Tales of Television Centre


Tales of Television Centre

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This programme contains some strong language.

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Ten seconds... 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

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Hello, good evening and welcome.

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It is without question the greatest purpose-built studios in the world.

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I remember just seeing the building first of all

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and I actually couldn't believe my eyes.

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It's an icon. It's like Big Ben, it's like the Houses of Parliament.

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It's like St Paul's.

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When they built the Centre this was a temple to this marvellous new medium.

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'This particular family is called Forsyte.'

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Word reached us that amazing things were happening out in west London.

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'Flipping heck.'

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A jewel box full of activity.

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'Tottenham Hotspur 4 Sheffield United 2.'

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'That's the end of the news. Let's join Michael Fish

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'and take a look at tomorrow's weather.'

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I'm actually getting quite emotional remembering it.

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It was like being at a very exciting party, really

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because I was having such fun here.

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'Tony likes Demis Roussos, I like Demis Roussos and so would like to hear Demis Roussos.

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'So please, do you think we could have Demis Roussos on?'

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It felt like home, certainly.

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-'Well thank you very much, Jerry.'

-'I don't believe it.'

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LAUGHTER

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It was like Wonderland to me.

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'Live from Television Centre...'

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Walking into Television Centre meant sparkle time. This was show business.

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'Now the Morecambe And Wise Show.'

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'I'm free. I'm free. I'm free.'

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APPLAUSE

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'...Top of the Pops'.

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Coming here in the taxi, I suddenly got this rush.

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The memories that you have of this place.

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People were bonking all over the BBC!

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They were absolutely stoned out of their minds.

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Please, don't smoke that stuff, you know.

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I promise you I am not at all proud of this, but I was drunk.

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What I'm going to do is bleach your moustache.

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We were in the wrong set and he said, "Go on and act."

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'Exterminate.'

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'Whatever happens, don't have nightmares.'

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What we now know as British television was invented here.

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'Don't mention the war.

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'I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it all right.'

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My memories of Television Centre are so wonderful.

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When this place finally goes, I will really cry buckets.

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'And it's goodnight from me.'

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'And it's good night from him.'

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This will always be the building that will be British television at its best.

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Tales of Television Centre.

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'Nearby is a model of the White City Project, future home of the BBC.

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'Here many different departments now scattered all over London,

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'may one day become centralised under one roof.'

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Nice motor.

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I always love coming here, actually, even to this day. I get a twinge of excitement.

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There's something about this building.

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From an early age I was aware of Television Centre.

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If you've ever watched Swap Shop or Superstore...

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I knew all about TV Centre because I used to watch Blue Peter as a child.

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The building had a resonance.

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It was awesome to step inside it for the very first time.

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I remember getting to Television Centre

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and then having my name on the gates, and it was literally a religious experience.

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I came here with my father who was a television director, John Glenister.

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It was very exciting for a nine-year-old.

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I visited the Doctor Who set. It was the TARDIS.

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My abiding memory of that was, "My God, this is cheap".

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Basically, it was made out of plywood and polystyrene.

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This building in many respects acted as a catalyst for me

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to go into the industry.

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I'd grown up seeing BBC programmes in Australia

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and this was the motherlode.

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This was Television Centre, where all of those programmes

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that I grew up with had emanated from.

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'I can remember walking around the corridor for the first time'

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looking for my first dressing room and thinking,

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"I'm at the BBC, working as an actor."

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Can you move from the monitor, please?

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Good evening and welcome to Top Of The Pops.

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'A friend of mine got tickets to go and see Top Of The Pops. I was about 15.'

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I think you had to be 16 to get in, but we thought we would lie about our age.

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'We were motorbike fanatics and we had leather jackets with studs

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'and great boots and gloves. We looked - we felt,'

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like Marlon Brando out of The Wild One or something.

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They said, "Tony Orlando and Dawn are at number one

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"with Tie A Yellow Ribbon, so we're going to give a yellow ribbon to everybody

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"and we want you all to skip around dancing."

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# Tie a ribbon round the old oak tree

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# Tie a ribbon round the old oak tree. #

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That was my first humiliation on British television.

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'Incident Reported is the title of this week's story in the popular Z Cars series

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'tomorrow night at 8.25.'

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Z CARS THEME MUSIC PLAYS

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My mum was in some of the live episodes of Z Cars.

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-It's a nice friendly shop.

-Yes, that's the way we like it.

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'My dad and I would see the start of the programme,

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'get in the car and come to Television Centre'

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and wait for Mum to emerge.

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-I just can't breathe.

-You're all right. Come on.

-What do you think you're doing?

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I hasten to add I was tiny, so everything was fabulously huge

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and modern and shiny and so exciting.

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-They are waiting for me.

-Keep still, lad.

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'I did this live Z Cars.'

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I didn't have a big part in it,

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but I was terribly excited and quite nervous.

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-Mr Rawlings says he's like to speak to you, sir.

-Mr Rawlings? Inspector Rawlings?

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I don't know.

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'I was a teetotal girl from Wales. Hadn't ever drunk in my life.'

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Signed the pledge at 11. And at the end of it Jimmy, or Brian Blessed,

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one of them said, "Come on, we're going to the club for a drink",

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and I had my first drink ever in the BBC bar.

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-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, Mavis.

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At school, when I was 13,

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I think I did rather well in a science project

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which was about the only time I ever did well in a science project

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and the reward was a trip to Television Centre.

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'I visited the Z Cars studio and it was the most magical thing.'

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'I had watched Z Cars on the TV'

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and thought, "They're sitting in their car in a street",

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and there was the car, half a car cut out,

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and just the seats were there and then a backdrop of a northern street.

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It was like a revelation to me.

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I remember thinking, "It would be fantastic to work in a place like this",

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never thinking I ever would.

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Add on film for 32 seconds.

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'Everybody who was anybody came here.'

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Prime ministers, great actors, heroes, they all came.

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SHOUTING

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-One at a time, please.

-No, no, no!

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The Prime Minister took time off from Westminster to come

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to Television Centre to see how the BBC makes its programmes.

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-Have you never watched the news from there?

-I haven't.

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-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hello, I'm Elton John.

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Who's that fat bastard?

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DRUM ROLL

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'This is BBC Television...'

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DRUM ROLL

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'..broadcasting from the Television Centre.'

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The very first show that went out from Television Centre

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was called First Night.

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It was quite a challenge, but it was very rewarding

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because it meant we were using all these new facilities

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for the very first time

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and it really was very exciting.

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A lot of big names in it.

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# Tonight I'm on a proper buster

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# And my head is just a little light

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# And with tomorrow's sorrow ready to drown

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# I'm going to beat up the town tonight

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# Tonight I'm on a celebration

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# That will shake the nation to the core

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# I'm going to beat, beat, beat, beat up the town

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# The way it's never been done before. #

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It was the biggest tailor-made television centre in the world.

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My father had been a very senior engineer working for the BBC.

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They sent him a model of the Centre and I remember it on my carpet.

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I was 11.

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'We have already started on the foundations and then later on,

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'we shall build another part in the front here with three more studios.

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I remember that circle that turned into a question mark. I remember it well.

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To me, Television Centre was a work of art.

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It belonged to that period in the late '50s

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when everything was futuristic,

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everything was space age. There's that same sense of design here.

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The mosaic with the light coming in,

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the honeycomb ceiling above it - it's wonderful.

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There are echoes of that mosaic all around the central circle

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and in the columns of the colonnade

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and if you go to the staircase of the south hall, it's unsupported.

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There's nothing holding you up,

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so you get this wonderful feeling of precarious altitude

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although it's perfectly safe standing there.

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And the big basin at the fountains,

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it's exactly like the flying saucer from Forbidden Planet.

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But there's also a hint of Tracy Island about it -

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that central circle, I can't really imagine it

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without Thunderbird 3 coming up out of the middle.

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THUNDERBIRDS THEME MUSIC

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Everything here is solid.

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With television now, everything has a life of about five years, really,

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but this place was built to last.

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The design of it is brilliant.

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I love the fact that it's like a cross between show business

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and a KGB interrogation centre.

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-That's a good description. Quite good.

-I like that.

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It's almost as if it was designed

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with a sort of Stalinist point of view

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for bigwigs to look down and check whether the members of staff were actually working.

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A revolutionary building in its time, a building

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that was copied all over the world, as far as I'm aware.

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I remember going to one place, I think it was in Zimbabwe,

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or somewhere, which was virtually a carbon copy.

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The dynamics work.

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The two ring roads to bring the scenery and the technical equipment,

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the inner corridor that funnels the artists from the dressing rooms

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through the assembly areas into the studios via make up and wardrobe.

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Everything arrives at the right place at the right time.

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The production people, who of course were the brains,

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would come in on the first floor

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and hoi polloi, the actual horny-handed sons of toil,

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the crews and technicians,

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would come in from the back on the ground floor,

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so they never, ever would meet.

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The logic there was the proles didn't have to meet the important people, you know!

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Dividing and ruling. Keep them all separate.

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BBC Television, nine o'clock.

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'Because it was live and there was always live things going on,'

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it gave the place a fizz.

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Good evening, this is David Jacobs

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speaking from the BBC's Television Centre in London.

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Viewers in the United Kingdom will recognise this building,

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but it will be less familiar to the 75 million viewers

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from 17 other European countries, who are joining us tonight

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to watch the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix of 1963.

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Everywhere that you looked, you got the feeling

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that you were in the middle of this extraordinary fun factory.

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'The difference between it and the factory was that every bit of artwork was different.'

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The range of programmes that came out was extraordinary.

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I mean, In TC1, you could have a full-scale opera going on.

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HE SINGS

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And then there would be the daily dramas that were going on.

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Yes, madam. Yes it is on sale today.

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Comedy shows, audiences coming in.

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Scouse git.

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And it really throbbed.

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You could drop in and see the ferment of creativity

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that existed all at the same time in this amazing building.

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It was magic, it was, "Oh, this door, it's Eric and Ernie

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"doing their programme."

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HE COUGHS Arsenal.

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You walked along the corridor, another door opened it,

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"Oh, there's a drama going on."

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And further around still, "Oh, a quiz is happening."

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It was very vigorous at the time.

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Things going on in every studio at the same time.

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Would you mind going back, please?

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There's just one tiny thing...

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Television was on the rise, you see. In its power, its scope,

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its creative possibilities were just exploding.

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And this building reflected that.

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The place reeks of history, of television history.

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TV JINGLE

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'The man who steers this vehicle of television communication

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'is Bryan Cowgill, World Cup Grandstand's Executive Producer.

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Can we do a... Bill, can you lower the scores again for me, please?

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'Television Centre was the only place in which to work.'

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This was the place where the big decisions were made.

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BBC2 arrived, of course, then satellite television arrived,

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the moon landing was done from here.

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'It's one small step for man,

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'one giant leap for mankind'.

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-Oh, good God!

-Straight back, we've got a boom in shot this time.

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'The arrival of colour was a main event here.'

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'And we were going so fast that the colour cameras'

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were still under development.

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'I was in the very first colour drama',

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which was Vanity Fair.

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And it was very stressful for everybody because nobody knew how it was going to work out.

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What's the matter with props? They're all in the wrong place.

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'We actually took a decision that we would risk it.'

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And it worked, yes.

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'First on BBC1, John Craven's Newsround.'

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'No school today for thousands of children,

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'as the nation goes to the polls.

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'It's going to be a busy night'

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of incredible complications for the people here at BBC Television,

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who will be giving the viewers the situation, minute by minute.

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TC1, this is the BBC's biggest television studio in London

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and it's going to be the nerve centre for the election coverage.

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And the BBC canteen has been preparing for the big night as well.

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In its biggest ever operation,

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it will provide the studio with 6,000 sandwiches,

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20 gallons of tomato soup, 100 gallons of fruit squash,

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3,500 cups of coffee

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and hundreds and hundreds of sausage rolls.

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Yes, Frank and Norman are clear, thank you.

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Every studio was full, and it was a miracle of planning.

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If someone rushed into my office, bashed on the door

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and said, "Frank Sinatra's going to come in to town in two days

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"and we reckon we can get him, have we got a studio?"

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You could go across the corridor to all these lovely girls sitting there with their pencils

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and say, "Quick! Can we have TC2 studio or something?"

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And they would do it.

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'Well, it was a self-contained city.'

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It was like a mini studio.

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It reminded me of what Hollywood must have been like.

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-You did say Hollywood?

-Yes.

-Not Cricklewood?

-No, Hollywood.

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I played Roxanne to Eric's Cyrano De Bergerac, as one would.

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He said, "I want a dream sequence in the middle of this."

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We took over TC1 and there were Eric and Ernie

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in top hat, white tie and tails and me in a blue floaty dress,

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just prancing around the studio for about, I suppose a minute?

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That wouldn't happen now.

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'In my heyday, I was doing Morecambe and Wise and The Two Ronnies',

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we didn't really have things called budgets,

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whereas now, they nitpick over 50 quid.

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'It was full of hurrying people.

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'directors, producers, actors,

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'dressers, it was a hubbub.'

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We made programmes like shelling peas. Excellence came as standard.

