was home to many BBC sitcoms as well as the cancelled talk show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
• Studio 5 - 223 square metres (2,400 ft²) - Opened in August 1961, TC5 was used for the first half of its life by broadcasts from BBC Schools. There was an area adjacent to the studio that was used for schools programming that linked in with the studio. It was converted to colour around 1973, about the same time as schools broadcasts as a whole. It was closed briefly during the mid-1980s, before being reopened in 1987 following a two year refurbishment. The studio has since been the home of BBC Sport's programmes, but was vacated in 2012 as the Sports department moved to MediaCityUK.
• Studio 6 - 598 square metres (6,440 ft²) - Opened in July 1967 to coincide with BBC Two's switch to colour television. It was the first to be equipped with colour cameras. The studio itself is a strange design: when originally designed it was to be split in 2 by a large removable wall, however this idea was abandoned. The remains of this idea can still be seen however in the layout, of a long, thin studio and in the lighting grid. The gallery for this studio was moved in 1993, with the old gallery now home to the BBC Red Button control room. Upgraded to HD in July 2008 and is the first 3D capable studio in the UK. Was home to children's programmes Live & Kicking and Dick and Dom in da Bungalow
• Studio 7 - 223 square metres (2,400 ft²) - Opened in 1962 and has been used for a variety of programmes over the years. Was home to some children's programming such as Going Live!, before being home to BBC News in 1997. It was the home of the BBC Breakfast programme until 2012 and the BBC News at Six bulletin is broadcast from the studio, with other bulletins based at N6 in the News Centre. It will be vacated later in 2012, following the refit of the extension to Broadcasting House, where the BBC News department and newsroom is moving
• Studio 8 - 602 square metres (6,480 ft²) - Opened in 1967, this studio was noted as the best studio for television producers to use. It was the size that most programmes wanted and, building on the experience when building the other studios, was the best. The galleries and studios were laid out perfectly and in a layout producers liked. It has become the studio for comedy and sitcoms, due to audience seating arrangements and size. It was converted to HD in January 2007
• Studio 9 - 84 square metres (900 ft²) - The building was built in 1955 and was originally a foyer area of the restaurant block, before becoming a store area. The store however was converted to a studio in 1996 for the use of Children's BBC. The location was highly convenient: it allowed the invision continuity to be relocated from the "broom cupboard" (Continuity Announcers booth) to a roomier studio. The new studio also opened onto the Blue Peter Garden allowing presentation to take place there. The studio itself is an odd shape, and was used for invision continuity for CBBC until 2004, when they broadcast links for the CBBC Channel only. All invision continuity was dropped in 2006, and the studio was used for programmes such as Sam & Mark's TMi Friday and SMart. Following CBBC's move to MediaCityUK, the studio is expected to remain empty
• Studio 10 - 111 square metres (1200 ft²) - Originally built as N1 in 1969, the studio was used for the BBC1 daytime news bulletins. The studio later became the home of BBC World (previously BBC World Service News) from 1993. Closed in 1998, when news bulletins moved to the News Centre section of Television Centre, and was renamed as TC10. Was used for some programmes by channel UK Play until the stations closure. Between 2004 and 2006 it was used for invision continuity for CBBC on BBC One and BBC Two, before being used by some programming for CBBC such as Level Up. From 2010 to 2011 it was the home of CBeebies. The studio has been empty since CBeebies moved to MediaCityUK
• Studio 11 - 186 square metres (2000 ft²) - Originally built as N2 in 1969, the studio was used for the BBC2 daytime news bulletins. Extended in 1985 to include props store and lobby adjacent to studio, the studio became home to the Six O'Clock and Nine O'Clock News. In 1998, following the completion of the News Centre spur of Television Centre, the news moved out and the studio was renamed TC11. In 2002 it became home to Liquid News and in later years to the other BBC Three news programmes 60 Seconds and The 7 O'Clock News. It briefly played host to the domestic BBC News bulletins, while their studios were refurbished in 2006, before becoming general purpose. It is home to Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two
• Studio 12 - 56 square metres (600 ft²) - Originally music store. Converted into a studio in 2004, for CBBC programmes. Used for Sportsround for some years, but converted into presentation studio in 2006. Used for invision continuity for CBBC (now in front of green screen) and changed into current invision continuity studio in summer 2007. The set was transferred to a mini studio in the East Tower. The studio is used by BBC Research
• Pres A - 65 square metres (704 ft²) - Opened in 1960, this studio was designed for in-vision continuity for BBC 1, however was only used as such for three years. Became weather studio, prior to the move to the BBC Weather Centre in 1990 (also in Television Centre), following which it was used by Children's BBC to supplement presentation from the "broom cupboard", and was used for slots such as birthdays and public holidays. Became full-time home of Children's BBC in 1994 following the vacation of the 'broom cupboard'. The studio closed following CBBC's move to TC9 and no longer exists
• Pres B - 65 square metres (704 ft²) - Opened in 1964, this studio was designed for in-vision continuity for BBC 2, however the new channel did not use in-vision continuity for more than a few months after launch. Became a general purpose studio housing small productions such as Points of View, the Film series with Barry Norman and The Old Grey Whistle Test. It closed down in 1996 and the studio no longer exists

In addition to these studios, BBC News used a number of studios for the frequent news bulletins. These studios have a different naming system owing to their permanent usage and are not included on most studio lists, as they are unavailable for hire.

• N1 - Previously BBC One daytime bulletins. Became TC10
• N2 - Previously BBC Two daytime bulletins. Became TC11
• N3 - Small studio off main newsroom, before being made part of newsroom as a whole, separated by glass panels. Studio no longer used
• N4 - Studio has since become part of the BBC Bar
• N5 - Originally studio for BBC Arabic Television service. Used for a time by the BBCi service. Studio no longer used
• N6 - Home to BBC News at One, BBC News at Ten and home of the BBC News Channel
• N7 - Name is not used for any studios to avoid confusion with TC7, which houses news programmes
• N8 - Home of BBC World News
• N9 - Formerly home of BBC World News, used as a contingency when N6/N8 unavailable due to technical work and for election coverage
• N10 - Used by BBC Three to produce 60 Seconds

The studios host a wide variety of TV programmes for a range of broadcasters, including Strictly Come Dancing, Harry Hill's TV Burp, Match of the Day, Later with Jools, Miranda, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, The Armstrong and Miller Show and 8 out of 10 Cats, as well as big complex live productions such as Children in Need and Comic Relief. Over the years they have been home to some of the world's most famous TV programmes including Fawlty Towers, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Blue Peter, Absolutely Fabulous, classic Doctor Who and most of the best known BBC drama series. From the 1980s the use of the complex for such productions rapidly declined with the last major drama series to be shot there being The House of Eliott, which ended in 1994, and the last single drama recorded was Henry IV, Part 1, in 1995. This was because drama production moved almost entirely onto film or single-camera video, and Television Centre is a video-based, multi-camera production environment.