LO
Only once - booked tickets to see Deal or No Deal when they launched the reboot on CNBC.
SW
I know Susan Belbin, the producer of One Foot, specifically arranged the sets so it looked like a real house - with, as you say, walls that could be moved - so they could start a scene in the kitchen and it could carry on into the living room and it would look totally natural, as opposed to other sitcoms where you couldn't do that because the two sets would be completely separate.
In Richard Webber's book it talks about how, because of that, it also used more cameras than you would usually have for a sitcom, so they be could placed all over the set. In the book it talks about how, in the episode set in the boarding house, Susan Belbin couldn't direct it as her mother was seriously ill, so Sydney Lotterby stood in, and he was amazed to find they were using nine sets (on two levels) and nine cameras, which was the most he'd ever seen used for a studio sitcom.
Of course, One Foot is I think the only show to actually have a sub-plot about being in a studio audience for a sitcom. "The only highlight was urinating next to Peter Sissons!"
If only because I remember you telling that story before, not because I have any fond memories of the series, it was actually Carol Smillie rather than Gaby, and the show was Star Secrets - https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1999-07-05#at-19.00
That's the sort of cheap lightweight pre-watershed show you don't see these days, no great loss.
That always used to be a classic tabloid story, gleefully reporting the audience walking out of unsuccessful shows, I remember them doing that about It's Ulrika, the one-off Ulrika sketch show, which apparently took hours and hours to record. I also remember the Mirror printing pictures of a deserted audience for The Big Ticket, the hugely unsuccessful lottery show, having all apparently legged it several hours into a marathon session. I remember Patrick Kielty was on HIGNFY that week, and they mentioned it and he said it wasn't anything unusual, it was just a quick break and they'd let them go to the toilet. And Ian Hislop said "They'd all gone to the toilet?"
One Foot In The Grave was a sitcom my mum and dad went to see recorded when I was only 8, it was for their third series and my mum remembers it well, it was the episode "Monday Morning Will Be Fine".
She said she remembers it being filmed in Studio TC8 at BBC Television Centre, a studio which I would later visit on numerous occasions myself.
She said there was sets which could be moved, for example the view into the kitchen from the Meldrew's living room and the view from the kitchen into living room, they had moveable walls to ensure each area was covered.
The had a specially created fireplace wall which could be moved, when the camera was filming in the kitchen set.
She said she remembers it being filmed in Studio TC8 at BBC Television Centre, a studio which I would later visit on numerous occasions myself.
She said there was sets which could be moved, for example the view into the kitchen from the Meldrew's living room and the view from the kitchen into living room, they had moveable walls to ensure each area was covered.
The had a specially created fireplace wall which could be moved, when the camera was filming in the kitchen set.
I know Susan Belbin, the producer of One Foot, specifically arranged the sets so it looked like a real house - with, as you say, walls that could be moved - so they could start a scene in the kitchen and it could carry on into the living room and it would look totally natural, as opposed to other sitcoms where you couldn't do that because the two sets would be completely separate.
In Richard Webber's book it talks about how, because of that, it also used more cameras than you would usually have for a sitcom, so they be could placed all over the set. In the book it talks about how, in the episode set in the boarding house, Susan Belbin couldn't direct it as her mother was seriously ill, so Sydney Lotterby stood in, and he was amazed to find they were using nine sets (on two levels) and nine cameras, which was the most he'd ever seen used for a studio sitcom.
Of course, One Foot is I think the only show to actually have a sub-plot about being in a studio audience for a sitcom. "The only highlight was urinating next to Peter Sissons!"
I remember seeing all sorts -The Stand Up Show, Little Britain, Dinnerladies, Never Mind The Buzzcocks. The one that stands out for me was some Gaby Roslin vehicle in TC1, something about celebrity guests talked about something from their past, was a bit dull and because they were doing bits for several episodes, lots of costume changes for Gaby in between items. It lasted so long that when they finally let us out for a loo break several members of the audience just kept on walking and left the building (we did too, but went to the bar!)
If only because I remember you telling that story before, not because I have any fond memories of the series, it was actually Carol Smillie rather than Gaby, and the show was Star Secrets - https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1999-07-05#at-19.00
That's the sort of cheap lightweight pre-watershed show you don't see these days, no great loss.
That always used to be a classic tabloid story, gleefully reporting the audience walking out of unsuccessful shows, I remember them doing that about It's Ulrika, the one-off Ulrika sketch show, which apparently took hours and hours to record. I also remember the Mirror printing pictures of a deserted audience for The Big Ticket, the hugely unsuccessful lottery show, having all apparently legged it several hours into a marathon session. I remember Patrick Kielty was on HIGNFY that week, and they mentioned it and he said it wasn't anything unusual, it was just a quick break and they'd let them go to the toilet. And Ian Hislop said "They'd all gone to the toilet?"