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The beauty of working at Television Centre

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was that everything was on tap.

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Lighting, design, make up.

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If you were short of anything during rehearsal,

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you could whiz round to small props and bring something in,

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or whiz round to make up.

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It all facilitated getting the shows on the air.

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'You'd got whole wardrobes full of period stock,

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modern stock, science fiction.

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I mean, you could do a show from stock

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and it wouldn't cost the programme anything for the costumes.

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There's an awful lot of scenery kept in this place.

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There's stacks and stacks of it.

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Whole houses get built here

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and they get made into small sections so they can be assembled here,

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then painted, decorated, whatever has to happen to them.

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'When I was writing my programmes,'

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I would walk through the scene dock with my designer

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and I'd see a Dickensian shop window with mullions.

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And I'd then write a sketch

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and it cost nothing because we could get it out the scene dock for free.

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'It is the most incredibly exciting place,

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'with these huge studio spaces,'

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where you can create worlds in pools of darkness.

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Can you clear for a moment?

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We created the most wonderful worlds. The most intricate sets.

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This would be turned into an 18th century house,

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or a garden, and overnight,

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everything would be carted out, deconstructed,

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the floor would be repainted.

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We'd literally say goodbye and you'd hear clanking

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and think, "They're taking the set down already!"

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and by the time you'd gone back into wardrobe,

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taken your clothes off, you'd be out, half the set would be gone.

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You were like, "How can that be?"

0:17:440:17:46

The little bloke would come on his machine and he'd go up and down,

0:17:460:17:49

up and down and all the lovely graphics that had been created

0:17:490:17:53

on the floor would be wiped away and then the next set would be put in.

0:17:530:17:56

Dawn French.

0:18:010:18:03

Dawn French.

0:18:040:18:05

I'm allowed to park in there, please.

0:18:070:18:09

They'd look at you and go "Hi, Andi, how are you?" "Fine."

0:18:120:18:15

"Can I see your pass, please?" "But you've already identified that you know me.

0:18:150:18:19

"Surely you can let me in?" "I need to see your pass."

0:18:190:18:22

I work here! This is a BBC pass.

0:18:260:18:29

You're a jerk! You know that?

0:18:300:18:32

This is a career decision you're making here, buddy!

0:18:320:18:35

Look at the camera. Look at the camera!

0:18:350:18:38

OK, I have to go home.

0:18:380:18:40

'There was a day when a man wouldn't let me in

0:18:400:18:43

'because I didn't have a car park ticket. So I took the key out, left my car and ran into the building.

0:18:430:18:48

OK, man, yeah? You happy with that?

0:18:480:18:51

Can you see my fingers?

0:18:510:18:53

Count 'em, Stan, you fuck!

0:18:530:18:55

OK? OK! I showed him.

0:18:550:18:57

'From this place there is no escape!

0:18:570:18:59

'Not only can you not get out of this place, but you can't get in!

0:18:590:19:06

At the front of the building they had this thing called the Horseshoe car park, very exclusive,

0:19:060:19:10

I think just meant for the bigwigs on the sixth floor.

0:19:100:19:14

My greatest achievement at Television Centre

0:19:140:19:17

was when I was editor of Newsround

0:19:170:19:19

and I was actually given a permanent pass.

0:19:190:19:21

There was a very valuable form of currency

0:19:210:19:23

when it came to car parking spaces, which were these.

0:19:230:19:26

That this could get you a space anywhere,

0:19:260:19:28

even in the Horseshoe car park.

0:19:280:19:30

The internal bureaucracy was an absolute nightmare.

0:19:300:19:35

I had to get permission to have a helicopter land at the front

0:19:350:19:40

of Television Centre, actually in the bosses' car-park.

0:19:400:19:42

This was the first time a chopper had landed at the VIP car-park

0:19:420:19:45

at the front of Television Centre and, as you can imagine, it caused quite a stir.

0:19:450:19:51

I was given a complete brush-off and I was told,

0:19:510:19:56

"You're treating this as if it was a place for entertainment."

0:19:560:19:59

-Sorry, we haven't got a meter.

-You're terribly privileged.

0:19:590:20:02

Only the very best people park in this spot, you know.

0:20:020:20:04

I gather the Rolls-Royces have had to leave.

0:20:040:20:06

We had our own security force, we had our own commissionaires.

0:20:060:20:10

My great-uncle was a commissionaire for the BBC

0:20:100:20:13

so he worked a lot of the time here.

0:20:130:20:15

So when I got the job as Director-General, I always laughed,

0:20:150:20:19

we've gone from commissionaire to Director- General

0:20:190:20:22

in only two generations. Not bad!

0:20:220:20:24

I'd be away at Yorkshire Television, what, 15 years,

0:20:240:20:28

and I came back, and on the morning I arrived,

0:20:280:20:31

the commissionaire said "Good morning, sir. Been on leave?"

0:20:310:20:34

They were fantastic. Like the guys at the front of Harrods,

0:20:340:20:37

all dressed up. "Morning, Mr Nigel."

0:20:370:20:39

-"Morning, Miss Rippon."

-"Good morning, Mr Daniels."

0:20:390:20:41

They were their own men and they weren't in any way obsequious.

0:20:410:20:45

It was Vic, always Vic.

0:20:450:20:47

That was it, Vic, and he was on the main gate for years.

0:20:470:20:50

And Vic had lost an arm during the Second World War.

0:20:500:20:53

And he always wore his uniform and the ribbons of his medals.

0:20:530:20:57

He had quite a few altercations with people who thought

0:20:570:21:00

they had a right to get in in their vehicles and he thought they didn't.

0:21:000:21:03

You could get through Vic.

0:21:030:21:05

I'd lift him up and put him on top of a car!

0:21:050:21:08

If he liked you, he'd park your car.

0:21:080:21:10

"Well, you can go over there, mate, or you can go over there."

0:21:100:21:14

Eric Sykes, the comedian, was coming in, chatting away,

0:21:140:21:18

and I said, "I didn't know you knew the commissionaire there?"

0:21:180:21:22

He said, "Oh, yes, he's a great pal. I always invite him to my shows.

0:21:220:21:25

"I can't imagine why, cos it halves the applause!"

0:21:250:21:28

It had such a status, that reception.

0:21:310:21:33

You felt a little bit swingy walking into reception.

0:21:330:21:38

Kings and Queens and Prime Ministers walked through there

0:21:380:21:41

and were met by dragon ladies.

0:21:410:21:44

Quite a stern-looking lot but really old-school,

0:21:440:21:47

all dressed up in their Chanel suits.

0:21:470:21:50

I was walking across reception and a lady came up and said,

0:21:500:21:54

"Excuse me, Miss Hughes, but I've often wondered,

0:21:540:21:57

"do you pronounce your name 'Nervous' or 'Nerees?'"

0:21:570:22:01

And I was Nervous Hughes from then on!

0:22:010:22:05

No, it's not Pebble Mill at Seven, it's Wogan.

0:22:050:22:09

Tonight, as you can see, we come to you from the main reception.

0:22:090:22:12

'One of my guests was the Dalai Lama.

0:22:120:22:14

'And when we'd finished, we were out in the main reception area

0:22:140:22:18

'and I heard this formidable blonde woman make an announcement.

0:22:180:22:22

"Taxi for the Lama. Taxi for the Lama!"

0:22:230:22:28

-Those ladies on reception really ran the place.

-They did.

0:22:280:22:31

Knew more than anybody in the building

0:22:310:22:33

about what went on.

0:22:330:22:35

There were three ladies who took it in turn on rotation

0:22:350:22:39

to woman main reception.

0:22:390:22:41

And one of them was scariest of all.

0:22:410:22:44

She had the glasses that went up like this

0:22:440:22:47

and the hair piled high on her head.

0:22:470:22:49

Blonde hair going up like this,

0:22:490:22:52

sprayed to within an inch of its life.

0:22:520:22:54

And she would go, "Maaaain Receptionnnnnnnn."

0:22:540:22:58

Well, the thing that I find rather ironic is the fact that what

0:23:000:23:04

used to be main reception, where one arrived,

0:23:040:23:07

was given one's dressing room key and told where to go,

0:23:070:23:10

and there were always actors buzzing around.

0:23:100:23:14

Now actors are as rare as a snowball on the equator,

0:23:140:23:18

and yet they have changed the name to 'Stage Door'.

0:23:180:23:21

The blokes just aren't the same. The blokes they have now, not the same.

0:23:210:23:26

When I arrived, they said, "Yes? Name?" "Angela Rippon."

0:23:260:23:29

"Why are you here?" "I've come to be interviewed for a job

0:23:290:23:32

"for television news." And one of the girls looked up and said,

0:23:320:23:35

"Oh, are we going to have a woman on the news? Oh, that'll be nice."

0:23:350:23:39

Ready, Jack?

0:23:390:23:40

This is take two of the closing.

0:23:400:23:42

-Good evening, all.

-I was doing a Dixon of Dock Green.

0:23:420:23:45

For Collins and Skinner... Oh, sorry.

0:23:450:23:50

And I can remember being terribly,

0:23:500:23:52

terribly nervous walking in this wonderful building.

0:23:520:23:56

I said my name and they had a long list,

0:23:560:24:00

and she started looking from the bottom.

0:24:000:24:02

I remember mine was the very bottom word! And she said,

0:24:020:24:06

"Oh, yes, dressing room 359." And she handed me a key and said,

0:24:060:24:10

"Do you know where to go?" I said, "Yes," cos I was so nervous,

0:24:100:24:13

I thought, I can't ask this terribly frightening lady where to go.

0:24:130:24:17

And I think I wandered round for about half an hour before I found my dressing room.

0:24:170:24:22

'Standby, please, we're going on.'

0:24:270:24:28

I did know the difference was in Thames Television,

0:24:280:24:31

you got a star on your dressing room.

0:24:310:24:33

When you come to the BBC, you didn't.

0:24:330:24:36

'Depending on where you were, I mean, if you're in the basement,

0:24:380:24:41

you'd sometimes get a dressing room that was made for 50 people

0:24:410:24:44

so you could do a lap of the room while you were waiting.

0:24:440:24:47

Good luck, Barry, darling, I'll be with you every inch of the way.

0:24:470:24:52

Poor brave boy.

0:24:550:24:58

It was like a small cell.

0:24:580:25:00

'Jeremy Kemp on the set, please.'

0:25:000:25:03

You never had a telephone or anything like that, or a loo.

0:25:030:25:06

One day in the corridor, this Blue Peter presenter came up to me

0:25:060:25:09

and said, "Have you got a star dressing room?"

0:25:090:25:11

And I thought, "Oh dear, they're obviously jealous"

0:25:110:25:14

because I had this lovely bath, and I said, "Yes, I have."

0:25:140:25:17

He said, "Would you mind sharing it with the otter that's on our programme?"

0:25:170:25:21

Shall I see if she can jump in from there? There.

0:25:210:25:24

Let's run a bit of water for swimming. Oh, come back!

0:25:240:25:28

You did sometimes get very noisy,

0:25:280:25:31

or very egocentric neighbours,

0:25:310:25:34

Who made it very hard for you to think.

0:25:340:25:36

Attention, attention, Joanna Lumley is back.

0:25:360:25:41

To all BBC producers, she's a size eight,

0:25:410:25:46

she's had her eyes done and she's feeling good.

0:25:460:25:48

Joanna, quick, get up, there's Michael Winner.

0:25:480:25:51

Mr Winner, remember Joanna Lumley?

0:25:510:25:54

She was a Bond girl... uh, a month ago

0:25:540:25:56

and she was the original Purdey...

0:25:560:25:58

-Who?

-Purdey in the Avengers. Joanna, like we rehearsed.

0:25:580:26:02

2, 3, 4, cue.

0:26:020:26:03

AVENGERS THEME MUSIC

0:26:030:26:06

Go, Joanna, go!

0:26:160:26:18

There was a series called Adam Adamant where one of the actors

0:26:220:26:26

was well-known for, um, hitting the bottle.

0:26:260:26:29

'All right, darling? Yes, we're ready on the floor.'

0:26:290:26:31

His dressing room was fleeced

0:26:310:26:33

to see that there weren't alcoholic substances there.

0:26:330:26:37

He was brought his evening meal, but actually incarcerated

0:26:370:26:41

in his dressing room until he was needed on the set.

0:26:410:26:44

These are men who have been caught acting in Colditz,

0:26:440:26:48

being escorted to their cell by sadistic floor managers.

0:26:480:26:52

Whoops!

0:26:520:26:55

'I remember it was a dressing room'

0:26:580:27:00

just over there, actually, where I met Stevie Wonder for the first time.

0:27:000:27:04

He always had the electronic organ there.

0:27:040:27:06

He was always thinking up songs and I remember one particular one,

0:27:060:27:09

he said "Tony, what you think of this?" Dang-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding.

0:27:090:27:13

And I heard it a little later and thought, "Where have I heard that?"

0:27:130:27:16

And it was 'Uptight (Everything's Alright)'.

0:27:160:27:18

Well, I heard it for the first time in a dressing room down there.

0:27:180:27:22

They were convinced that the dressing rooms were being used

0:27:220:27:27

for naughty purposes.

