Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Blog
    Blog 2 Mins Read

    BBC Lime Grove Studios

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    The BBC’s Lime Grove Studios in Shepherd’s Bush officially opened on 21 May 1950. The site had started out as film studios, first for Gaumont and later for Gainsborough and then Rank Film Studios, from whom the BBC purchased the complex for £230,000 to fulfil the needs of the fast-expanding television service in the 1950s.

    Although it was later overshadowed by the purpose-built Television Centre, it was a much-loved creative hub, originating many important programmes and pioneering colour broadcasting.

    Broadcasts from Lime Grove began with an opening ceremony performed by Mrs Clement Attlee before Children’s Hour got underway. Ali Muffin and the Four Thieves was the first programme.

    The studio was a centre for children’s programmes and originated The Flowerpot Men, Andy Pandy and Captain Pugwash. Other programmes made at Lime Grove over the years included The Grove Family,  Doctor Who, Quatermass II, Dixon of Dock Green, Tonight, Nationwide, Newsnight and Panorama.

    The facilities became increasingly unfit for purpose and the BBC vacated Lime Grove in 1991 to consolidate television production up the road in Television Centre. The final programme to be broadcast from the studios was an edition of the arts magazine, The Late Show which featured a high-speed journey around the building, and ended with a sequence where presenter Cliff Michelmore ceremonially pulled the plug on the television camera.

    The studios were demolished after the BBC moved out and there is now a housing estate on the site, but it has been marked by a BBC History blue plaque.

    In 2011 the BBC recreated the heyday of Lime Grove with the drama The Hour, which featured a groundbreaking 1950s current affairs programme like Tonight.

    Video

    Related Posts

    • The Beatles Rooftop Concert (1969)
      The Beatles Rooftop Concert (1969)
      30 January 1969 The Beatles made their last ever live appearance together on 30 January 1969, putting on a free…
    • Why Wasn't I Told?
      Why Wasn't I Told?
      Dorrie Evans, the scatty and interfering self-appointed concierge at 96 Lindsay Street, Paddington, was the absolute queen of malapropism on…
    • Punk Rock: Its Day Will Come
      Punk Rock: Its Day Will Come
      If you thought Jefferson Airplane was a weird name, let some of these drop off your tongue. Talking Heads. Tuff…
    • Bond's First XI (and what happened to them)
      Bond's First XI (and what happened to them)
      Ursula Andress walked from the sea in Dr No in 1962 and became the first of many beautiful women who…
    • Jimmy Hill dead at 87 following Alzheimer’s battle
      Jimmy Hill dead at 87 following Alzheimer’s battle
      19 December 2015 Jimmy Hill has died aged 87 following a battle with Alzheimer’s. Hill will forever be remembered as…
    • Dapto Leagues Club in the 60s, 70s and 80s
      Dapto Leagues Club in the 60s, 70s and 80s
      Dapto Leagues Club was formed on 12 July 1955 at a public meeting in Mr Jim Timbs' Billiard Rooms in…
    • Men of the Cloth - The low-down on four of London's key clothiers in 1965
      Men of the Cloth - The low-down on four of London's key…
      John Simons Little did he know it, but in 1965 the clothes stylist John Simons was about to start the skinhead movement…
    • 20 most watched TV shows in Australia in the 20th century
      20 most watched TV shows in Australia in the 20th century
      It is impossible to give precise audience figures of the most watched shows of the 20th century in Australia, so…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleNaked Bunyip, The (1970)
    Next Article Whirlpool (1970)

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    You May Also Like
    • Munch Bunch, The
      1 9 8 0 (UK) 52 x 10 minute episodes The Munch Bunch have run […]
    • Magic Christian, The (1969)
      Eccentric millionaire Guy Grand (Peter Sellers) knows that most […]
    • Friday the 13th, Part 7: The New Blood (1988)
      Tina Shepherd (Lar Park-Lincoln) – a young girl with ESP […]
    • Digital Watches
      The first models (circa 1972) were very expensive and featured a […]
    • Skinheads
      Skinheads first started at the end of the 1960s as a […]
    • Atlantic City (1980)
      Atlantic City is a sweet and flaky movie about an assortment of […]
    Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

    OUR LATEST FACEBOOK POSTS

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-64558222 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    David Bowie's handwritten Jean Genie lyrics sold for £57,000

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The handwritten sheet was given to the founder of the inaugural David Bowie fan club by the star.
    9 hours ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    edition.cnn.com/2023/01/30/entertainment/cindy-williams-dead/index.html

    More sad news 😢
    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    'Laverne & Shirley' star Cindy Williams dead at 75 | CNN

    edition.cnn.com

    Cindy Williams, the dynamic actress known best for playing the bubbly Shirley Feeney on the beloved sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," has died, according to a statement from her family, provided to CNN by a...
    1 week ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64442824 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Television frontman Tom Verlaine dies at 73

    www.bbc.co.uk

    His band rose to fame in the 1970s New York punk scene, scoring UK hits including Marquee Moon.
    1 week ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64418847 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Mr Blobby costume sells for more than £62,000 on eBay

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The character, made famous by BBC show Noel's House Party, had been in storage since the 1990s.
    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Put some beefiness into your mid-week menu with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the Radio Times on 30 September 1965.

    Put some "beefiness into your mid-week menu" with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the "Radio Times" on 30 September 1965. ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 3
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

    More sad news 😪

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    US rock legend David Crosby dies aged 81

    www.bbc.co.uk

    Crosby, who co-founded both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, had been ill for some time.
    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 1
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened? 

All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened?

    All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .
    ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 54
    • Shares: 22
    • Comments: 7

    Comment on Facebook

    I thought we would have moving pavements by now when I was a kid 😂

    Totally agree!!!

    The new Tesla, 4.6 next century.

    We got transvestite story hour instead

    We appear to be going backwards

    There's actually a very good David Graeber essay on this very topic: thebaffler.com/salvos/of-flying-cars-and-the-declining-rate-of-profit

    The Jetsons strike again.

    View more comments

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

    nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/
    ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    That is so sad to hear 😥 rest in peace 🙏 🕊 xx

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026
    ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 5
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    😍😍😍😍

    Vale Jeff Beck. Dead at 78. 😢

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Jeff Beck: British guitar legend dies aged 78

    www.bbc.co.uk

    One of rock's most influential guitarists, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
    4 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Load more
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.