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The Leeds Studios (also known as the ITV Television Centre, Yorkshire Television Studios or YTV Studios) is a television production complex on Kirkstall Road in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on the ...
had proposed to close the studios in 2009, however later in the year had a change of mind and instead decided to refit them as high-definition studios.


Background

The Leeds Studios have been the home of Yorkshire Television, and its successor,
ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network. Until 1974, this was prima ...
, since 1968 and are owned by ITV Yorkshire's parent company
ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on the ...
. The complex houses the main studios and administrative headquarters of ITV Yorkshire, which also has smaller offices in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
and
Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...
. ITV programmes which have been produced there include: ''
3-2-1 ''3–2–1'' was a British game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, from 29 July 1978 to 24 December 1988, with Ted Rogers as the host. It was based on a Spanish gameshow called '' Un, dos, tres... res ...
'', ''
My Parents Are Aliens ''My Parents Are Aliens'' is a British children's television sitcom that was produced for eight series by Yorkshire Television and aired on ITV from 8 November 1999 to 18 December 2006. Overview The show primarily follows the lives of three o ...
'', '' Where the Heart Is'', ''
The Royal ''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV1 from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the ...
'', '' Heartbeat'', ''
Wire in the Blood ''Wire in the Blood'' is a British crime drama television series, created and produced by Coastal Productions for Tyne Tees Television and broadcast on ITV from 14 November 2002 to 31 October 2008. The series is based on characters created by ...
'', ''
Bruce's Price is Right ''The Price is Right'' is a British game show based on the The Price Is Right (American game show), US version of the same name. It originally aired on ITV (TV network), ITV from 24 March 1984 to 8 April 1988 and was hosted by Leslie Crowther. ...
'', ''
Bad Influence! ''Bad Influence!'' is a 1990s British factual television programme broadcast on CITV from 1992 to 1996, produced in Leeds by Yorkshire Television. It looked at video games and computer technology, and was described as a "kid’s Tomorrow's Worl ...
'' and ''
A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...
''. ''
Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
'' was regularly made for
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
here until April 2009 (when it moved to The Manchester Studios and then to MediaCityUK in Salford) as was ''
Win My Wage ''Win My Wage'' is a British daytime game show that aired on for Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission ...
'', a new gameshow for Channel 4 made by independent company Hotbed Media in 2007. The studios were also home to ''
Through the Keyhole ''Through the Keyhole'' is a British comedy panel game show created by the TV producer Kevin Sim and originally presented by Sir David Frost in the studio and Loyd Grossman on location. The location presenter goes around celebrities' houses and ...
'', (which began as a YTV production on ITV, but was later made by David Frost's company Paradine Productions for Sky1 and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
) and were used for the interior shots on hit comedy ''
The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...
'' and medical drama ''
Bodies Bodies may refer to: * The plural of body * ''Bodies'' (2004 TV series), BBC television programme * Bodies (upcoming TV series), an upcoming British crime thriller limited series * "Bodies" (''Law & Order''), 2003 episode of ''Law & Order'' * ...
'' (both for the BBC). The revived ''
Bullseye Bullseye or Bull's Eye may refer to: Symbols * ◎ (Unicode U+25CE BULLSEYE), in the Geometric Shapes Unicode block * (Unicode U+0298 LATIN LETTER BILABIAL CLICK), the phonetic symbol for bilabial click Animals and plants * Bull's Eye, '' Eury ...
'' on Challenge was also recorded at the Leeds Studios as was the 2006 series of ''
Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of th ...
'', due to the closure of
Granada Studios Old Granada Studios (known simply as Granada Studios and previously known as The Manchester Studios) is a television studio complex and events venue on Quay Street in Manchester with the facility to broadcast live and recorded television programm ...
for the removal of asbestos at the time. The front of the main studio buildings have, in the past, acted as the main entrance to Hotten General in the serial drama, ''Emmerdale''.