0:27:270:27:29

Yeah, slightly sordid.

0:27:290:27:31

I think a lot went on in them just the same.

0:27:310:27:34

Oh, no, everybody was doing it on the premises.

0:27:340:27:36

They minded you being drunk and they minded you being late.

0:27:360:27:39

-Yes.

-Drunk and late, but not sex.

0:27:390:27:41

Nobody cared whether you had sex in your dressing room.

0:27:410:27:43

No, people were bonking all over the BBC, haha!

0:27:430:27:46

Yeah, what do you think those 'B's stand for?

0:27:460:27:51

THEY LAUGH

0:27:510:27:53

I was not seeing very much of my boyfriend at the time,

0:27:530:27:57

who I hasten to add is now my husband, Mike Smith.

0:27:570:28:00

But we were like ships in the night.

0:28:000:28:03

I had dressing room number two,

0:28:030:28:06

so on the occasions where we did see each other, we had to take

0:28:060:28:09

full advantage of that time, of that blissful however long it was.

0:28:090:28:14

And I have kept a souvenir which I've brought with me rather cheekily

0:28:140:28:17

because I didn't know whether I should hand it in.

0:28:170:28:20

But it's my dressing room key. Number two.

0:28:200:28:23

I think Terry Wogan was in dressing room 1 that day.

0:28:230:28:26

I wouldn't say that people actually died in these dressing rooms

0:28:260:28:30

but they looked as if somebody had.

0:28:300:28:32

What they were known for were the soup stains and coffee stains

0:28:320:28:35

and indeed the bloodstains on the carpets.

0:28:350:28:38

Some of them have become really glam.

0:28:380:28:41

They're a set, what I might call the Bruce Forsyth dressing rooms,

0:28:410:28:46

stripy wallpaper and very, very dark lighting, and very glamorous.

0:28:460:28:50

I was in my sketch show,

0:28:500:28:52

and the first day of recording I was in the glamour dressing room

0:28:520:28:56

and when I came back the second day, I'd been moved.

0:28:560:28:59

I'd been moved into one of the old, sort of former dressing rooms,

0:28:590:29:04

recognisably just hutches,

0:29:040:29:06

with those very high windows like you see in police cells,

0:29:060:29:09

where you can hear the technical staff discussing

0:29:090:29:11

the programme they're working on.

0:29:110:29:14

"Yeah, I'm on that Smith and Jones thing. It's all right, I suppose."

0:29:140:29:18

I was very lucky to work with Joan Rivers

0:29:180:29:20

and she came over to this country to do her chat show,

0:29:200:29:23

so I got the job of tarting up Ms Rivers' dressing room,

0:29:230:29:26

and tart it up we did. It looked fantastic.

0:29:260:29:29

We had people knock on the door from around the building, saying,

0:29:290:29:32

"Can we come and have a look at the dressing room?"

0:29:320:29:34

And she was here for a fortnight, and how funny is this,

0:29:340:29:37

the minute she left the building,

0:29:370:29:39

we stripped it all out and put it back to as it was!

0:29:390:29:42

I want you to meet Damon Beesley.

0:29:440:29:46

He's a producer here but he's also a great writer. He's a script editor.

0:29:460:29:50

HIGH-PITCHED LAUGHTER

0:29:500:29:52

Room for a small one? Cheeky.

0:29:540:29:55

You started without me, and not for the first time.

0:29:550:29:58

What's he been saying? It's all lies.

0:29:580:30:01

The BBC's always had its strange hierarchy.

0:30:010:30:04

Some real talent at the BBC.

0:30:040:30:06

-Cheers.

-He's lovely.

0:30:060:30:08

There were rules about what you could have in your office.

0:30:080:30:11

You could have curtains that drew, or, if you weren't senior enough,

0:30:110:30:14

they had to be just strips at the side.

0:30:140:30:17

You had to be on a certain grade to get a carpet.

0:30:170:30:19

You could have a drinks cabinet, you could not have a drinks cabinet.

0:30:190:30:22

But you knew that you were upwardly mobile when you were issued

0:30:220:30:26

with a rather grander desk and a coat and hat rack.

0:30:260:30:32

They put me into a little segmented room, like being part of an orange.

0:30:320:30:37

You were stuck with one wall narrower than the other

0:30:370:30:40

and peg boards,

0:30:400:30:42

and the whole thing was simply not conducive to writing comedy.

0:30:420:30:45

When I first arrived, somebody told me that it was built in a circle

0:30:450:30:49

so the buck couldn't stop.

0:30:490:30:51

'After a short drive, I arrived at BBC Television Centre.

0:30:540:30:58

'Unfortunately, this is the most complicated building in the world.'

0:31:010:31:05

Because it is a circle, it does encourage people to get to know one another.

0:31:050:31:10

Jim Cellan Jones was Head of Drama and I knew he was on the 5th floor

0:31:100:31:14

and I'd pretend I was going somewhere

0:31:140:31:16

and I'd just walk round the offices

0:31:160:31:18

and he'd say, "Nige, hey, come in, what are you up to?"

0:31:180:31:21

I'd said, "I'm just... Not a lot." And I'd get cast. I'd get a job!

0:31:210:31:24

Now I found this a very easy building to get to grips with.

0:31:240:31:28

Once you've mastered the fact that

0:31:280:31:30

it's all built round this circular quad.

0:31:300:31:33

I loved the shape of it because it's so organic, isn't it?

0:31:330:31:37

Easy to get lost,

0:31:370:31:39

but wonderful that it just goes round in a circle.

0:31:390:31:41

My wig was tight, my corsets were tight,

0:31:410:31:45

my shoes were hurting me, and there's no oxygen

0:31:450:31:47

in those big studios because there's so many of us there.

0:31:470:31:50

I would always have a cup of tea and then I would go and walk

0:31:500:31:54

around the doughnut maybe two or three times, in my costume usually.

0:31:540:31:58

And then you work out that all the studios are off it like that.

0:31:580:32:02

Make-up was sort of over there and below the studios there's more make-up and dressing rooms.

0:32:020:32:06

It actually worked really well. I think it was a brilliant design.

0:32:060:32:09

'A series of endless corridors.

0:32:090:32:13

'I have spent most of my formative years walking endlessly round in circles,

0:32:130:32:19

finding myself back where I started, unable to find a studio

0:32:190:32:22

or anybody to show me the way!

0:32:220:32:25

I could be wandering round there now.

0:32:250:32:26

It's a round building and I remember, very early on,

0:32:280:32:32

somebody said, "Do you want a cup of tea?" And I said, "Yeah."

0:32:320:32:35

They said, "Just pop up and you'll find a little tea bar."

0:32:350:32:37

I started walking. I could not find this tea bar.

0:32:370:32:42

What I was doing was walking round and round!

0:32:420:32:45

You wouldn't think you could get lost in a circular building,

0:32:450:32:48

because you'd just walk back to where you started,

0:32:480:32:51

but it's actually very easy to get lost.

0:32:510:32:54

It's such a big circle that you don't actually realise that

0:32:540:32:56

you've passed the point where you entered the circle,

0:32:560:32:59

and so just to find this cup of tea, I was gone for about an hour,

0:32:590:33:03

and I just carried on walking for a great deal of time,

0:33:030:33:06

round and round in circles.

0:33:060:33:07

When I was appointed Controller,

0:33:070:33:10

and I had to go to the first important meeting, I got lost.

0:33:100:33:13

I mean, I was going round and round the circle

0:33:130:33:15

and I suddenly realised I was recognising the same fire extinguisher. Where was I?

0:33:150:33:21

A myriad of corridors. I remember having quite an important meeting

0:33:210:33:26

downstairs and saying, "I've got to go. I'm going for a pee",

0:33:260:33:29

and going off for a pee, and I couldn't find my way back.

0:33:290:33:32

So in the end I had to ring up my secretary and say,

0:33:320:33:36

"I'm wandering around this place but I've no idea where the meeting is,"

0:33:360:33:39

-because it all looks the same, doesn't it?

-'Going down.'

0:33:390:33:42

In the sub basement, which is a level below the basement floor,

0:33:420:33:45

there are service corridors which connect all the blocks on the site,

0:33:450:33:49

so a corridor that's probably not much wider than a human being.

0:33:490:33:53

Extremely creepy because there are so many twists

0:33:530:33:56

and turns down there and it's very dimly lit.

0:33:560:33:58

I got a pink chalk and I just used to quietly put a chalk arrow.

0:33:580:34:04

On the very first edition of Newsround,

0:34:040:34:06

I nearly didn't make it because I was down in the basement

0:34:060:34:09

at about quarter to five and I had to get up to the studio

0:34:090:34:12

on the 6th floor. And I went the wrong way around.

0:34:120:34:14

And I got to the studio about six or seven minutes before air,

0:34:140:34:18

palpitating like mad.

0:34:180:34:20

You just follow the bum, and when we got to the bum,

0:34:220:34:24

we knew we were in the right part.

0:34:240:34:26

In the summer, the sun hits it in a certain way

0:34:260:34:30

and it really glows, that bum.

0:34:300:34:31

'Hugh Weldon, who was the boss, was on the other side of the ring,

0:34:330:34:38

so I could look out of my office and see whether he was in his office, whether it was worth going round.

0:34:380:34:42

"Come on then, Brian", said Huw Wheldon.

0:34:420:34:45

"You're a climber. Climb up this column, right up to the top,

0:34:450:34:49

"then get on to that statue down there."

0:34:490:34:52

Took me about 20 minutes, shimmied up, it's quite hard at the base.

0:34:520:34:56

But gradually wrapped myself round, got myself there, got to the top,

0:34:560:35:00

and I, "Pfffft" - blew up this great big French letter,

0:35:000:35:05

tied it onto its cock, and Huw Wheldon said,

0:35:050:35:10

"Now we hope people look at the bloody thing!"

0:35:100:35:12

Next day, when everyone came into their offices,

0:35:120:35:15

there was a French letter, a condom, tied over its cock.

0:35:150:35:19

That's why it's called Golden Bollocks.

0:35:190:35:22

The bowl which caught the water

0:35:300:35:32

was directly above where all the telecine apparatus was.

0:35:320:35:37

And it started to leak,

0:35:370:35:40

and this crucial element of the system was in danger of blowing up,

0:35:400:35:44

short-circuiting with water cascading down.

0:35:440:35:46

I think it was exaggerated but that was one of the problems.

0:35:460:35:50

The videotape recording department used to be in the basement.

0:35:500:35:53

One day the Queen was coming to something at Television Centre.

0:35:530:35:56

She was coming up Wood Lane in a limousine and they said,

0:35:560:35:58

"Quick, turn on the fountain, it's going to look smashing."

0:35:580:36:01

They turned on the fountain, it was lovely.

0:36:010:36:03

The Queen came in and said, "What a lovely fountain", and went through the door.

0:36:030:36:07

And then they said, "Turn it off, quick!" And turned it off.

0:36:070:36:09

But then they said, "Turn it on again,

0:36:090:36:11

"the Duke's coming behind in a Land Rover!"

0:36:110:36:13

So they turned it on again and the entire VT was flooded, I believe.

0:36:130:36:17

When it turned on, it made a heck of a noise.

0:36:170:36:20

Because the sound of the water

0:36:200:36:21

on the fountain was echoing around this ring.

0:36:210:36:25

I'm told that the more sensitive of the lady secretaries

0:36:250:36:27

found this really unendurable and had to keep going to the ladies' room

0:36:270:36:31

once every three quarters of an hour!

0:36:310:36:33

I'll never forget, one day the water tanks burst in the building.

0:36:330:36:37

And the water was coming flooding down. I don't know how many floors.

0:36:370:36:40

These days, of course, the building would be evacuated,

0:36:400:36:44

nobody would be allowed to go anywhere near it.

0:36:440:36:48

No, on Blue Peter, the idea was to get a sequence actually dancing,

0:36:480:36:52

barefoot, with umbrellas up, in the water,

0:36:520:36:56

coming right through the light fittings. Can you imagine?

0:36:560:36:59

There are a lot of obstacles in this building that you have to overcome.

0:37:020:37:06

God forbid you want to film anything outside the confines of a studio,

0:37:060:37:10

then I wish you luck.

0:37:100:37:11

Once you'd started to use the television centre as a location,

0:37:110:37:15

then you were in real trouble.

0:37:150:37:17

Prem ops, fire safety people, health and safety people, the list goes on.

0:37:170:37:23

What about the height? What would you say this is? About 60?

0:37:230:37:27

-About 60 feet.

-What does it look like from down there?

0:37:270:37:30

Very high!

0:37:300:37:32

'Karl Wallenda was a world famous tightrope walker.

0:37:320:37:36

He'd done the most amazing tightrope walks,

0:37:360:37:39

and the great thing was that he never used a safety net.

0:37:390:37:44

There was the most almighty battle about that.

0:37:440:37:47

We got our own way, because we were such a pain in the neck.

0:37:470:37:50

There wasn't the Health and Safety around that there is today.

0:37:500:37:54

You are taking, not a chance, but a calculated risk.

0:37:540:37:57

-You want me to stand on my neck?

-Can you?