JK
In Northern Ireland, UTV used to have their own talk show called "Kelly" hosted by Gerry Kelly from 1989 to 2005.
I remember reading how in the first four years of the talk show, they had to use probably one of the smallest studios ever used for an audience based talk show, at around 1,600 Sq Ft at Havelock House in Belfast.
They said the set had to be specially built, to fit into such a small space, with the 100 audience members placed on a balcony seating, positioned right next to the roasting hot spot lights, with the audience platform built over the scene doors into the studio.
Michael Parkinson appeared on the show in the first season, and was astonished at how an entertainment talk show could be produced from such a small studio.
In 1993, UTV opened their extension, to coincide with their new franchise term, and Studio 1 was slightly bigger at 2,500 Sq Ft, and even though it was not exactly huge, it fitted the show perfect with a specially built audience platform for 100 people.
I remember reading how in the first four years of the talk show, they had to use probably one of the smallest studios ever used for an audience based talk show, at around 1,600 Sq Ft at Havelock House in Belfast.
They said the set had to be specially built, to fit into such a small space, with the 100 audience members placed on a balcony seating, positioned right next to the roasting hot spot lights, with the audience platform built over the scene doors into the studio.
Michael Parkinson appeared on the show in the first season, and was astonished at how an entertainment talk show could be produced from such a small studio.
In 1993, UTV opened their extension, to coincide with their new franchise term, and Studio 1 was slightly bigger at 2,500 Sq Ft, and even though it was not exactly huge, it fitted the show perfect with a specially built audience platform for 100 people.
SW
In Bob Monkhouse's autobiography he talks about the early days of the Golden Shot in the ancient Aston studios in Birmingham, which were a converted cinema, where they'd ripped the stalls out for the cameras and that, and the audience all sat in what was the balcony. This meant they were all miles away from the action and everything fell flat as Bob and the guests could hardly see them, so Bob got ATV to build a new set with a platform in front of the audience, where they could do all the bits of comedy business, and then a staircase to link it to the studio floor where they did the games. And Bob says at least one guest would promptly fall down the stairs every week.
They said the set had to be specially built, to fit into such a small space, with the 100 audience members placed on a balcony seating, positioned right next to the roasting hot spot lights, with the audience platform built over the scene doors into the studio.
In Bob Monkhouse's autobiography he talks about the early days of the Golden Shot in the ancient Aston studios in Birmingham, which were a converted cinema, where they'd ripped the stalls out for the cameras and that, and the audience all sat in what was the balcony. This meant they were all miles away from the action and everything fell flat as Bob and the guests could hardly see them, so Bob got ATV to build a new set with a platform in front of the audience, where they could do all the bits of comedy business, and then a staircase to link it to the studio floor where they did the games. And Bob says at least one guest would promptly fall down the stairs every week.
NB
I used to get invited to recordings of Call My Bluff at Pebble Mill on a regular basis as a friend of mine was a production assistant and I only worked a couple of miles away at the time. I got to sit in the front row on most occasions and Bob Holness would come over and chat to me and others like an old friend - he was such a gentleman and always had time for people. The rapport between him, Alan Coren and Sandi Toksvig was great. Had a few hiccups on recordings, so had a few retakes and pick-ups - the word panel jammed on one occasion and a blue curtain came down to hide it whilst they sorted it. They recorded a batch of Call My Bluff at the Birmingham ICC but I cannot remember why that happened and neither can my friend. I missed out on seeing Blockbusters being recorded in Birmingham before it moved to Nottingham.
Went to a few recordings of Through the Keyhole at YTV when it was the daytime version - we were jinxed with one recording because there were a number of technical issues and they had to do several pick-ups. We'd hoped to get to Countdown at the same time but they weren't recording on the day we were there.
When my aunt and uncle used to visit friends near Wimbledon, they'd get to see Wogan at the Shepherds Bush Theatre and taken backstage as their friends' son was at the BBC (radio news I think!). My aunt really liked Terry Wogan and thought he was lovely.
Went to a few recordings of Through the Keyhole at YTV when it was the daytime version - we were jinxed with one recording because there were a number of technical issues and they had to do several pick-ups. We'd hoped to get to Countdown at the same time but they weren't recording on the day we were there.
When my aunt and uncle used to visit friends near Wimbledon, they'd get to see Wogan at the Shepherds Bush Theatre and taken backstage as their friends' son was at the BBC (radio news I think!). My aunt really liked Terry Wogan and thought he was lovely.
