Stages, Studios and Locations
The world's most famous film stage, the 007 Stage, was originally built for the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and featured a massive water tank, one of the largest in Europe. The stage burnt to the ground in 1984; it was rebuilt four months later and renamed Albert R. Broccoli's 007 Stage in time for filming to commence on A View to a Kill. Another fire on 30 July 2006 seriously damaged the stage, causing the roof to partly cave in. Construction of a new stage began on 18 September and was completed in under six months. Since then, the stage has accommodated huge productions including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Quantum of Solace (2008) and the whole fishing village from Mamma Mia! (2008) was built on the stage.
As well as the world famous 007 Stage, which is the largest stage at any of the studios under The Pinewood Studios Group at 59,000 sq ft, the studio has fifteen other stages ranging from just 1,728 sq ft, to cater for productions of all sizes. One of those studios, the T Stage, is a specialist stage for both television and film productions and the Studios second largest stage at 30,000 sq ft.
The studio also has two specialist TV studios, named TV One and TV Two, complete with integral galleries, TV studio floors, TV lighting grids and SD or HD facilities. Both studios stand at just under 9,000 sq ft.
As stated earlier, Pinewood is situated on the old estate of Heatherden Hall which still stands today. The mansion, its gardens and other parts of the studios have been used in various productions over the years. Peeping Tom (1960) shows people driving out through the main gate and has various shots in the studios (showing things behind the camera), offices & corridors. Return to the Edge of the World (1978) includes shots of director Michael Powell driving into the studio. The iconic main gate (now no longer used due to the construction of a purpose-built security entrance 500 yards further along the road) also features in My Week with Marilyn (2011) when Eddie Redmayne greets Judi Dench. This film also contains many shots of the dressing-room corridors in the main make-up block. Heatherden Hall (converted to production offices) has appeared in several films: it was made to look fire-damaged and derelict for the 1972 children's film The Amazing Mr Blunden and also appeared as the Indian residence of Governor Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond in Carry On up the Khyber.
The studios have acres of backlots where huge sets have been built, from castles to whole villages including Godric's Hollow from the Harry Potter film series.
Read more about this topic: Pinewood Studios