Teddington Studios
Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also provided studio space for channel continuity. Towards the end of its history the site was run by the Pinewood Studios Group.
Teddington Studios
Demolished
Television studios
Broom Road, Teddington, London
England
1910s
February 2016[1]
£2.7m (2005)
- Warner Bros. (1931–1958)
- ABC Weekend TV (1958–1968)
- Thames Television (1968–1993)
- Teddington Studios (leased: 1993–2005)
- Pinewood Studios Group (leased: 2005–2014)
Originally built as film studios, the studios were the main production centres for the ITV franchisees ABC Weekend TV and Thames Television.
Pinewood Group's lease on Teddington Studios expired in 2014. The studios were demolished in February 2016[1] to be turned into housing, with programmes made there having moved to other facilities.[2] 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[edit]
Film studios[edit]
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 Bros. to turn out so-called "quota quickies" – British-made films which fulfilled a legal quota (created by the Cinematograph Films Act 1927) 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 (1934) with Errol Flynn in his first major film role, is considered a lost film. The studio was seriously damaged in a V-1 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[edit]
By the 1950s the studio's fortunes had declined, but in 1958 it was bought by ABC Weekend TV for use as a television studio. Although this was outside its contract areas of the Midlands and the north of England, ABC wanted a London 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'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, news and sports 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 £2.7 million.[3] 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.[4] 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.[1]