Tour of the BBC Studios in Manchester

Information regarding these tours was sent to us by Alison Cordingley of the Community Café, Ordsall. We booked our tour on-line and had to be at the BBC on Oxford Road at 10am.

On arrival we were issued with passes with our names and waited for Anne Rabbitt, who was conducting the tours, to arrive and take us on our conducted tour. Our first call was made at Studio A which is the largest studio and where many past series were filmed, but it is not used very often now. It is available to hire to various film companies, but they would have to provide all their own lighting and equipment. Life on Mars was filmed here when the police station set was made and apparently, staff from the BBC was always bumping into figures dressed in 70’s clothing, popping in and out of make-up and dressing rooms. The bright red Cortina was also parked in the car park at the back of the building.

We were shown dressing rooms, not glamorous at all, very basic with a couple of easy chairs, a TV, and a very small en suite shower/bathroom. We were told stars very often order their own special request items, which they pay for. The make-up room was also very basic, more like something from the 70’s together with a very small hairdressing room. Also on site is the costume department where artists go to be fitted with their outfits, this is equipped with sewing machines etc.

We then went to see the studio of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra where they were in full “tuning up mode”. We waited in the shadows listening to the cacophony of sound, all went quiet and the conductor brought them to order and they began their rehearsal. It was very moving. There are at the most 120 musicians playing and the full rehearsals can be watched by the public at specified times, but booking is essential. Sessions are all free, so you just have to ring and book to attend. So come on all you classical music fans, they usually they take place in the afternoons, so could appeal to those not wanting to go out at night. We crept out whilst they were still playing and went to see the radio drama section.

This studio was amazing and the young lady who took us round and explained everything was very informative. There is a carpeted area, a completely soundproofed small room where all the dialogue is spoken and it apparently sounds like the outdoors, also three sets of stairs leading no-where! The three give different effects when the actors run up and down them. There isn’t a dressing room as the actors wear their own clothes as it is not being filmed. The Archers used to be broadcast from this studio. There are a lot of dramas on the various BBC programmes which are all made here. Sound effects are added after the recording from a data base on the computer. Since technology has improved, all the BBC sound effects have taken a year to put on the data base. This means the studio team do not have to be as innovative as they were in the past to create effects.

Our last studio was North West Tonight, which has changed since I was there a year ago. We saw the famous settees where Gordon Burns sits and had our photographs taken there. We saw Heather Stott behind a glass screen broadcasting on Radio Manchester, she waved to us and said hello! We were told that all the presenters and team of the North West studio do all their own ‘ops’ (they have an earpiece and take instructions from the director). In the gallery overlooking the studio is the technical side of all the live performances with banks of monitors and goodness knows how many switches, last minute changes and news flashes are all controlled from there.

This was the first of the tours organised by the BBC, and they are in the process of setting up a studio which will be interactive. There will be a chance to read the news and give a weather forecast, obviously not on air, but simulated so you can watch it afterwards. This could be of great interest to young people who are thinking of a career in the media whether on the technical side or the presenting side.

All in all it was very interesting and the tours have been particularly aimed at residents of Salford prior to the move to Salford Quays, so that local residents can see behind the scenes of the BBC before it moves. When they move there are going to be lots of different TV companies in the same development and all will have to pre-book the specialist studios which are going to be available. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra are going to have their own studio, as now and they are hoping that the acoustics will be as good if not better than the one they now occupy.

Sylvia Sharples Community Reporter, Ordsall Community Cafe