Construction of Southern Television Centre, 1970
The arrival of colour TV signal in the late 1960s led all of the UK's broadcasters to adapt to the new medium. Some, like ATV in Birmingham, LWT in London and Southern in Southampton decided they needed new studios to adapt.
Southern's studios were constructed in 1969 on a concrete raft, like the National Theatre in London, due to their waterlogged sites. Southern Television Centre was built on land reclaimed from the River Itchen, and contained four studios. This film was made by the channel to announce their new studios and equipment, with the odd curious claim attached too: British colour TV might be the best in the world, the announcer tells us. I suppose it might be...
We get lots of footage of pre-health and safety site works, and the new colour TV equipment, from massive cameras, reel to reel audio and the bulging screens of analogue tube sets. There's also some priceless behind the scenes footage of the first colour show recorded there: House Party. Southern were best known for their children TV shows: Wurzel Gummidge, How, The Famous Five and Runaround.
Ultimately Southern lost their licence to TVS in 1982 and in 2010 the studio complex was finally demolished. This film is a nice record of a moment in time when Britain was modernising fast.
Southern's studios were constructed in 1969 on a concrete raft, like the National Theatre in London, due to their waterlogged sites. Southern Television Centre was built on land reclaimed from the River Itchen, and contained four studios. This film was made by the channel to announce their new studios and equipment, with the odd curious claim attached too: British colour TV might be the best in the world, the announcer tells us. I suppose it might be...
We get lots of footage of pre-health and safety site works, and the new colour TV equipment, from massive cameras, reel to reel audio and the bulging screens of analogue tube sets. There's also some priceless behind the scenes footage of the first colour show recorded there: House Party. Southern were best known for their children TV shows: Wurzel Gummidge, How, The Famous Five and Runaround.
Ultimately Southern lost their licence to TVS in 1982 and in 2010 the studio complex was finally demolished. This film is a nice record of a moment in time when Britain was modernising fast.
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