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Rediffusion Television Ltd

Television House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2

Tel. HOLborn 7888

Rediffusion Television Studios, Wembley Park Drive, Middlesex

Tel. WEMbley 8811

Norfolk House, Smallbrook Ringway, Birmingham 5

Tel. Midland 9151/2

Peter House, Oxford Street, Manchester 1

Tel. Central 9867/8

Transmitter

ITA, Croydon

Channel

9

Opening Date

September 23, 1955

Population

13,490,000

Homes

3,780,000

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London’s television

Since 1955 Rediffusion Television (originally Associated-Rediffusion) has been providing Independent Television programmes for the London area - Monday to Friday. Many of these programmes are also networked throughout the country. The staff averages around 1,400 people, of whom more than 900 are directly engaged in making programmes. Rediffusion Television receives no public funds, the programmes being financed entirely by the sale of advertisement time.

Advertisements appear between programmes and in natural breaks within them. They may not occupy more than 10% of all transmission time.

Rediffusion Television sells “time” as a newspaper sells “space”. The advertisers has no control or influence over what programmes are selected or how they are produced.

The company’s headquarters are at Television House, Kingsway, in central London where there are four small studios used mainly for current affairs programmes and also for continuity and programme promotion. Most drama, entertainment, educational, religious and children’s programmes are produced from five studios at Wembley. This booklet, intended for the guidance of visitors to the Rediffusion Television studios at Wembley, describes their history and gives an account of the production facilities they new contain.

April 1967

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The story of Wembley Studios

The site now occupied by the Rediffusion Television studios at Wembley was originally part of the British Empire Exhibition opened by King George V in April, 1924. After the exhibition closed, the Lucullus Garden Club in the exhibition grounds was converted into a film studio by British Talking Pictures, a company formed to develop the new invention of sound films. Here some of the earliest British talkies were produced, and after the destruction of two stages by fire in 1929, larger and more modern studios were built. The first production made in the new studios was “Wedding Rehearsal” directed by the young Alexander Korda. Later came a film called, ironically as it turned out, “Death at Broadcasting House”. Low down on the cast list were the names of Val Gielgud, Bette Davis, Jack Hawkins and Donald Wolfit.

In 1934 Wembley studios were taken over by Fox Films (later 20th Century Fox) and many stars who were destined to become world famous got their first chance in the low budget second features made in this period. James Mason signed his first contract to work on one of these, Googie Withers was paid £5 a week, Rex Harrison was on 3 guineas a day, and George Sanders on £5 a day. Michael Anderson, subsequently famed for his direction of such films as “The Dam Busters” and “Around the World in Eighty Days”, was chief cashier, while Gabriel Pascal completed a full-length feature on a budget of £6,000 with a shooting schedule of 10 days.

In 1943, when the studios were being used by the Army Kinema Corporation, Wembley had its second big fire destroying No. 2 stage (now Studio 4) which at the time was being used for film cutting and dispatch. Like the first fire 14 years earlier the cause of the outbreak remained a mystery.

The last of hundreds of feature films shot at Wembley was the 1954 production of “The Ship That Died of Shame”, a film that was later bought and screened on television in London by Rediffusion Television. A motor torpedo boat was specially built for the film and “launched” in what are now studios 1 and 2. One scene called for the star, Richard Attenborough, to be filmed on deck in a storm. Fire hoses were used to simulate waves and spray dashing over the vessel. Unfortunately one of the men playing the hoses lost his aim and the full force of the jet caught Attenborough, flinging him back into the super-structure. He ended up in hospital with a gashed head and arm.

The life of Wembley as a film studio ended in January, 1955, when it was taken over by the new television company. In nine months the old film studios, with the scenery of “The Ship That Died of Shame” still strewn over the floors, had to be converted ready for the start of Independent Television in London in September, 1955. Buildings were pulled down and others erected in their place. Television control rooms were built across the centre of the biggest stage to form studios 1 and 2. Electronic television cameras and telecine facilities were installed, everything being linked together by more than 20 miles of sound, vision and control cables. Studios 1 and 2 were finished by the beginning of September, and two more studios were in service by the end of the year.

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James Mason (who worked as an unknown at the old Wembley film studios in the 1930′s) starred in a Rediffusion production of John Le Carré’s “Dare I Weep, Dare I Mourn” which was shown in colour in the U.S.A. and ranked at No. 15 in the TAM Top Twenty ITV programmes of 1966.

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Rediffusion Television and Talent Associates have combined to produce major television dramas for screening in this country and in the United States in colour. Ingrid Bergman (above) starred in “The Human Voice” which was directed by Ted Kotcheff and produced by David Susskind and Lars Schmidt.

