Lime Grove Studios

Lime Grove Studios
Lime Grove Studios in the 1960s
Lime Grove Studios Location in Greater London Lime Grove Studios Location in Hammersmith and Fulham
Former names	Gaumont Film Studios
General information
Status	Demolished
Type	Film and television studio
Architectural style	Art Deco
Location	Lime Grove,Shepherd's Bush
Town or city	London
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°30′13″N0°13′38″W
Completed	1915
Opened	1915 Opened as Gaumont Studios 1949 converted to TV studio
Demolished	1993
Owner	Gaumont Film Company(1915–1949) BBC(1949–1991)

Lime Grove Studioswas afilm,and latertelevision,studio complex inShepherd's Bush,West London,England.

The complex was built by theGaumont Film Companyin 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, and when it first opened was described by Gaumont as "the finest studio in Great Britain and the first building ever put up in this country solely for the production of films". ManyGainsborough Picturesfilms were made here from the early 1930s. Its sister studio wasIslington Studios,also used by Gainsborough; films were often shot partly at Islington and partly at Lime Grove.

In 1949, the complex was purchased by theBBC,who used it for television broadcasts until 1991. It was demolished in 1993.

Gaumont-British Picture Corporation

In 1922,Isidore Ostreralong with brothers Mark and Maurice, acquired control ofGaumont-Britishfrom its French parent. In 1932 a major redevelopment of Lime Grove Studios was completed, creating one of the best equipped studio complexes of that era. The first film produced at the remodelled studio was theWalter FordethrillerRome Express(1932), which became one of the first British sound films to gain critical and financial success in the United States (where it was distributed byUniversal Pictures).

The studios prospered under Gaumont-British, and in 1941 were bought by theRank Organisation.By then Rank had a substantial interest inGainsborough Pictures,andThe Wicked Lady(1945), among other Gainsborough melodramas, was shot at Lime Grove.

BBC studios

In 1949 theBBCbought Lime Grove Studios as a "temporary measure" —because they were to buildTelevision Centreat nearbyWhite City—and began converting them from film to television use. The BBC studios were ceremonially opened on 21 May 1950 byViolet Attlee(wife of the then prime ministerClement Attlee).

Lime Grove would be used for many BBC Television programmes over the next forty-two years, including:Quatermass II;Andy Pandy;The Sky at Night;Dixon of Dock Green;Nineteen Eighty-Four;Steptoe and Son;Doctor Who;Nationwide;Panorama;andThe Grove Family,which took its title family from the studios, where it was made.A children's magazine-style programme,Studio E,was broadcast live from the studio of the same name from 1955 until 1958; it was hosted byVera McKechnie.

The QueenandPrince Philipvisited Lime Grove on 28 October 1953, when they observed production of the variety showFor Your Pleasure,the quiz showAnimal, Vegetable, Mineral?,and a drama production,The Disagreeable Man.

On 20 January 1966, the first edition ofTop of the Popsfrom Lime Grove was broadcast, hosted byDavid Jacobs.The newly successful show had moved south from its original home atDickenson Road Studios,a converted church building inManchester,to the larger studio facilities at Lime Grove, where the production could attract a more trendy "Swinging London"studio audience.Top of the Popswas produced at Lime Grove for three years until the show moved to BBC Television Centre in 1969.

Lime Grove hosted a revolution in British TV whenBreakfast Timebegan broadcasting from there on 17 January 1983, the start of popular daytime television hosted byFrank Bough,Selina ScottandNick Ross.

Lime Grove's use for programmes outside current affairs declined over time, and later episodes of the continuing series were made at BBC Television Centre andBBC Elstree Centre.Indeed, in Lime Grove Studios' final years, its official name was Lime Grove Current Affairs Production Centre.

Humble PieperformedDesperation,aSteppenwolfsinglefrom thedebutalbumsof both:SteppenwolfandHumble Pie;Natural Born Bugie,their debut single;Heartbeat,aBuddy Hollysingle, and;The Sad Bag of Shaky Jake,their second single, for arecording-and-broadcastfor theBBC.Led ZeppelinperformedWhite SummerandBlack Mountain Sidethere, onTheJulie FelixShow,on 23 April 1970.

In 1991 the BBC decided to consolidate its London television production at the nearby BBC Television Centre and to close its other studios including Lime Grove. The last live programme to be broadcast from Lime Grove wasThe Late Showon 13 June 1991 from Studio D, although the final portion of the programme, with a symbolic "unplugging" of a camera power cord in Studio D byCliff Michelmore,was pre-recorded.

On 26 August 1991, a month after the studios were closed, the BBC transmitted a special day of programming calledThe Lime Grove Story,featuring examples of the many programmes and films that had been made at Lime Grove in its 76 years as a place of film and television production.BBC Television Theatre close by, nearShepherd's BushGreen, reverted to being theShepherd's Bush Empire.

By the end, the building was in such a poor state of repair that the remaining BBC staff nicknamed it "Slime Grove". The building was put on the market and eventually bought by a development company, Notting Hill Housing Association, which demolished the studios in 1993, and redeveloped the site into a housing estate. The streets in the estate were named Gaumont Terrace and Gainsborough Court, in memory of the past owners of Lime Grove Studios.

In popular culture

Lime Grove Studios was the setting for the fictional current affairs programmeThe Hourin the BBC drama of the same name. The studios are also represented in the 2013 dramaAn Adventure in Space and Timewhich was shot atWimbledon Studios.

See also

• Gaumont Film Company
• Gainsborough Pictures
• List of Gainsborough Pictures films

External links

• History of Lime Grove Studios
• History of Gaumont-British and Lime Grove Studios