-Well, I'll try.

0:37:570:38:03

Obviously, we couldn't do it live, just in case he did go off.

0:38:030:38:06

'I suddenly thought, what happens if he does fall?

0:38:080:38:12

'And I said to camera two, if he falls, pan with him.'

0:38:120:38:17

I was worrying about that. Can you walk right to the end now?

0:38:170:38:22

Karl said to me, "When it's time for me to go,

0:38:220:38:25

"I will either get run over by a bus, have a heart attack

0:38:250:38:28

"or fall off a wire. God above is going to make those decisions."

0:38:280:38:32

And three years after he told me that,

0:38:320:38:34

he did actually fall off a wire and kill himself.

0:38:340:38:38

On shorter programmes than yours,

0:38:380:38:39

I'd rehearse what we're doing next but on this occasion,

0:38:390:38:42

I can sit back and enjoy nearly three hours of your multi-coloured programme.

0:38:420:38:45

Marvellous. Well, thank you, Richard. Let's have the titles.

0:38:450:38:49

It was going to be totally live and absolutely unrehearsed.

0:38:490:38:53

The people in charge said "You're going to run about in unlit areas."

0:38:590:39:04

Well, we've come now this morning to one of the most important areas

0:39:040:39:08

of the Television Centre. We're one floor below ground

0:39:080:39:10

and this is known as the videotape area.

0:39:100:39:13

"We don't know where the sound's coming from. It's going to look and sound awful."

0:39:130:39:16

So in the half-hour between now and when we follow you on air,

0:39:160:39:19

we'll be tidying up the things that didn't work

0:39:190:39:21

and getting everything just right for transmission.

0:39:210:39:24

OK, I'll leave you to do that, Jim. Thank you very much indeed.

0:39:240:39:27

Thanks a lot. Grandstand later on BBC1.

0:39:270:39:30

I then said, "I tell you what, we'll just have one lit area

0:39:300:39:33

"and we won't deviate from that", which was a complete lie.

0:39:330:39:38

Haha! Silly!

0:39:380:39:41

'We just pushed it as far as we could.'

0:39:410:39:43

At the Television Centre here,

0:39:430:39:45

we do have many other things going on.

0:39:450:39:47

I mean, this is the only programme actually going out live.

0:39:470:39:50

But we've got people doing rehearsals for programmes, setting up studios.

0:39:500:39:55

-Look at the mess here.

-'The crews, of course, were wonderful.

0:39:550:39:58

'They thought this was a marvellous challenge,'

0:39:580:40:00

so we just upped and went.

0:40:000:40:02

They followed us, out of the door, into the corridor

0:40:020:40:05

and into the next studio.

0:40:050:40:07

Morning! Morning! Morning!

0:40:070:40:09

-That's Noel Edmonds!

-Hello!

0:40:090:40:12

I've just taken a break from next door. Morning, chaps. How are you?

0:40:120:40:17

No one was foolish enough to try and do it before, but it worked.

0:40:170:40:20

-Is it Dad's Army?

-No, it's not!

0:40:200:40:22

Because of this group of studios, all with different things going on,

0:40:220:40:26

we were able to show this is where it all happens.

0:40:260:40:30

'The idea of the tap dancing record came out of the fact that Roy Castle was in fact a tap dancer.

0:40:320:40:39

That took me into this spectacular thing here.

0:40:390:40:43

Are you part of the biggest tap-dancing troupe in the world?

0:40:430:40:45

-Yes, I am.

-What's your name?

-Julie.

0:40:450:40:50

I looked up the record and it wasn't very big, to be honest. I thought, 500 will do.

0:40:500:40:54

Pardon me asking, but where are the other 499?

0:40:540:40:59

Right here.

0:41:030:41:04

We had absolutely no choice. If we wanted to do it,

0:41:090:41:11

we had to do it in December. It was cold and I wanted another take,

0:41:110:41:15

because there was a camera shadow, but my head of the department said,

0:41:150:41:18

"Get the children in the warm." We had a mini camera in those days,

0:41:180:41:21

which was that size, you know, quite big.

0:41:210:41:24

I said, "I want the Busby Berkeley shot, put it right over the middle,"

0:41:240:41:28

and they pulled it out on a wire.

0:41:280:41:30

To have the fountain going was the climax of the whole piece

0:41:300:41:33

and that was difficult to do but it's just getting the right people on your side, to be honest.

0:41:330:41:38

And there was a lady who was the powerhouse

0:41:380:41:40

behind what you could do on the building site

0:41:400:41:43

if you stepped outside the studio.

0:41:430:41:46

And I went up to her and she was knitting in her office.

0:41:460:41:49

And so I said, "Maureen, what are you knitting?"

0:41:490:41:52

She said "I'm being sponsored to do this knit."

0:41:520:41:55

So I said, "I'll help you, I'll sponsor you."

0:41:550:41:57

I gave her a couple of quid and she said, "Now what I do for you?"

0:41:570:42:01

I said, "Well, how about switching the fountain on for starters?"

0:42:010:42:04

And they did it.

0:42:040:42:07

That's how it used to operate in those days, bribery!

0:42:070:42:11

There was always some bugger out there, Doctor Who or somebody,

0:42:150:42:18

Dixon of Dock Green. They're always doing little shots.

0:42:180:42:21

And of course you had Michael Bentine's World out here.

0:42:210:42:24

Hello, and a very, very warm welcome back to the very last

0:42:240:42:28

in our present series of It's A Square World.

0:42:280:42:31

Michael Bentine loved Television Centre so much

0:42:310:42:33

that at the end of every series he destroyed it catastrophically.

0:42:330:42:37

It was sunk by a German U-boat, it was besieged by Red Indians.

0:42:370:42:41

It got blasted into space in one of them.

0:42:430:42:46

With the aid of some special effects, obviously.

0:42:460:42:49

-Now what's wrong?!

-We are weightless!

0:43:060:43:10

Now easily observable is the BBC Television Centre.

0:43:120:43:14

You'll be able to see its form together with the many lights

0:43:140:43:18

associated with it.

0:43:180:43:19

Whenever surreal mayhem broke out around the grounds

0:43:190:43:22

of Television Centre, everyone assumed, "It's Michael Bentine.

0:43:220:43:25

"He's up to something again."

0:43:250:43:26

Until one day there was a real raid on the cashiers.

0:43:260:43:30

You've done more to confuse BBC Commissionaires

0:43:300:43:32

than any man in the history of broadcasting.

0:43:320:43:34

The robbers attacked, and they thought it was you.

0:43:340:43:36

-Yes, they did. That was a shocking business.

-They were real.

0:43:360:43:39

The week's wages, £20,000 in cash,

0:43:390:43:42

had just been delivered by a security firm.

0:43:420:43:44

And a getaway car, full of people with stockings over their faces

0:43:440:43:48

and looking for all the world like pantomime bank robbers,

0:43:480:43:51

pulled up at the main gate.

0:43:510:43:52

I just said, "What's going on?" And he said, "It's all right, mate."

0:43:520:43:56

And then I presumed it was filming.

0:43:560:43:58

These guys went in with stockings over their faces, beat everybody up,

0:43:580:44:02

smashed them on top of their heads,

0:44:020:44:04

knocked them all out, and pinched £16,000. I was there!

0:44:040:44:07

I thought it was something like Z Cars.

0:44:070:44:08

You know, they nipped in here.

0:44:080:44:11

Ran in with guns, and said, "Everybody on the floor,"

0:44:110:44:13

and broke down the bars and got through the grille, you see.

0:44:130:44:16

They got in their car and they drove round the circle

0:44:160:44:19

and simply went out the back gate.

0:44:190:44:21

The commissioner appears and says, "Nice to see you, Mr Bentine,"

0:44:210:44:24

and opens the gate and lets them out.

0:44:240:44:25

"Hello. Hello, Mr Bentine. nice to see you back again."

0:44:250:44:28

And it really was five men in a Jaguar car

0:44:280:44:31

-came up and robbed the place.

-Yes. Thanks to you.

0:44:310:44:34

There seemed to be no limit to the items

0:44:340:44:36

that people would take from the building.

0:44:360:44:39

Everything would go.

0:44:390:44:41

We would have a cage full of 100 footballs,

0:44:410:44:46

and by the end of the week, there were three.

0:44:460:44:49

They had a banqueting hall with a dozen place settings

0:44:490:44:54

and silver period cutlery had been hired

0:44:540:44:57

and very carefully laid out on the table.

0:44:570:45:00

And when people came back into the studio,

0:45:000:45:02

every piece of cutlery had gone.

0:45:020:45:04

But it hadn't just been stolen.

0:45:040:45:05

Somebody had actually gone to the restaurant block

0:45:050:45:08

and collected enough BBC canteen cutlery to replace it.

0:45:080:45:12

Oh, don't use that one! It's discoloured! Here, find another.

0:45:120:45:16

There were three canteens, all on top of each other.

0:45:180:45:21

So you had the first floor canteen,

0:45:210:45:23

waitress service on the second floor, and the third floor canteen.

0:45:230:45:26

And there was kind of an unwritten rule between, you know,

0:45:260:45:29

production go to the third floor,

0:45:290:45:30

and anyone that might have a high-visibility jacket

0:45:300:45:33

would go to the first floor.

0:45:330:45:34

Yeah, I think there was a sort of class system

0:45:340:45:37

of restaurants at one point.

0:45:370:45:38

The ordinary people ate baked beans on the ground floor,

0:45:380:45:43

and then there was a bit where slightly smarter people ate lasagne or something.

0:45:430:45:46

We're up here. You stay in that one.

0:45:460:45:49

That one's got sausages, beans, and mash. Ours has got chicken kiev.

0:45:490:45:52

I remember The Two Ronnies queuing up with everyone else,

0:45:520:45:56

and they got two little stools,

0:45:560:45:59

and they were sitting on these stools,

0:45:590:46:01

dragging the stools along as the queue shortened.

0:46:010:46:03

Wild horses would never have dragged me there. But I would hear tales.

0:46:050:46:09

The soggy bacon, left overnight.

0:46:090:46:11

Because there was no wastage. Good husbandry was the watchword.

0:46:110:46:14

People used to talk about having been taken

0:46:140:46:17

to the waitress service bit of the canteen.

0:46:170:46:20

-Yes!

-Lots of times!

0:46:200:46:21

-Lots of times?

-Yes!

0:46:210:46:23

There we go again.

0:46:230:46:24

I was so impressed, because it had white tablecloths

0:46:240:46:27

and there was the waitresses there going round.

0:46:270:46:30

-So you felt you'd arrived.

-SHE LAUGHS

0:46:300:46:32

I don't think it was that glamorous.

0:46:320:46:34

There was some hairstyles amongst those waitresses.

0:46:340:46:37

And I used to look at John and say,

0:46:370:46:38

"I really want my hair to look like that."

0:46:380:46:40

You know, these beautiful beehives. Oh, it was brilliant!

0:46:400:46:43

I remember there was one lady, she had this enormous hairdo,

0:46:430:46:47

and the longest nails that were painted green.

0:46:470:46:49

And you think, how can you...anyway.

0:46:490:46:51

Did you ever have that waitress who was rather eccentric,

0:46:510:46:54

and she had a really, really, long fingernail, but it twisted round?

0:46:540:46:58

I never wanted to be served by her!

0:46:580:47:00

That would have put me off my lunch, I think, really!

0:47:000:47:03

I remember one day, Joan Collins walked in.

0:47:030:47:05

She sat down and just took out her little Tupperware box

0:47:050:47:08

and had her own salad.

0:47:080:47:09

I thought, "How chic is that, in the waitress service?!"

0:47:090:47:12

It was where most of the producers went to have their lunch, in fact.

0:47:120:47:17

And we used to eat lunch in those days.

0:47:170:47:21

It was sort of meat and two veg and a glass of wine.

0:47:210:47:24

I mean, it was none of this grabbing a sandwich by the...

0:47:240:47:26

-HE LAUGHS

-..by the typewriter!

0:47:260:47:28

When the controllers had a guest,

0:47:280:47:30

they would take them to waitress service.

0:47:300:47:32

And you could also book a table at waitress service,

0:47:320:47:35

and see them with their guests.

0:47:350:47:37

It was very useful to be able to nobble the bosses

0:47:370:47:39

whilst they were preoccupied with their meal.

0:47:390:47:42

The wonderful thing about the second floor was there was a balcony

0:47:420:47:45

overlooking the first floor.

0:47:450:47:46

So they could actually look down their noses at the proles below.

0:47:460:47:49

We used to imagine it was so they could do a Henry VIII

0:47:490:47:52

with their chicken bones. Toss it over.

0:47:520:47:53

"Look, there's peasants scrabbling for my leftovers!"

0:47:530:47:56

I was doing the Jackanory programme with Kenneth Williams.

0:47:560:47:59

So we went into the canteen

0:47:590:48:01

where some lady was behind the counter,

0:48:010:48:03

and we said, "What's nice for lunch today?"

0:48:030:48:05

And she said, "Oh, we've got a very nice chicken curry."

0:48:050:48:08

I said, "That's good. I'll have the chicken curry."

