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Teddington Studios was a large

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television studio in

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long me ...

, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the

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, ITV,

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, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also provided studio space for channel continuity. The site was run by the Pinewood Studios Group. Originally built as film studios, the studios were the main production centres for the ITV franchisees

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and Thames Television. Pinewood Group's lease on Teddington Studios expired in 2014. The studios were demolished in February 2016 to be turned into housing, with programmes made there having moved to other facilities. The studio buildings will be replaced by three modern apartment blocks and other smaller houses, with the view towards the river from Broom Road opened up.

History

Film studios

The studio began in the early 20th century as film studios when stockbroker Henry Chinnery, owner of Weir House, Teddington, allowed filmmakers to use his greenhouse as a studio. Dedicated studio facilities were then built in the 1910s. The studio was greatly expanded by a partnership of filmmaker E. G. Norman and actor Henry Edwards, and renamed Teddington Film Studios Limited in 1931. After only one production, ''Stranglehold'' (1931), the studio was acquired by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

to turn out so-called "

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" – British-made films which fulfilled a legal quota (created by the

Cinematograph Films Act 1927 The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 ('' 17 & 18 Geo. V'') was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received Royal Assent on 20 December 1927 and came into force on 1 April 1928. De ...

) before American-made films could be shown. Warner Bros.-First National continued to make US/UK coproductions at Teddington until '' The Dark Tower'' (1943). One Teddington Studios production ''

Murder at Monte Carlo ''Murder at Monte Carlo'' is a British 1934 mystery crime thriller film directed by Ralph Ince and starring Errol Flynn, Eve Gray, Paul Graetz and Molly Lamont, the production was Flynn's debut film in a lead role in England. The film is curre ...

'' (1934) with

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...

in his first major film role, is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

. The studio was seriously damaged in a V-2 attack in July 1944, in which Jack L. Warner's studio manager, and family member, Doc Salomon was killed while recording the attack.

Television studios

By the 1950s the studio's fortunes had declined, but in 1958 it was bought by

for use as a television studio. Although this was outside its contract areas of the Midlands and the north of England, ABC wanted a

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base, as many performers could not venture outside of the capital to record programmes because they were often committed to runs of theatre plays in the West End. By the time ABC's contracts expired in 1968, the Teddington studios were highly desirable, as they had participated in colour experiments and were already partially converted, and as such had been sought after by both Thames Television and

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

, London's two new franchisees. ABC's parent company had a 51% stake in Thames, and so Teddington Studios became the main production centre for Thames's entertainment programming (e.g. gameshows, children's programmes, dramas and comedy), while documentary shows,

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and

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programming were made at Thames's Euston Road headquarters. After Thames lost its ITV franchise to Carlton Television in 1993, the studio became independent. Without a major broadcaster or studio group owning the studios, their future was questioned (as Carlton was going to commission most of its entertainment programming from independent producers), but it survived and stayed independent for 13 years, when in 2005, the Pinewood Studios Group bought the complex for £2.7m. Teddington was also the home of British TV Casino show Smart Live Casino until they moved to Picadilly Studios. The media company Haymarket owned the Teddington Studios site from 2004 and occupied some of it from 2006. Part of the site was leased to Pinewood until 2014. Haymarket announced in June 2013 that it planned to redevelop the site into homes, meaning the end of Teddington Studios. In February 2016 it was reported that the site was being demolished to make way for a 213-flat development, the land having been sold to Singaporean firm City Developers for a reputed £80 million.

TV studios and facilities

The site consisted of 8 studios in total, as well as post-production editing facilities.

Studio 1

Studio 1 was Teddington's largest studio at nearly . It was a fully digital widescreen studio, with audience seating for 500, making it popular for programmes such as ''

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'' for ITV and sitcoms ''

The Green Green Grass ''The Green Green Grass'' is a BBC television sitcom, created and initially written by John Sullivan, produced by Shazam Productions for the BBC. It is a sequel/spin-off of the long-running sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' and stars John Chall ...

'', '' After You've Gone'', ''

My Family ''My Family'' is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadc ...

'', '' My Hero'', ''

Reggie Perrin ''Reggie Perrin'' is a modern update of the 1970s BBC sitcom ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'', which starred Leonard Rossiter. The revival stars Martin Clunes and was first broadcast on 24 April 2009. Series 1 was released on DVD in R ...

'' and ''

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'' (all for BBC One). Other notable productions made in Studio 1 included ''

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'' (Thames Television for ITV), ''

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'' (ITV), '' Birds of a Feather'' (BBC and ITV), one series of '' Parkinson'' and ''

Black Books ''Black Books'' is a British sitcom created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan, and written by Moran, Kevin Cecil, Andy Riley, Linehan and Arthur Mathews. It was broadcast on Channel 4, running for three series from 2000 to 2004. Starring Mo ...

'' (Channel 4). Historically, many classic series were recorded in Studio 1. These include ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...

'', all of Tommy Cooper's shows produced by Thames Television (1973–1980), ''

The Sooty Show ''The Sooty Show'' is a British children's television series, created by Harry Corbett, and produced for the BBC from 1955 to 1967, and then for ITV from 1968 until 1992. The show, part of the ''Sooty'' franchise, focuses on the mischievous a ...

'', ''

George and Mildred ''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from '' Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple ...

'', ''

Man About the House ''Man About the House'' is a British sitcom created by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer that starred Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Sally Thomsett, Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy. Six series were broadcast on ITV from 15 August 1973 to 7 A ...

'' and long-running light entertainment series such as '' This is Your Life'' and '' Opportunity Knocks''. The final four series of '' The Morecambe & Wise Show'' were also produced at Teddington's Studio 1 by Thames Television. The first three series of '' The Avengers'' were made at Teddington between 1961 and 1964, the later episodes in Studio 1 and earlier episodes in Studio 2.

Studio 2

Studio 2 measured nearly and has been the home to shows such as the early series of ''

'', '' Today with Des and Mel'' for ITV, '' Kilroy'' for the BBC and the first series of '' Trisha'' after moving to Channel 5. This studio was popular for programmes which required intimate medium-sized space, like '' Bremner, Bird and Fortune'' for

Studio 3

Studio 3 was a much smaller studio at and was home to many music shows productions and television commercials. It was also the regular studio used for Rainbow.

Studio 4

Studio 4 was a small studio at .

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

used the studio before moving back to

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...

in 2010 and then moving to MediaCityUK in 2011.

Studio 5

Another small studio, Studio 5 was home to The Chinese Channel.

Studio 6

Until early 2008, this was a small studio at .

Studio 7

Built on the site of the prop store for Studio 2, this small studio was built within weeks for participation TV channel QuizCall, whose content is produced using widescreen cameras. The studio has been used for '' Dick and Dom's Funny Business'' and sitcom ''

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'' for Sky1.

Studio 8

This studio, also small, was the home of HIgh Flyer which produced the TV channel Racing UK.

Other facilities

Like many studios, Teddington also included set and prop storage, green rooms, wardrobe and makeup and provided car parking. However, many businesses were based at Teddington, providing products/services that catered for all production needs. An office within the facilities was used to film '' The Office''.

References

External links

The Pinewood Studios GroupThe Twickenham Museum: history of Teddington Studios
{{Media in the United Kingdom, television 1910s establishments in England British film studios Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Film production companies of the United Kingdom ITV offices, studios and buildings Media and communications in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Teddington Television studios in London Television production companies of the United Kingdom Warner Bros. Studios