Ealing Studios are synonymous with the comedy films produced there in the 1940s and 1950s, but for over thirty years they were the home of filmed productions at the BBC. The BBC acquired the site from the struggling film company in 1955 and transformed it into its Television Film Studios (TFS) operation starting in 1955.
Videotape recording technology was still under development and even by the 1980s videotape was still too cumbersome for recording on location in broadcast quality, so 35mm and later super 16mm film were the primary format for non-studio sequences in dramas and comedies, as well as documentaries and news programmes.
In its heyday more than 50 film crews used Ealing as their HQ, with cutting rooms, developing facilities, telecine machines and studio spaces for filming inserts which appeared in some of the most famous programmes of the era; the filmed sequences of Cathy Come Home and Z-Cars were edited here and Quatermass and the Pit and Colditz and The Singing Detective were completed here.
The BBC sold the studios to the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in 1995 and they have now reverted to their original use as a film and television studio.
Further watching
-
Tuesday Documentary: The Ealing Comedies 1970 documentary about Ealing Studios presented by Frank Muir showing the studios as they were in 1970.
-
Film production: making television with 16mm cameras ADAPT: Researching the history of television production technology
Buildings
-
Alexandra Palace
The birthplace of television -
Broadcasting House
The first purpose-built broadcast centre in the UK -
Broadcasting House, Belfast
BBC Northern Ireland's headquarters since 1941 -
Broadcasting House, Bristol
Former home of the Natural History Unit -
Broadcasting House, Cardiff
The BBC's first bespoke headquarters in Wales -
Bush House
Home of the World Service 1940-2012 -
Camden Palace Theatre
Light entertainment and music from North London -
Caversham Park
Listening to the world, 1943 to 2018 -
Ealing Studios
The BBC Television Film Studios -
Elstree Studios
Home of EastEnders -
Lime Grove
A temporary measure for 42 years -
Kingswood Warren
Former home of BBC Research & Development -
The Langham
Sustaining the BBC during World War 2 and after -
Maida Vale
The best acoustic in London -
35 Marylebone High Street
The first headquarters of the Radio Times and BBC Radio London. -
MediaCityUK
The BBC's Northern base in Salford -
Pacific Quay
Headquarters of BBC Scotland -
Paris Studios
Former London cinema which hosted The Beatles and Dad's Army -
Pebble Mill
A hub for drama, entertainment and factual programmes in Birmingham between 1971 and 2004 -
Queen's House, WC2
Centre of English language learning -
Riverside Studios
A film studio regenerated into a TV studio used by the BBC from 1954 to 1975 -
Savoy Hill
The first home of the BBC -
Television Centre
The Television Factory -
Television Theatre
A mecca for the stars of the 1960s -
Wood Norton
The emergency broadcasting centre