0:48:080:48:10

And Kenneth said, "Sounds rather lovely.

0:48:100:48:12

"I think I'll have the chicken curry as well."

0:48:120:48:15

And the woman dashes over to a hatch and yells down,

0:48:150:48:17

"There's a big rush on the chicken curry!

0:48:170:48:19

-"Send some more up!"

-HE LAUGHS

0:48:190:48:22

I remember vividly it was a very nice steak and chips

0:48:220:48:25

with a bottle of what the BBC called, 'Good Ordinary Claret.'

0:48:250:48:28

I sometimes sat at the table and amused myself

0:48:280:48:31

by crossing out 'Good' and writing 'Very', Ordinary Claret.

0:48:310:48:35

You'd go in at 12 o'clock and you'd roll out at half past two.

0:48:350:48:40

FILM NIGHT THEME TUNE

0:48:400:48:43

Yeah, there was an occasion that could have proved disastrous.

0:48:430:48:47

And I promise you, I'm not at all proud of this, but I was drunk.

0:48:470:48:51

We all used to have lunch in the restaurant

0:48:510:48:53

before going into the studio, and on this particular Friday,

0:48:530:48:56

a lad who'd been attached to us was leaving.

0:48:560:48:59

He was going round the table with bottles of wine the whole time.

0:48:590:49:02

And in those circumstances, you lose track of how much you've drunk.

0:49:020:49:05

We walked down the corridor to the studio, Pres B.

0:49:050:49:09

But when I got inside and the lights came on

0:49:090:49:12

and I had to do my first link to camera,

0:49:120:49:14

everything fell apart. And I burbled and stuttered.

0:49:140:49:17

Oh, I was fluffing my lines.

0:49:170:49:18

And at the end of this, there was total embarrassed silence.

0:49:180:49:22

And I got up and said, "OK, this is what I'm going to do.

0:49:220:49:25

"I'm going to walk round and round this circular building,

0:49:250:49:28

"and every time I pass this door, I want someone to give me

0:49:280:49:30

"a cup of strong black coffee."

0:49:300:49:32

And I did this for about half an hour,

0:49:320:49:34

went to my dressing room, plunged my face repeatedly into cold water,

0:49:340:49:39

and went in and recorded the programme.

0:49:390:49:41

DIRECTOR: Just under 30 seconds.

0:49:410:49:43

It turned out it was the most sober programme I have ever done.

0:49:430:49:47

It also happened to be about the dullest programme I've ever done.

0:49:470:49:50

But the thing is, I got away with it, but I learned a salutary lesson.

0:49:500:49:54

I never drank again before working.

0:49:540:49:56

There are pop groups in to record in the afternoon

0:49:560:50:00

and of course, they smoked.

0:50:000:50:02

And they didn't smoke ordinary cigarettes.

0:50:020:50:03

David Attenborough was a very tolerant controller.

0:50:080:50:10

But he did pass a message to the editor, which was,

0:50:100:50:13

"There is a herbal smell

0:50:130:50:14

"drifting along that corridor from your studio.

0:50:140:50:17

"If it becomes any stronger, you'll be in trouble."

0:50:170:50:22

Look, please don't smoke that stuff, you know,

0:50:220:50:25

openly, and so that we can all smell it. I mean, just be sensible.

0:50:250:50:28

That was all he said. And so we were told to control it.

0:50:320:50:36

I remember you telling me a tale of you doing something on Play Away.

0:50:360:50:39

I think it involved silhouettes. And everybody had had...

0:50:390:50:43

Playschool, and it was the Nativity.

0:50:430:50:45

And there was Rick Jones, Lionel Morton, myself.

0:50:450:50:50

They got stoned on the biggest joint you've ever seen, in the studio.

0:50:500:50:54

And we were in silhouette, as the three shepherds with our crooks.

0:50:540:50:58

And Lionel purposely held his crook so the crook didn't show.

0:50:580:51:02

Like with the cameras, instead of that way!

0:51:020:51:05

They were absolutely stoned out of their minds.

0:51:050:51:08

So when we recorded, who cocked his lines up? Me.

0:51:080:51:12

I couldn't work with it, I really couldn't!

0:51:120:51:15

-I like that you weren't stoned.

-I wasn't!

0:51:150:51:18

Such a professional.

0:51:180:51:19

HE LAUGHS

0:51:190:51:21

You would come from the screaming mayhem of the studios

0:51:220:51:25

and the Light Entertainment department or the drama department,

0:51:250:51:28

where basically everybody shouted to each other all the time,

0:51:280:51:32

and then you'd open up on the 6th floor.

0:51:320:51:34

There would be this swish, and then there was silence.

0:51:340:51:37

LIFT ANNOUNCEMENT: 6th Floor.

0:51:370:51:40

You couldn't hear yourself walk. People spoke in whispers.

0:51:400:51:43

It was like you'd sort of gone to heaven or something.

0:51:430:51:46

ANGELIC MUSIC

0:51:460:51:51

Ooh, the hierarchy! And you never really went onto that floor.

0:51:510:51:54

It was the posh floor, you know.

0:51:540:51:55

Where the head of BBC One, BBC Two, and the DG were.

0:51:550:51:59

You had to be fantastically well-behaved.

0:51:590:52:02

PRESENTER: Here, the drama department meets the controller of BBC One.

0:52:020:52:06

Well, let's move on to Dr Who,

0:52:060:52:08

because that's an even bigger problem.

0:52:080:52:09

Because you're asking for around 2,500 extra programmes.

0:52:090:52:13

Avoid the 6th floor.

0:52:130:52:15

It's just nothing but trouble.

0:52:150:52:16

If you're summoned to the 6th floor, you've put your foot in it.

0:52:160:52:19

You're going to get a bollocking.

0:52:190:52:21

Having a young baby and trying to do a live show really is a nightmare.

0:52:210:52:26

You know, I'd be trying to breastfeed her,

0:52:260:52:28

then I'd come in to rehearse a bit. Rose would be screaming.

0:52:280:52:31

How's your hair? All right?

0:52:310:52:32

So the girl who used to help me said, "I've done it.

0:52:320:52:35

"I've got this great corridor. It's just marvellous.

0:52:350:52:37

"There's no one around there. It's really quiet.

0:52:370:52:39

"And no matter how much noise Rose makes, in the end she calms down."

0:52:390:52:43

And I went, "Oh, great. Well done. Where is it?"

0:52:430:52:46

And she said, "Oh, it's the 6th floor."

0:52:460:52:48

SHE LAUGHS

0:52:480:52:50

Anybody who's anybody is here.

0:52:500:52:51

And they've got their names on all the doors.

0:52:510:52:53

Like, DG.

0:52:530:52:55

That means it's the Director General's office.

0:52:550:52:58

He's the head of everything. Oh, so exciting!

0:52:580:53:00

Let's have a look, shall we?

0:53:000:53:02

LAUGHTER

0:53:020:53:05

Oh, good morning, Mr Everett. Welcome to the BBC.

0:53:050:53:07

Naughty DG!

0:53:070:53:09

This building embodies the paradox in the BBC.

0:53:090:53:14

Of jazz hands and the smart suit.

0:53:140:53:18

-THEY SCREAM

-Ken!

-You!

0:53:180:53:22

It's fun to see those two collide.

0:53:220:53:23

That's how you get the best programmes.

0:53:230:53:25

B-U-M.

0:53:250:53:26

That must be Broadcasting Under-Manager.

0:53:260:53:29

-LAUGHTER

-No, it's a bum.

0:53:310:53:34

On Thursday evening, there's a rather special show of the week.

0:53:340:53:37

The other day, I spoke to one of its stars, Ernie Wise,

0:53:370:53:40

who'd brought along a friend.

0:53:400:53:42

Ernie, your Christmas show's being repeated. Why is that?

0:53:420:53:45

-By public demand.

-What, particularly, has made this public demand?

0:53:450:53:48

Well, they're just clamouring to see my performance again.

0:53:480:53:51

-My Napoleon was quite superb, wasn't it?

-Napoleon?

-Yes.

0:53:510:53:53

I did have the pleasure of working

0:53:530:53:56

on the Morecambe and Wise shows, and I think it was back in 1977,

0:53:560:53:59

if my memory serves me right.

0:53:590:54:00

They were coming to the end of their BBC contract,

0:54:000:54:03

and the BBC wanted to woo them to come and sign another contract.

0:54:030:54:06

So they threw them a very nice party

0:54:060:54:09

in the hallowed 6th floor suite.

0:54:090:54:11

To this day, I remember Eric saying,

0:54:110:54:14

"Just enjoy yourselves tonight, boys,

0:54:140:54:15

"because we've already signed with Thames Television."

0:54:150:54:18

So we knew before the BBC bigwigs.

0:54:180:54:22

Very slippy chairs.

0:54:220:54:23

Excuse him. He's always like this.

0:54:240:54:26

The BBC had a policy whereby the senior executives

0:54:260:54:29

would all meet once a week round the boardroom table.

0:54:290:54:33

All the heads of department went to B209,

0:54:330:54:39

which was a room in the basement.

0:54:390:54:41

And in those days, full of smoke.

0:54:410:54:43

The rest of us called it The Chimps' Tea Party.

0:54:430:54:45

And we used the Radio Times as our agenda.

0:54:450:54:49

We would say, "Look at your Radio Times, please.

0:54:490:54:51

"Now, who wants to comment on what?"

0:54:510:54:53

It went on from half past nine in the morning until lunchtime.

0:54:530:54:58

At one of those Chimps' Tea Parties, Paul Fox,

0:54:580:55:01

who was then controller of BBC One,

0:55:010:55:03

flew into a sudden rage

0:55:030:55:04

and slammed his fist on the table, and said,

0:55:040:55:07

"That bloke reviewing films on Film '72 last night was wearing a wig!

0:55:070:55:10

"I will not have wigs on my channel. Get rid of him!"

0:55:100:55:13

I really cannot believe that I said that.

0:55:130:55:16

I wasn't actually wearing a wig. I was just having a bad hair day.

0:55:160:55:19

Good evening.

0:55:190:55:20

Tonight, Joseph Losey talks about The Assassination of Trotsky.

0:55:200:55:23

There are some horrible places in this building.

0:55:250:55:28

Horrible offices. You would go to parts of it

0:55:280:55:30

and you couldn't believe that people were working there.

0:55:300:55:34

And there was a tower block over the back there

0:55:340:55:36

that Children's was in at one point.

0:55:360:55:39

Just a truly terrible place to work.

0:55:390:55:41

It is the grimmest office block you could imagine.

0:55:410:55:44

This grey, drab building.

0:55:440:55:47

You look up and there's endless floors.

0:55:470:55:51

But East Tower was to be my home.

0:55:510:55:53

And because I was so homesick, I just used to spend

0:55:530:55:56

as much time as possible in East Tower,

0:55:560:55:59

looking out of the window, dreaming of the North.

0:55:590:56:02

And everybody else just wanted to go home.

0:56:020:56:05

It was just so sad!

0:56:050:56:06

You know, people shouldn't have been asked to work there.

0:56:060:56:09

And yet, people thought this was romantic. I never got it.

0:56:090:56:12

The loos in the East Tower are on alternate floors.

0:56:120:56:15

The ladies are on one floor and the gents are on the other.

0:56:150:56:18

And a very, very distinguished senior member

0:56:180:56:21

of the BBC management board was caught short.

0:56:210:56:25

So there was nothing for it but to nip into the ladies.

0:56:250:56:28

So he nipped into the first open cubicle

0:56:280:56:31

and had his tinkle, and then

0:56:310:56:32

when he was washing his hands at the sink,

0:56:320:56:34

he let rip with a huge fart.

0:56:340:56:36

And then from behind the closed cubicle door at the end of the row,

0:56:370:56:41

a voice said, "Is that you, Maureen?"

0:56:410:56:44

I mean, it was one of those places that you felt that once

0:56:440:56:47

we moved out, the dossers would move in, really.

0:56:470:56:51

Cameras in the right place at the right time.

0:56:560:56:58

Microphones within reach, but out of sight.

0:56:580:57:00

Actors knowing what to say and where to move.

0:57:000:57:02

The right setting, designed to fit the actor

0:57:020:57:04

and leave room for the cameras.

0:57:040:57:06

The lighting worked out for each scene.

0:57:060:57:08

Everyone knowing what to do and when to do it,

0:57:080:57:11

so that every part fits together to become what was at first

0:57:110:57:14

only in the mind of the director.

0:57:140:57:16

David, can we come onto this next scene?

0:57:160:57:18

Two-shot, on camera five.

0:57:180:57:19

The competition to get the best stuff was absolutely knives out.

0:57:190:57:22

I mean, you had to pull out all the stops

0:57:220:57:24

to get the studio you wanted, to get the camera crew you wanted.

0:57:240:57:28

It was very, very, very competitive.

0:57:280:57:31

I remember working with fantastic camera crews

0:57:320:57:35

when we were working here.

0:57:350:57:36

You know, they would give you everything,

0:57:360:57:40

and the kind of pride of work, and just the sheer concentration.

0:57:400:57:44

I was very young. We were doing Casanova.

