It’s a sad day as the first rumblings of the demise of a broadcasting icon filter through the world at large. It has been reported that, while it waits for the Sword of Damocles licence fee negotiations to finally fall, the BBC is considering selling off Television Centre.
The world falls to its knees, slamming fists against concrete, bitter tears falling to the ground. Well, everybody in the world who has never actually worked at Television Centre. To the British public, this distinctive building is a beacon of quality in television production, a bastion of our cultural heritage. To anybody who has to schlep their way to White City of a dull January morning, it’s a frustrating rabbit warren of corridors and bolted on extensions that go beyond the mind-bending confusion of an Escher painting.
Should Auntie be allowed to sell off Television Centre? On the one hand, it is a nostalgic touchstone, distinctive piece of architecture, possessing a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory mystique. On the other, to anybody working there, it’s an outdated dinosaur that has about as much relevance to modern broadcasting as Fanny Cradock does to Nigella Lawson.
It’s just well… a shame! TV Centre is the BBC, much more than say, the nondescript edifice of Broadcasting House. I like the chaos of TV Centre (it’s no wonder the wrong person can get shunted upstairs to News 24 for an interview), but the world of television is brutal. It’s quite ironic that in an industry that is becoming increasingly about nostalgia in what we want to consume as an audience, the organisations involved can’t afford to be bogged down in sentiment.
I’d like to see Television Centre live on as a monument to a great institution. But, I’d equally like to see the BBC survive into this century and beyond as a modern and relevant organisation, and that means some tough decisions that the public might not like.
TV Centre image © BBC
I did work experience at the Beeb many, many years ago and I remember vividly it being like the first day at a new school - everyone else knew where they were going but you were completely lost at every turn and constantly having to ask the kindly looking types for directions. And yes, I ran around the corridors of the doughnut looking for a production room that didn't even seem to exist until someone physically walked me to it down tiny white, weaving corridors. I'd say it's like a magical maze. Which would have been fun had it not been for deadlines. But it was wonderful to literally bump into Andrew Lloyd Webber whilst carrying an armful of VHS tapes so high I couldn't see over the pile. Where else could you see so many celebrities on one day? Oh how all those Beeb employees and celebs will scream blue murder though as they all moved to poxy Shepherds Bush for the sole reason that they could be close to the hub of Broadcasting. If they move the Beeb Shepherd's Bush will become a ghost town and a mass exodus will occur in the housing market.