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Bernard Levin talks to Lord Montgomery of Alamein during one of “The Levin Interview” series. Other discussion programmes produced by Rediffusion Television include “The Frost Programme” and “Three After Six”. Additionally, the top rated current affairs programme “This Week” has been on the air without break since 1956.

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Ian Hendry was the star of “The Informer” series. Each year Rediffusion makes four Golden Star awards of £1,000 in recognition of outstanding contributions to its programmes. Ian Hendry won the 1966 award for best actor.

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Since then many additional improvements have been made to the production facilities at Wembley. Four mobile outside broadcast units are houses here, while modern videotape and telerecording facilities enable the most economical use to be made of the studios. The most ambitious extension was the 14,000 square foot studio 5 which first went on air in June, 1960. With space enough to contain a complete audience of 500, studio 5 has been the scene of many of Rediffusion Television’s major productions. This studio, one of the world’s largest specially built for television, has an unusual design. It can be used in two ways: either as one huge studio with up to eight cameras directed from a single control room, or as two self-contained studios, 5a and 5b. When this happens two massive 25-ton steel doors are lowered at a speed of one foot per minute. The connecting side doors are closed, and each sound-proof section can then be used independently for two quite separate productions.

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Left to right: Katherine Blake as Beatrice, Raf Vallone as Eddie and Francesca Annis as Catherine in Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge”. Produced by Rediffusion Television in 1966 it was screened live over the full ITV network.

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Production facilities

Studios

STUDIO 1. 80′ x 55′ working height 16′ (4,400 sq. ft.)

STUDIO 2. 80′ x 41′ working height 16′ (3,280 sq. ft.)

STUDIO 4. 74′ x 42′ working height 11′ (3,108 sq. ft.)

Each of these studios is equipped with four 4½” image orthicon cameras. The vision mixing panels include special electronic effects such as inlay, wipes and blinge. There are facilities for 18 low level and nine high level sound input channels, two grams and one magnetic tape recorder per studio. The lighting system is studio 1 is three phase at 180 amps per phase. There are 116 two kw and 6 five kw single phase outlets. Lighting in studio 2 is the same as studio 1 except that the total of two kw circuits is 100. Studio 4 operates from a two phase service at 150 amps per phase with 108 two kw and six 5 kw outlets.

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Vision control room, Studio 5a.

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Studio 5b.

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STUDIO 5. 140′ x 100′ working height 40′ (14,000 sq. ft.)

Studio 5 can be operated separately as two self-contained studios (5a and 5b) by means of a sound proof steel partition which can be raised or lowered in 30 minutes. The acoustic separation between the two halves of the studio is better than 65 db.

There are eight 4½” image orthicon cameras which, in addition to 405 lines, can also be operated on the American 525 line or European 625 line standards. Fitted throughout are 21″ programme monitors which are switchable to the three different standards (405, 525, 625 lines). Each half of the studio has its own vision, sound and lighting control rooms. Studio 5a vision control can control up to eight cameras and 5b up to fave cameras. Normally four cameras are used in each half studio. The comprehensive vision mixing panels include special effects.

Studio 5a and 5b sound consoles each have facilities for 26 low level and nine high level input channels. Echo circuits, artificial reverberation and sound re-inforcement are provided, together with three disc reproducers and one magnetic tape recorder for each half of the studio. There are 52 microphone circuits available for the full studio, 26 for each when the two halves are used separately.

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1, Lighting console operator; 2, Lighting director; 3, Vision mixer; 4, Director; 5, Production assistant; 6-9, Visitors; 10, Sound balancer; 11, Grams operator; a, lighting console; b, patch panel; c, fuse box; d, selected picture; e, picture from transmitter; f, clock; g, 21″ monitors (12 channels); h, special effects desk; j, vision mixing panel; k, communications panel; l, sound balancer’s console; m, tape recorder; n, gramophone decks; y, 25-ton steel doors; z, sliding doors.

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The lighting system is three phase at 1,200 amps per phase. A total of 340 single phase circuits are provided for each half of the studio. Of these 120 are controlled from the lighting control console, 100 are provided with 5 kw transformer dimmers, and 20 are contractor controlled. The lighting and power supply in studio 5 is at a level suitable for colour television.

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Telecine

There are four machines at Wembley and seven at Television House. The Wembley equipment consists of one RCA Vidicon, one Cintel Flying Spot and two EMI Flying Spot. Both 16 mm and 35 mm film can be handled.