0:57:440:57:47

And I was doing one of the low cameras,

0:57:480:57:51

and I had a woman in front of me,

0:57:510:57:53

who was going to be superimposed in a dream sequence

0:57:530:57:56

that Casanova was supposed to be dreaming.

0:57:560:57:59

The thing was, she was stark naked. And I'd never seen a naked woman before.

0:57:590:58:04

We'll have to see what we can do, won't we?

0:58:040:58:07

And it had a certain effect on me, and I couldn't hide it.

0:58:070:58:11

And she looked at me in a most disdainful way - you disgusting little boy!

0:58:170:58:21

What a nice little old man!

0:58:210:58:24

You could be sent to a crew that worked on the not-quite-so-exciting programmes.

0:58:240:58:29

And then if you made a complaint, you got a card like this.

0:58:290:58:32

TS - tough shit!

0:58:320:58:35

There aren't many hovercraft I'd be allowed to bring into the BBC car park.

0:58:350:58:38

But this is different. It's very much more manoeuvrable, as you can see.

0:58:380:58:42

We're attempting a 360 degree turn here.

0:58:420:58:45

'I think part of the magic of this building'

0:58:450:58:48

is that you saw strange, incongruous, and weird things every single day.

0:58:480:58:53

DR WHO THEME PLAYS

0:58:530:58:54

I think the weirdest has to be

0:58:540:58:57

a more or less life-size Tyrannosaurus rex in rubber.

0:58:570:59:02

THEY GASP

0:59:020:59:03

DINOSAUR ROARS

0:59:030:59:05

That's the creature that attacked me in the caves!

0:59:050:59:08

And inside was a small, elderly man

0:59:080:59:11

wearing ballet tights and ballet pumps,

0:59:110:59:14

and he would enter this costume via a hole between its legs,

0:59:140:59:17

so it's already starting to get a bit weird,

0:59:170:59:19

but being in a completely enclosed latex suit,

0:59:190:59:22

he got very hot, so when there was a pause,

0:59:220:59:25

his colleagues would come up with a compressed air bottle,

0:59:250:59:28

stick it up the hole between his legs,

0:59:280:59:30

and send a jet of cold air up.

0:59:300:59:32

And when they did this, he would relax,

0:59:320:59:34

and the result was that the suit sagged

0:59:340:59:36

in such a way that the dinosaur's head lolled back

0:59:360:59:39

and its jaws flopped open.

0:59:390:59:41

So what you saw as a disinterested observer

0:59:410:59:44

was some people shoving a large metal cylinder

0:59:440:59:46

up a hole between the legs of a dinosaur,

0:59:460:59:49

a "psssht" sound,

0:59:490:59:51

and the dinosaur going, "Ahhh!"

0:59:510:59:53

DINOSAUR ROARS

0:59:530:59:55

The late Dame Thora Hird was doing

0:59:571:00:00

a programme called Mrs Pepperpot,

1:00:001:00:01

and we were getting ready for the dress rehearsal,

1:00:011:00:04

and suddenly the door opened and in came a whole lot of dignitaries.

1:00:041:00:08

They said, "Carry on as normal." HE GULPS

1:00:081:00:11

So we said, "Oh, right, we'll start rehearsing Mrs Pepperpot."

1:00:111:00:14

You remember Mrs Pepperpot.

1:00:141:00:16

You don't?

1:00:161:00:17

Well, she's a woman who shrinks to the size of a pepper pot...

1:00:171:00:19

..at the most inconvenient moments.

1:00:191:00:21

And so the music plays, and in went the camera to Thora Hird,

1:00:211:00:24

and she said, "Hello. Do you know Mrs Pepperpot?

1:00:241:00:27

"You don't? Well, sod off!"

1:00:271:00:29

SHE LAUGHS

1:00:291:00:30

Goodbye.

1:00:301:00:32

'We set ourselves a lot of very difficult things to do.'

1:00:341:00:37

This French device is a one-man elevator.

1:00:371:00:40

They expand to form a strong, light...that's hot.

1:00:401:00:46

It was a sort of challenge,

1:00:461:00:48

and they did often go wrong.

1:00:481:00:49

..let one go, releasing the brakes. Here's Kieran!

1:00:491:00:53

God, I'm sorry. I'm really suffering.

1:00:531:00:56

It's burning me!

1:00:561:00:57

Oh, my God. Motorised roller skates!

1:00:571:01:00

MOTOR REVS

1:01:001:01:02

'I had to start outside Television Centre.'

1:01:051:01:08

Aargh!

1:01:081:01:10

And I'd rehearsed all day long.

1:01:101:01:13

Tomorrow's World. What studio is it?

1:01:151:01:16

Studio 7, dear.

1:01:161:01:18

And no falling over at all. And, of course, live on air...

1:01:181:01:21

You have to...

1:01:211:01:22

SHE SCREAMS

1:01:221:01:24

It's not that simple.

1:01:241:01:25

I'd got the job, and this wonderful make-up artist set to work on me.

1:01:251:01:30

So she kind of pinned my hair back and everything,

1:01:301:01:33

and said, "Right, that's great, you've got a good face.

1:01:331:01:36

"Mmm. I think what I'm going to do is bleach your moustache."

1:01:361:01:39

So without me saying anything about it,

1:01:391:01:41

she put all of this foam on top of my upper lip.

1:01:411:01:45

Noel Edmonds burst through the door

1:01:451:01:47

and I was sitting there looking like...

1:01:471:01:50

I don't know.

1:01:501:01:51

Like a mad Father Christmas!

1:01:511:01:53

And you're the first people I've told that story to.

1:01:531:01:55

I used to love the make-up department.

1:01:551:01:57

Right, we are recording, everybody.

1:01:571:01:59

They used to wear these really sweet little blue gingham smocks.

1:01:591:02:04

They used to hate them,

1:02:041:02:06

but I thought they were just really erotic.

1:02:061:02:08

HE CHUCKLES

1:02:081:02:10

Take it from the second one, Roger. That's right, isn't it?

1:02:101:02:13

'It was rather like the theatre.'

1:02:131:02:14

'It was, "OK, guys, we've rehearsed all day.'

1:02:141:02:16

"It's now 7 o'clock, we're back from lunch.

1:02:161:02:19

"We have to finish by 10."

1:02:191:02:21

I know we're a little bit understaffed this evening...

1:02:211:02:23

LAUGHTER

1:02:231:02:25

But I know we're all going to do our best.

1:02:251:02:27

And don't be afraid to laugh as loud as you like,

1:02:271:02:30

and I'm sure we're all going to have a really super evening.

1:02:301:02:34

Interesting, when I did Strictly, it was in Studio 1

1:02:341:02:36

and I'd known that studio so much,

1:02:361:02:37

and for some people, they would be absolutely petrified going in to,

1:02:371:02:42

at one time, what was the biggest television studio in Europe,

1:02:421:02:45

and yet, for me, it was like going home,

1:02:451:02:47

and it just felt brilliant,

1:02:471:02:48

and I used to love going in there and dancing and doing my thing,

1:02:481:02:52

knowing that I'd spent so much time in this place.

1:02:521:02:55

MIMES BARKING

1:02:571:02:58

There's old magical memories like that.

1:02:581:03:00

You'll never lose them. They're with you forever.

1:03:001:03:03

Shot 52 on Take 1.

1:03:031:03:05

'Comes that moment at 7.30,'

1:03:051:03:06

the red light would go on

1:03:061:03:09

and you had to deliver.

1:03:091:03:10

I heard the music start and the doorman said,

1:03:121:03:14

"Can I have your ticket?"

1:03:141:03:15

I'm dressed like Carmen Miranda or something outrageous,

1:03:151:03:19

and I said, "No, I'm one of the dancers."

1:03:191:03:22

And he said, "No, no, I need your ticket."

1:03:221:03:25

And I started to lose my cool, and I promise you, I'm not a diva.

1:03:251:03:29

I said, "Do you think I normally dress like this?!"

1:03:291:03:33

And right now, the sound of Elton John.

1:03:331:03:35

-Cue the disc!

-Island Girl and Pan's People...

1:03:351:03:37

Pineapples?

1:03:371:03:38

Two and four.

1:03:381:03:40

Three. Four and four.

1:03:401:03:42

'Ruthie was a nightmare.'

1:03:421:03:44

'Just before we were about to start the show,'

1:03:441:03:46

'Ruthie would suddenly say, "Which arm is it?'

1:03:461:03:48

"Is it the right or the left? Do we go on the left or right foot?"

1:03:481:03:51

And we always used to say, "Shut up, Ruth!"

1:03:511:03:54

And then, but the irony of it was,

1:03:541:03:55

she'd go on and do it right and we'd all go wrong.

1:03:551:03:58

# Smarty pants

1:04:001:04:01

# Looking for romance... #

1:04:011:04:03

Holy God!

1:04:051:04:07

You devil!

1:04:071:04:08

'We were doing a Dave Allen show, which involved the use of firearms.'

1:04:081:04:13

On the night, the adrenaline was up,

1:04:131:04:15

and he stood rather closer to his target,

1:04:151:04:17

a bare-chested man in bed, than he should have done...

1:04:171:04:19

Aaargh!

1:04:191:04:21

..causing shock and severe pain.

1:04:211:04:22

You've just shot my husband!

1:04:221:04:25

'We immediately rang the surgery'

1:04:251:04:27

'and were told that, no, it wouldn't be possible'

1:04:271:04:30

for anyone to come down in case there was an emergency.

1:04:301:04:33

From top again, 108. I think it's probably better on you, Mike.

1:04:331:04:35

'You were in a complete time bubble in your dark studio, you know.'

1:04:351:04:40

Completely divorced from the real world, but having to do this thing

1:04:401:04:44

and having to distil your programme down

1:04:441:04:47

to something that could be recorded within three hours.

1:04:471:04:51

Soon, Chancellor Flavia will...

1:04:511:04:53

'At 10 o'clock, the lights would just go off,'

1:04:541:04:58

or the machines would go off, and so you could see,

1:04:581:05:01

because they had the big clocks on the wall,

1:05:011:05:03

the seconds ticking away till 10 o'clock,

1:05:031:05:05

and you knew you had to do a certain scene.

1:05:051:05:07

Soon Peter will get the line out(!)

1:05:071:05:09

'We were doing Suffragettes.'

1:05:091:05:11

'It had a scene where it was force-feeding in Holloway Prison,'

1:05:111:05:15

and we had these four cameras on this woman being force-fed,

1:05:151:05:19

'and we had five minutes to finish.'

1:05:191:05:21

'It was unbelievable.'

1:05:211:05:22

'How do you get the shot?'

1:05:221:05:23

'And how do you shove the pipe down her throat?'

1:05:231:05:26

'and me shouting up in the gallery,'

1:05:261:05:28

and we managed to finish at one minute to 10.

1:05:281:05:31

'We actually did it, and when you watch it,'

1:05:311:05:34

'actually it's quite brilliant,'

1:05:341:05:36

because somehow, the panic set into the vision.

1:05:361:05:38

SHE CHOKES

1:05:381:05:40

'I was directing Eureka...'

1:05:401:05:42

I bought this trike for my wee 10-year-old son Johnny.

1:05:421:05:45

'..and we'd had a full day

1:05:451:05:46

'and we were scheduled to finish at 10 o'clock.'

1:05:461:05:49

I had one scene to record at 10 to 10.

1:05:491:05:52

'The cast were all pissing about.'

1:05:521:05:55

'All pandemonium was going on in the studio.'

1:05:551:05:58

'Over talkback, I said,'

1:05:581:05:59

"Look, I'm coming down and I'm going to direct it from the floor,

1:05:591:06:02

"because we're never going to get this done."

1:06:021:06:04

So I rushed out of the gallery and went down the back steps,

1:06:041:06:07

burst into the studio behind the white sight cloth and said,

1:06:071:06:11

"Will you fucking behave yourselves?!"

1:06:111:06:13

And I'd walked out into the Newsnight studio.

1:06:131:06:16

Such stories are cheap and nasty

1:06:161:06:18

and bring shame on anyone who spreads them.

1:06:181:06:20

I went, "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry."

1:06:201:06:23

Did he tell you he only did that once?

1:06:231:06:26

There was one particular scene, I remember,

1:06:261:06:28

where the producer came down to me

1:06:281:06:30

and I said, "We haven't rehearsed this."

1:06:301:06:32

We were actually in the wrong set,

1:06:321:06:33

and he just said, "Go on and act!"

1:06:331:06:36

'No tray. Where's the bloody tray?!'

1:06:361:06:39

We'll cope.

1:06:391:06:40

-It's mentioned!

-Mentioned?

1:06:401:06:42

LAUGHTER

1:06:421:06:44

Get us out of it.

1:06:441:06:46

Come on, Beau.

1:06:461:06:47

Improvise!

1:06:471:06:49

Yes, I just had to bring it in to show you.

1:06:491:06:53

Take it.

1:06:531:06:54

Isn't it light?

1:06:541:06:56

Ooh! And such a lovely shade of mauve.

1:06:561:06:59

It was actually quite a thrilling experience,

1:06:591:07:02

but you knew the end result was going to be rubbish.

