A tour of the vast BBC Television Centre in the west of London (White City in fact, although the Wood Lane tube station is a little closer) takes you deep into the history and magic of the world’s most celebrated media organisation. You can see the news room that the whole world trusts, view costumes, props and memorabilia from programs like Doctor Who and East Enders and walk the halls where your current favourites are being written – you may even bump into a familiar face or two!
Tours include several of the buildings in the complex, including the Grade 2-listed circular building at its core (known affectionately by BBC staff as the ‘doughnut’), which many people will be familiar with as it has featured in several iconic programmes over the years – if you’re old enough you’ll remember Roy Castle’s Guinness World Record-breaking tap-dancing extravaganza that took place at its centre back in 1977…
From this month, tours of BBC Television Centre are available seven days a week, with ticket prices for adults of £11.75 which you can purchase here. Even though much of the BBC’s regular output has now moved to Salford, some shows are still recorded in the suite of large studios on the site, so you can also find out abuot how to become part of a studio audience here – time it right and you could spend the whole day at Television Centre. In addition, there are also tours of other BBC facilities around the country, some of which are designed specifically for children if you’re taking the whole family.
This is a guestpost from Dana Flannery. Dana is a former BBC employee with a deep fondness for BBC TV Centre. Since leaving Current Affairs at White City, she heads a team of freelance writers in her home city of Brisbane, Australia.
April 24, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Looks like a very worthwhile day out Pete…
Did you bump into any ‘celebrities’ whilst you were there?!
One of my aims in life is to (somehow) get my hands on a Blue Peter badge!
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April 24, 2012 at 11:58 pm
I’m booked in a couple of weeks from now – I’ll put up something more comprehensive then. The shots in the current post are ones I took from the old Top Of The Pops offices in the ancillary building on the other side of the tube line.