DE
I think the last series of Call My Bluff was recorded at the ICC simply because Pebble Mill Studio A had closed and that left no general purpose tv studios in the midlands, a situation which seemed bizarre at the time, but sadly remains so to this day. It’s very sad to think that the whole of the central chunk of England has now had no general tv production studios for two decades (and therefore has dwindling numbers of local people with any experience of working in that environment).
IS
If only because I remember you telling that story before, not because I have any fond memories of the series, it was actually Carol Smillie rather than Gaby, and the show was Star Secrets - https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1999-07-05#at-19.00
That's the sort of cheap lightweight pre-watershed show you don't see these days, no great loss.
Well remembered, it obviously made no impact on me apart from the memory of desperately needing the loo
There was an Ant and Dec BBC 1 game show around the same time that a friend went to an early recording of that which went on for ages, so much so that the audience were getting very restless and potentially missing their transport home. Problem was that the audience were placed at the back of the studio in full view of the cameras so they really couldn't leave. It wasn't enjoyable
If only because I remember you telling that story before, not because I have any fond memories of the series, it was actually Carol Smillie rather than Gaby, and the show was Star Secrets - https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1999-07-05#at-19.00
That's the sort of cheap lightweight pre-watershed show you don't see these days, no great loss.
Well remembered, it obviously made no impact on me apart from the memory of desperately needing the loo
Quote:
That always used to be a classic tabloid story, gleefully reporting the audience walking out of unsuccessful shows, I remember them doing that about It's Ulrika, the one-off Ulrika sketch show, which apparently took hours and hours to record. I also remember the Mirror printing pictures of a deserted audience for The Big Ticket, the hugely unsuccessful lottery show, having all apparently legged it several hours into a marathon session. I remember Patrick Kielty was on HIGNFY that week, and they mentioned it and he said it wasn't anything unusual, it was just a quick break and they'd let them go to the toilet. And Ian Hislop said "They'd
all
gone to the toilet?"
There was an Ant and Dec BBC 1 game show around the same time that a friend went to an early recording of that which went on for ages, so much so that the audience were getting very restless and potentially missing their transport home. Problem was that the audience were placed at the back of the studio in full view of the cameras so they really couldn't leave. It wasn't enjoyable
MA
Umm, St Mary's Hall 😉
Never been in an audience, but I got to watch Mike Bushell do a live segment on BBC Breakfast in 2019...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYAtIWXAdk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYAtIWXAdk
Umm, St Mary's Hall 😉
JO
Similarly, was in the audience for the Vic & Bob sitcom House of Fools (Salford), and the Christmas episode just-so-happened to have Reece Shearsmith as its guest star. For all its anarchic sensibilities, the production itself was remarkably slick (only recall one retake). Agreed, it was incredibly fun seeing a sitcom being filmed.
We were lucky to get in - the production company put a tweet out stating priority tickets could be requested via Twitter. So I half-jokingly sent a request, thinking nothing would come of it. When we arrived at the studio (good hour or so in advance), there was a mile-long queue snaking all the way through the building - and a separate, empty "priority Twitter" queue at the front.
Just one of them "it was meant to be" perfect days. Also Vic & Bob came back out afterwards to thank the audience, which was lovely.
The IT Crowd, s01e03, Teddington. Knowing very little about the show (other than who created it), it was great fun not just seeing a studio sitcom being filmed - they were in short supply in 2005 - the unexpected appearance of Noel Fielding was a treat too.
Similarly, was in the audience for the Vic & Bob sitcom House of Fools (Salford), and the Christmas episode just-so-happened to have Reece Shearsmith as its guest star. For all its anarchic sensibilities, the production itself was remarkably slick (only recall one retake). Agreed, it was incredibly fun seeing a sitcom being filmed.
We were lucky to get in - the production company put a tweet out stating priority tickets could be requested via Twitter. So I half-jokingly sent a request, thinking nothing would come of it. When we arrived at the studio (good hour or so in advance), there was a mile-long queue snaking all the way through the building - and a separate, empty "priority Twitter" queue at the front.
Just one of them "it was meant to be" perfect days. Also Vic & Bob came back out afterwards to thank the audience, which was lovely.
JO
I've always wondered if The IT Crowd episode The Working Outing was shown in front of a live audience as the majority of the episode was shot on location at the New Wimbledon Theatre but the beginning is the office which is studio based so I'm guessing they shown the completed episode in a screening to record the laughter.
Last edited by Jonwo on 23 March 2021 5:43pm