1:07:021:07:05

-Should we cut? Go back?

-No.

1:07:051:07:07

We professionals notice.

1:07:071:07:09

Joe Public never clocks a damn thing.

1:07:091:07:12

It was just the biggest sin as a producer you could commit -

1:07:121:07:15

not finishing was like the end of the world.

1:07:151:07:18

You know, you expected to be shown the door

1:07:181:07:20

and sent out into Shepherd's Bush down to the dole queue.

1:07:201:07:23

I KNOW!

1:07:231:07:24

-Look, have a glass of wine and cool down.

-I don't want a glass of wine.

1:07:241:07:27

You'll feel better for it. Barbara, have a nice glass of wine.

1:07:271:07:29

There was a lot of adrenaline. I remember darling Richard Briers

1:07:291:07:33

used to say, "Never again, dear. Never again.

1:07:331:07:35

'"I'm not doing this again."

1:07:351:07:37

Can we clear Penny and Paul?

1:07:371:07:38

Thank you very much. You can change.

1:07:381:07:40

-Now?

-Yes, you can change now.

1:07:401:07:42

And it was quite scary.

1:07:421:07:43

The business of producing television gives you a great high.

1:07:431:07:46

You're throbbing with adrenaline by the time...

1:07:461:07:49

particularly if things have gone right.

1:07:491:07:51

If they've gone wrong, you don't want to go anywhere,

1:07:511:07:53

except to go and shoot yourself,

1:07:531:07:55

but if things have gone right,

1:07:551:07:57

you really feel terrific, and the place to go was the Club.

1:07:571:08:00

It was on the fourth floor, still is.

1:08:001:08:03

And it was the home of the comedy department,

1:08:031:08:06

which was a fairly disastrous idea, because, of course,

1:08:061:08:10

if any of the comedy department had any kind of block, you know,

1:08:101:08:13

what they were going to write,

1:08:131:08:15

what they were going to do on the show,

1:08:151:08:17

they'd go into the BBC Club and drink a bit of inspiration.

1:08:171:08:19

It's quite stressful doing a sitcom with an audience.

1:08:191:08:22

Even though I loved it. It was a place to go and unwind.

1:08:221:08:24

That was the rule of thumb of a good show,

1:08:241:08:26

if you could be in the bar by nine.

1:08:261:08:28

-Shall we start again?

-Lost your friend?

-Lost my friend.

1:08:291:08:32

You went darting out there and it sort of did...

1:08:321:08:35

It's not your fault.

1:08:351:08:36

Those silly twits said, "Shut up in the scene dock."

1:08:361:08:39

There are the Dimblebys in that corner,

1:08:421:08:45

the Attenboroughs in that corner.

1:08:451:08:47

There were agents there and there were actors there

1:08:471:08:49

and it was the place to be.

1:08:491:08:51

All the Radio 1 guys to do Top Of The Pops.

1:08:511:08:54

# Mama told me not to come... #

1:08:541:08:57

And people tended to clique a little bit,

1:08:591:09:01

but we tried to break down those barriers,

1:09:011:09:04

and we would introduce ourselves.

1:09:041:09:06

"Can we buy you a drink?"

1:09:061:09:07

Sir David Attenborough would walk in, for example...

1:09:071:09:10

although it wasn't Sir David.

1:09:101:09:11

Forget David Attenborough, we liked all the pop groups!

1:09:111:09:13

We ended up getting married.

1:09:131:09:15

# That ain't the way to have fun... #

1:09:151:09:18

You could talk to, you know,

1:09:181:09:19

the David Bowies and the Bryan Ferrys and the Hollies.

1:09:191:09:23

You're talking to John Cleese and Marc Bolan

1:09:231:09:26

and Benny Hill or whoever,

1:09:261:09:27

and it's just wall-to-wall fabulous people having such a good time.

1:09:271:09:31

You never knew what bands were going to be around

1:09:311:09:33

and you had to take your pass up on a Wednesday night

1:09:331:09:36

cos otherwise you weren't allowed in.

1:09:361:09:38

This was gold dust.

1:09:381:09:40

This was the BBC Club card that you have to have

1:09:401:09:44

if you wanted to go to the BBC Bar, and without it you couldn't get in.

1:09:441:09:48

Or somebody had to sign you in.

1:09:481:09:50

We never got a pass!

1:09:501:09:51

I got to meet T.Rex and everybody up there without a pass!

1:09:511:09:54

It was so exciting.

1:09:541:09:55

The guy wouldn't let me in one night because I hadn't got my pass,

1:09:551:10:00

and he said, "You might have walked off the street,"

1:10:001:10:03

I said, "What, dressed like this?"

1:10:031:10:04

Opened my dressing gown and I've got this leather leotard on.

1:10:041:10:07

Then they believed I was... either that,

1:10:071:10:09

or I seduced him enough to be able to go into the bar.

1:10:091:10:12

I think Frankie Howerd really fancied my husband.

1:10:121:10:16

He saw him and though, "That's rather nice."

1:10:161:10:18

Didn't realise it was my husband, I suppose.

1:10:181:10:20

And I remember him chasing Patrick out of the club,

1:10:201:10:23

and I remember us running round and round

1:10:231:10:26

trying to get away, and giggling.

1:10:261:10:29

I mean, I suppose we'd all had a little bit of wine.

1:10:291:10:31

You mustn't take any notice of her because she's...she can't help it.

1:10:311:10:35

She's at a funny time of life, you know. She's very difficult.

1:10:351:10:37

Mind you, she has a point.

1:10:371:10:39

Actors in the BBC bar -

1:10:391:10:41

you've never seen so many moths flying out of wallets, you know.

1:10:411:10:44

I loved Jon Pertwee dearly,

1:10:441:10:46

but he did find it very hard sometimes to shout a round.

1:10:461:10:50

Sorry, could...please people keep out of my eyeline?

1:10:511:10:53

Dancing about. Please, it's terribly difficult.

1:10:531:10:56

Tom Baker, who was my Doctor,

1:10:561:10:58

would be the first with his hand in his pocket.

1:10:581:11:01

Doubles all round, all the time.

1:11:011:11:03

Even if you had an orange juice, he'd buy you a double.

1:11:031:11:06

We are still running recording.

1:11:061:11:08

I remember when the head of make-up was very much the worse for wear,

1:11:081:11:11

and we really should have taken her car keys from her,

1:11:111:11:14

but it was kind of before you did those very sensible things,

1:11:141:11:18

and she went up, collected her car from the multi-storey car park,

1:11:181:11:21

and I think she hit about 50 cars before she exited the car park.

1:11:211:11:26

It had an atmosphere, I tell you. It was a proper old club.

1:11:271:11:31

No, but seriously, gagging aside, it was a super show, I thought.

1:11:311:11:34

-There you are, Richie!

-There we are! Drinks all round.

1:11:341:11:37

It was a marketplace, and it was there

1:11:401:11:42

that you ingratiated yourself with a producer

1:11:421:11:46

in order to get yourself onto the very best of shows.

1:11:461:11:50

The man, Eddie, the man who brought Keith Harris and Orville into Television Centre.

1:11:501:11:54

The nearest thing that I've got to family.

1:11:541:11:56

Oh, sod off, you old queen!

1:11:561:11:59

Ohhh, up yours, you rancid, dribbling zit.

1:11:591:12:03

Yeah! Screw you, you complacent, misogynistic bumsplat.

1:12:031:12:08

I got my first job in the BBC Club.

1:12:101:12:12

I went down to have a drink with somebody I'd met.

1:12:121:12:15

She said, "Ned Sherrin's looking for a researcher."

1:12:151:12:17

I said, "Stay where you are," ran up to the sixth floor,

1:12:171:12:20

wrote out my letter of application.

1:12:201:12:23

Esther, that wasn't in the script. You're ad-libbing.

1:12:231:12:26

And got the job, thanks to the BBC Club.

1:12:261:12:29

Do you mind if we carry on?

1:12:291:12:31

One day, as a young assistant floor manager,

1:12:311:12:34

I went to the lift, main lifts, to go up to the bar,

1:12:341:12:37

and the doors opened, and I walked in, and I was facing

1:12:371:12:40

this very tall man and this short man.

1:12:401:12:42

It was Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, and they wound me up.

1:12:421:12:46

I mean, they used me.

1:12:461:12:47

"Hello, choochy-face!" "Oh, isn't he pretty?"

1:12:471:12:50

And the whole of that lift was in fits.

1:12:501:12:52

They were falling about with laughter. I walked out,

1:12:521:12:54

and they said, "Where are you going, choochy-face?"

1:12:541:12:57

And I said, "Oh, hopefully going to a bar,"

1:12:571:12:59

not thinking, of course, that's exactly where they were going.

1:12:591:13:02

So all the way down to the bar, I had to suffer these two people

1:13:021:13:05

sending me up all the way. It was delightful.

1:13:051:13:07

Nice fellow, that. Lovely mover.

1:13:071:13:09

A year later, I'm standing in reception, waiting for the lift to go up to the bar, the doors open.

1:13:101:13:14

Exactly the same situation.

1:13:141:13:16

A crowd of people, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise stood at the back. And they said, "Ooh, it's choochy face!"

1:13:161:13:21

Why is it you can never remember anybody's name?

1:13:211:13:24

I don't know, I think it's a gift.

1:13:241:13:26

Well, you brought me to the BBC club,

1:13:261:13:28

which I have to say looks alarmingly sterile.

1:13:281:13:31

In my day, things happened that were more than just drinking.

1:13:311:13:36

People came for a drink and ended up thinking up programme ideas.

1:13:361:13:39

'From the cultural ghetto of BBC2, we present Line-Up Review.'

1:13:391:13:43

I remember one occasion when the programme ideas

1:13:431:13:46

completely died and about six o'clock,

1:13:461:13:48

we had no programme and we were on the air at about 11.

1:13:481:13:52

So we came down here and there were a lot of comedy writers here.

1:13:521:13:57

Johnny Speight, Spike Milligan and so on, sitting around drinking.

1:13:571:14:00

"Will you come and talk about comedy writing?" "Certainly would."

1:14:001:14:03

As we'll be pointing out later on, comedy is a serious business.

1:14:031:14:07

-< GIGGLING

-We're on the air...

1:14:071:14:11

That programme has become a legendary archive programme.

1:14:111:14:14

They didn't stay enormously sober, so it got quite boisterous.

1:14:141:14:18

-I am a comedy writer...

-John, cool it for God's sake.

1:14:181:14:21

-But it was vigorous and memorable.

-Come on, say what you mean.

-I'm saying what I mean.

1:14:211:14:26

If you are writing in television, this is not an ivory tower...

1:14:261:14:30

Wherever I write, I write for myself. If I write...

1:14:301:14:34

And you get dodgy ratings and nobody asks you to write any more.

1:14:341:14:38

There you go, Johnny Speight.

1:14:381:14:40

I write for myself. I write for myself. I have to live...

1:14:401:14:45

The commissionaire was very lordly.

1:14:451:14:47

Eric, the commissionaire. Tall, balding...

1:14:471:14:52

a man with years upon him.

1:14:521:14:55

The big thing at the club used to be to get yourself paged.

1:14:551:15:00

"Mr Attenborough. Mr Attenborough."

1:15:001:15:03

"Janet Fielding, please come to the phone, your agent is on the phone."

1:15:031:15:07

It was abused.

1:15:071:15:09

And several times, Rupert Bear was summoned to the phone.

1:15:091:15:13

Mr Andrew Pandy to TC5.

1:15:131:15:16

Yes! We did a lot of that!

1:15:161:15:20

Calling for Mr G Raffe.

1:15:201:15:22

The cast of the Woodentops go to TC6 immediately.

1:15:221:15:26

We had some really disgusting ones, too.

1:15:261:15:28

Oh...that's right... Yes...

1:15:281:15:31

Mr Hugh Jampton, will he come to...?

1:15:311:15:34

It was quite cruel when...

1:15:361:15:40

He never ever allowed YOU to make him feel silly.

1:15:401:15:42

As far as he was concerned, he had been asked to call for G Raffe,

1:15:421:15:45

that was his job and he was going to call for them.

1:15:451:15:48

He was once asked, "Eric, were you at any time a butler?"

1:15:481:15:52

He drew himself up to his considerable height,

1:15:521:15:55

looked at the person and said, "Was I ever a butler?

1:15:551:15:59

"I HAD a butler."

1:15:591:16:01

There's another wire!

1:16:041:16:05

I was a big fan of Robert's, I watched Doom Watch all the time.

1:16:051:16:09

So when Babs told me she was going out with him, I was so pissed off!

1:16:091:16:13

What?

1:16:131:16:16

Don't pull it, follow it back to the terminal.

1:16:161:16:19

For years and years and years, I had been watching Top Of The Pops

1:16:211:16:24

and I would sit there and gawp. I always fancied the big blonde one.

1:16:241:16:28

What are they called - Pan's People, yeah?

1:16:281:16:31

There's one special one, beautiful Babs.

1:16:311:16:33

Don't know what her name is.

1:16:331:16:35

I used to chase after Babs. Never got anywhere.

1:16:381:16:42

I was always very jealous of Robert Powell.