History

The studios were built on
slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
land on Kirkstall Road, purchased from the former
Leeds Corporation Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...
. Construction commenced in early 1967: A mild winter aided building work and by mid-1968 studios one and two were equipped for transmission (studios three and four being completed by early 1969). The studio was officially opened by the
Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom ...
on 29 July 1968. It was the first purpose-built colour television production centre in Europe and cost over £4 million to build and equip (at 1968 prices). Colour cameras were initially Marconi Mk7s and
EMI 2001 The EMI 2001 Broadcast studio camera was an early, very successful British made Plumbicon studio camera that included the lens within the body of the camera. Four 30 mm tubes allowed one tube to be dedicated solely to producing a relatively ...
s. Both of these cameras were in use until the mid-1980s. Some studios in The Leeds Studios used Marconi cameras, the others used EMI cameras. In 1976 the cameras in Studio 3 were replaced with the Philips LDK 25 models. During the 1970s, one set was used as a synthetic
ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
when not in use for filming. The regional news show '' Calendar'' was produced at the centre for many years but in 1989 was moved to a dedicated newsroom and broadcast facility based in a converted
roller rink A roller rink is a hard surface usually consisting of hardwood or concrete, used for roller skating or inline skating. This includes roller hockey, speed skating, roller derby, and individual recreational skating. Roller rinks can be located ...
next to the main studios. The programme moved back to the main studio building in October 2012.


Proposed downsizing

In March 2009, ITV plc announced that the Leeds Studios were to be downsized to try and save costs following a reported loss of £2.7 billion for 2008. When interviewed on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
over the proposed closure of much of the studios, the then ITV plc chairman
Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1 ...
said simply 'We move on'. Screen Yorkshire stated an interest in taking over any parts of the complex that were to be mothballed.
Yorkshire Forward Yorkshire Forward was the regional development agency (RDA) for the Yorkshire and the Humber region of the United Kingdom. It supported the development of business in the region by encouraging public and private investment in education, skills, ...
looked at the possibility of funding a takeover of the studios but subsequently withdrew their plans.


New investment

In December 2009 however, ITV plc announced plans to renovate the studios to high-definition standard, moving production of ''
Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...
'' to the main Kirkstall Road building. ITV Yorkshire have expanded into occupying a nearby office block, situated near the Finishing School.


Studios

There are other studios in adjacent buildings, some owned by ITV plc and others being independent, however none of these studios were purpose built. A notable one which is not run by ITV plc is Studio 81, which is particularly large at 16,000 sq ft (230 ft × 70 ft) and used for the filming of single-camera dramas.


Drama

Over the years the studios, particularly Studio 4, have been used for filming television drama, mostly for Yorkshire Television. These series have included '' Heartbeat'', ''
The Royal ''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV1 from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the ...
'', ''
Wire in the Blood ''Wire in the Blood'' is a British crime drama television series, created and produced by Coastal Productions for Tyne Tees Television and broadcast on ITV from 14 November 2002 to 31 October 2008. The series is based on characters created by ...
'', ''
Married Single Other ''Married Single Other'' is a British television drama created and written by Peter Souter. The series is based on the lives of group of people who are either married, single or "other", other being defined as in a relationship. It began airing ...
'', ''
Fat Friends ''Fat Friends'' (also known as ''Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends'') is a British drama that aired on ITV from 12 October 2000 to 24 March 2005, consisting of 25 episodes over four series. Set in Leeds, the series explores the lives of several slimm ...
'', ''
A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...
'', ''
Bodies Bodies may refer to: * The plural of body * ''Bodies'' (2004 TV series), BBC television programme * Bodies (upcoming TV series), an upcoming British crime thriller limited series * "Bodies" (''Law & Order''), 2003 episode of ''Law & Order'' * ...
'' and '' Where the Heart is''. ''Fat Friends'' set an episode at the Leeds Studios and used non-studio areas of the complex for filming. The adjacent Studio 81, has been used recently in the filming of ''
Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...
'' and the '' Red Riding Trilogy''.


Other uses

The site is now home to advert and regional programme playout for ITV plc's northern transmission areas (ITV Granada, ITV Yorkshire, ITV Tyne Tees and ITV Border), and a number of independent producers. The production facilities are marketed as The Leeds Studios and sister companies ProVision, Film Lab North and The Finishing School occupy adjacent buildings. While Prism also have set up studios in an older building adjacent to the complex.
Radio Aire Radio Aire was an Independent Local Radio station, serving Leeds and West Yorkshire. The station was merged and relaunched as Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020. History Radio Aire was launched at 6am ...
and
Greatest Hits West Yorkshire Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire (previously Magic 828 and Radio Aire 2) is a local radio station serving West Yorkshire on 96.3 FM, DAB, Online and App. History Magic 828 Magic 828 was launched by Roger Kirk at 8:28 am on 17 July 1990. ...
occupy radio studios set up adjacent to the Leeds Studios in the early 1980s, making the lower end of Kirkstall Road arguably a small media quarter. The ITV Archive (including the Rank, Korda and ITC Film libraries) is also based at the Leeds campus.


References


External links


leedstelevision.com
Leeds Television. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leeds Studios, The Television studios in England ITV offices, studios and buildings Buildings and structures in Leeds Yorkshire Television