1:16:451:16:49

BLOWS RASPBERRY

1:16:491:16:50

Nice guy, but very skinny. Chin him when I see him.

1:16:501:16:53

And I had a friend who was the floor manager on Sportsnight.

1:16:531:16:57

I went to the bar and we were chatting away.

1:16:571:16:59

I'm standing there and suddenly these five extraordinarily beautiful women walk in. They were Pan's People.

1:16:591:17:04

As we walked in, I think Robert muttered something to Chris.

1:17:041:17:08

"Look! Look! There's Pan's People!" And he went, "Yeah.

1:17:081:17:11

"They're in every Wednesday. This is the night they shoot."

1:17:111:17:15

"Is it?" "Do you want to meet them?"

1:17:151:17:18

I said, "No, no, no!"

1:17:181:17:20

He said, "Come on," dragged me over,

1:17:201:17:22

plonked me down on a little banquette with the girls.

1:17:221:17:25

I bought them a drink.

1:17:251:17:27

And Robert decided it would be quite fun to take us all out to dinner.

1:17:271:17:32

Somebody said, "How did you've the nerve to do it?"

1:17:321:17:34

I said, "I didn't have the nerve to take one."

1:17:341:17:36

# Sharing horizons that are new to us... #

1:17:361:17:39

It was Babs he had his eye on.

1:17:391:17:41

# Watching the signs along the way... #

1:17:411:17:44

But we were a bit naughty and said yes, he could take us all out

1:17:441:17:48

because we just wanted to see what would happen.

1:17:481:17:52

I remember one point in the evening,

1:17:521:17:54

he put his arm around my shoulder and I thought, "Ooh!"

1:17:541:17:58

We've been together ever since that night.

1:18:001:18:02

I have the Centre to thank for that.

1:18:021:18:04

To thank for 36 years of marriage and two kids.

1:18:041:18:08

Thank you, Television Centre.

1:18:081:18:10

This is BBC1.

1:18:141:18:17

And this is BBC2.

1:18:171:18:19

And this is Television Centre.

1:18:191:18:21

And this is David Dunsbury, a commissionaire on the main gate.

1:18:211:18:25

And this is the main gate.

1:18:251:18:26

Just recently, I was working on a programme

1:18:271:18:30

and somebody made a fantastic fluff.

1:18:301:18:34

I said, "Save that one for the Christmas tape."

1:18:341:18:36

And everyone looked at me. What is she talking about?

1:18:361:18:40

The BBC Christmas tape was an in-house thing.

1:18:451:18:47

It was done by the VT department every year. And this predates

1:18:471:18:51

It'll Be All Right On The Night or TV's Naughtiest Moments.

1:18:511:18:55

Every time anything went wrong, it would be on videotape if it was a recorded show.

1:18:551:18:59

And the VT editors had amazing memories for things that had gone wrong.

1:18:591:19:03

Happy Christmas to you all in VT!

1:19:031:19:06

Happy Christmas, VT.

1:19:061:19:09

You would do a clanger on a recording

1:19:091:19:11

and you'd go, "Merry Christmas VT".

1:19:111:19:14

You knew they were going to pick it up and they liked it with the tag!

1:19:141:19:19

-This is where we're happy to say "bollocks".

-Crap, anything you like.

1:19:191:19:23

That was what you'd do with all those outtakes - save them for the Christmas VT.

1:19:231:19:27

A very merry Christmas to all in VT.

1:19:271:19:31

And now those are broadcast and whole series have been made of them.

1:19:311:19:35

We had our own secret version.

1:19:351:19:37

It's running down my willy.

1:19:391:19:40

Merry Christmas to the boys on VT.

1:19:401:19:43

Obviously bigger budget than us!

1:19:431:19:44

'They were fantastic things.'

1:19:441:19:46

Whole dance routines and people joining in.

1:19:461:19:49

Obviously, people behind the scenes doing most of the work.

1:19:491:19:52

# All the girls in make-up

1:19:521:19:55

# In the Club bar

1:19:551:19:57

# The ladies down at reception... #

1:19:571:19:59

A lot of it consisted of rather well-known actors swearing blindly.

1:19:591:20:03

Oh, for fuck's sake!

1:20:051:20:07

Now piss off!

1:20:071:20:08

Fuck you, you fucking bastard! You're not getting it again! That's it!

1:20:081:20:12

# Oh Barry Norman... #

1:20:121:20:14

Everyone at TV Centre, happy Merry Christmas.

1:20:141:20:17

That was very much part of the bonding experience.

1:20:171:20:20

You had arrived, you were part of the family.

1:20:201:20:23

# ..Patrick, Patrick

1:20:231:20:25

# Grooving with Michael Rodd... #

1:20:251:20:27

The managing director, Alistair Milne,

1:20:271:20:29

today appealed to all programme departments

1:20:291:20:32

to stop deliberately making mistakes in studios.

1:20:321:20:35

He said commendable though it was to try to make appearances on the VT Christmas tape,

1:20:351:20:40

viewers could no longer distinguish BBC programmes from those at ITV.

1:20:401:20:44

God, if it's going to get like this, we'll be here till midnight.

1:20:451:20:49

Eventually, I think it was stopped because some of the presenters didn't like being humiliated in this way.

1:20:491:20:54

Isn't it sad?

1:20:541:20:55

My favourite one is actually one of Tom Baker and John Cleese.

1:20:561:21:01

Tom, sorry to bother you, sign this for my little godson, will you?

1:21:011:21:05

He's a nice little kid, he's blind.

1:21:051:21:06

"He's blind."

1:21:061:21:08

And so Tom says, "Of course I will. Do you have a pen?"

1:21:081:21:11

-Have you got a pen?

-I haven't.

-He said "No, I don't."

1:21:111:21:13

Never mind, I'll tell him you signed it.

1:21:131:21:16

There was a bit of space behind the canteen

1:21:211:21:24

and I thought that would be ideal for the Blue Peter Garden.

1:21:241:21:29

Biddy, characteristically,

1:21:291:21:30

went in like Captain Cook, but with a Blue Peter flag,

1:21:301:21:33

and claimed it for Blue Peter.

1:21:331:21:35

You can guarantee the morning you were recording out here,

1:21:351:21:38

you'd open up the curtains and it would be hoying down with rain.

1:21:381:21:41

You mean, the minute you went out into the garden,

1:21:431:21:47

it would absolutely pelt down with rain, yes.

1:21:471:21:50

It's like a wind tunnel. We're just getting battered by the wind now.

1:21:501:21:54

They used to ring Biddy to say,

1:21:541:21:56

"Could we possibly use the Blue Peter Garden?"

1:21:561:21:59

But nobody had ever actually said it was ours.

1:21:591:22:02

I was directing the 50th anniversary of children's programmes.

1:22:031:22:07

And the climax of the programme was a huge firework display.

1:22:071:22:11

'So I said to Biddy,'

1:22:111:22:14

"Can we have the Blue Peter Garden to let the fireworks off in?"

1:22:141:22:17

And she said, "Yes, of course you can." She was very obliging.

1:22:171:22:20

'It was a huge fireworks display'

1:22:201:22:23

and the Blue Peter Garden was where the main bulk exploded.

1:22:231:22:26

'The next morning,'

1:22:301:22:32

the Blue Peter Garden looked like the Somme in the First World War.

1:22:321:22:37

Goodbye!

1:22:391:22:41

'Vandals broke into the Blue Peter Garden

1:22:441:22:47

'and caused rather a lot of damage.

1:22:471:22:49

'One really cruel thing they did was to pour fuel oil into the fishpond.'

1:22:491:22:54

'To be honest with you, it's really sad coming back here

1:22:541:22:56

'because I did so much work in this garden that is no longer here.

1:22:561:23:00

'We had a sunken garden, that's been buried.'

1:23:001:23:04

We had a nice little veg patch... The greenhouse isn't even there.

1:23:041:23:08

'We hope to repair the damage,

1:23:081:23:09

'but it's very sad to think that a few people take such pleasure...'

1:23:091:23:13

It's only a bloody garden! Turn it off!

1:23:131:23:16

Television Centre, from where this programme is broadcast,

1:23:181:23:22

has been put up for sale.

1:23:221:23:24

The 14-acre site in west London will be vacant by 2015

1:23:241:23:27

after staff move to other sites.

1:23:271:23:30

It was an iconic building on its own,

1:23:321:23:35

with the cars in the middle. All that's changed.

1:23:351:23:37

And certainly, the inside has changed radically.

1:23:371:23:40

And, um...

1:23:401:23:42

It seems awfully corporate to me now.

1:23:421:23:44

Apparently, they can't actually find a studio for us.

1:23:441:23:47

Studio 1 is now going to be squash courts.

1:23:471:23:51

Studio 2 is executive saunas.

1:23:511:23:53

And Studio 3 is now "the Television Experience".

1:23:531:23:57

You can actually go and experience television and how it was made.

1:23:571:24:02

One word to describe Television Centre...

1:24:031:24:06

Nucleus.

1:24:081:24:09

Historic.

1:24:091:24:11

Opportunity.

1:24:111:24:12

Brilliant.

1:24:121:24:14

Ideal.

1:24:141:24:15

Unique.

1:24:151:24:17

Magic.

1:24:171:24:18

Champion.

1:24:181:24:20

'There'd always be friends in there and there'd always be gossip.'

1:24:201:24:24

Eccentric.

1:24:241:24:25

Terrific.

1:24:251:24:26

Excitement.

1:24:261:24:28

Excitement.

1:24:281:24:29

Exciting.

1:24:291:24:31

Extraordinary.

1:24:311:24:33

It's a hard one to try and think of.

1:24:351:24:37

Magnificent.

1:24:391:24:40

Luscious.

1:24:401:24:42

If I was being romantic, I'd say it echoes with the spirits of creative figures

1:24:441:24:47

who have worked here and other such nonsense.

1:24:471:24:50

Creative.

1:24:501:24:52

Dedicated.

1:24:521:24:53

Wondrous.

1:24:531:24:54

It's like coming home.

1:24:541:24:56

It played such a big part of our lives.

1:24:571:25:00

Youth.

1:25:001:25:02

Topping.

1:25:021:25:03

Romance.

1:25:031:25:05

'There's another wire!'

1:25:051:25:07

Drama.

1:25:071:25:08

Peg board.

1:25:081:25:09

Fun.

1:25:091:25:11

Fun.

1:25:111:25:13

-Warm.

-Family.

1:25:131:25:15

Home.

1:25:151:25:17

Magical.

1:25:181:25:20

Wonderful.

1:25:201:25:22

Wonderland.

1:25:221:25:23

Wonderland.

1:25:231:25:25

Shangri-La.

1:25:251:25:27

'Those were such happy days. I was so happy.'

1:25:271:25:32

Iconic.

1:25:321:25:33

Influential.

1:25:331:25:34

Historic.

1:25:341:25:36

'Television Centre completely changed my life.

1:25:361:25:40

'I met my husband here, we had a daughter.'

1:25:401:25:44

Rose is called Rose after Rosemary Gill,

1:25:441:25:46

'the editor of that first programme, Swap Shop.'

1:25:461:25:49

It's a building I will really, really miss. It's got such an atmosphere.

1:25:521:25:56

It's my guess that, in a very short time,

1:25:571:26:00

they'll be making a programme in which Penelope Keith will return

1:26:001:26:04

to restore this building so that the BBC can return in splendour

1:26:041:26:09

to where they belong.

1:26:091:26:11

'I would like it to live on through the programmes that it produced'

1:26:131:26:18

more than the bricks and mortar.

1:26:181:26:20

When we worked here, we used to say,

1:26:201:26:23

they won't be happy, the administrators,

1:26:231:26:27

until they've closed down all these studios

1:26:271:26:30

and this whole complex can just be admin.

1:26:301:26:33

'Television Centre is full of the laughter and the anger'

1:26:411:26:45

and the crackle of making television.

1:26:451:26:49

There's nowhere I've ever been like it.

1:26:491:26:53

There will never be a building like this in the world again

1:26:531:26:58

responsible for so much broadcasting.

1:26:581:27:00

'It wasn't just a fun factory,

1:27:061:27:07

'it was just one of those best places in the world to work.'

1:27:071:27:10

'My whole career was created here.

1:27:161:27:19

'Without Television Centre, my life wouldn't have been nearly as good.'

1:27:191:27:23

I don't want to see it go. I feel I have to walk away and not look back.

1:27:241:27:28

# There was a time when the time didn't matter

1:27:451:27:49

# Only the time of day

1:27:491:27:53

# And living was living in hope which would never pass away

1:27:531:27:58

# Worry was a Monday morning

1:28:001:28:04

# When weekend was done

1:28:041:28:07

# Fear was the fear of being what we had become

1:28:071:28:14

# Oh, what happened to you?

1:28:141:28:18

# Whatever happened to me?

1:28:181:28:22

# And what became of the people we used to be?

1:28:221:28:28

# Tomorrow's almost over

1:28:291:28:33

# Today went by so fast

1:28:331:28:36

# Is the only thing to look forward to

1:28:361:28:40

# The past? #

1:28:401:28:44

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

1:28:441:28:46

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