Ahhh, the wonderful BBC Television Centre.
Those of us who worked there – wandering in ever-decreasing circles through its maze-like corridors trying to find the right studio – often joked it must have been designed on the back of a cigarette packet.
But I, for one, feel it’s a great shame the BBC has produced its last show from this iconic building, which finally closed on 31 March.
I’ll never forget my first day there. I’d worked my way up from Irish radio and television, and I was there to try out for various programmes – many of which didn’t work.
The BBC Television Centre Headquarters at White City in West London finally closed on 31 March
But just getting to Television Centre was the pinnacle for me; it was the place to work and be.
Throughout my long, and some would say distinguished, career I’ve made so many shows there – from Blankety Blank to Points Of View and my own chat show.
One of my favourite times was when I had a surprise hit song with The Floral Dance. I appeared on Top Of The Pops, which was always filmed there, and threw flowers into the audience. Well, it was 1978.
Another great memory was after I’d interviewed the Dalai Lama and I was waiting with him in reception – resplendent in his satin robes – for his taxi back to his hotel. Suddenly one of the receptionists, a big blonde girl, shouted out, ‘Taxi for the Lama! Taxi for the Lama!’
To me, TV Centre is recognised the world over as a symbol of a national broadcaster, which is a thrilling thing. For a long time it was the largest television centre in the world. It’s the emblem of the BBC, which was the world’s greatest broadcaster when Television Centre was built in 1960.
It’s only a building – and a funny old one at that – but it contained the hopes and dreams of so many people. The joke about it being designed on the back of a cigarette packet was not far from the truth.
In fact, the architect Graham Dawbarn drew a question mark on an envelope while thinking about the design of the building, and from the air TV Centre does look like a question mark. That original drawing is now held in the BBC archive.
Throughout my long, and some would say distinguished, career I've made so many shows there - from Blankety Blank to Points Of View and my own chat show
It was, and remains, such a labyrinth of rooms that almost everyone gets lost. As a freelancer, I never had a room with my name on the door, but I did use many of the dressing rooms.
They were getting a bit tatty, there were stains on the carpets and the rooms were dreadfully pokey. A few years ago, some bright spark was put in charge of sprucing them up.
Loos were installed (they used to be very scarce), and a huge TV set was placed beside a chaise longue so you could watch it between takes. But whoever designed them knew nothing about the type of people who would be using them. There was nowhere – save a tiny space measuring about 12in – to hang your clothes. Hopeless.
At the heart of TVC was the BBC Club. The drinking that went on there was extraordinary. It was always full of producers who should have been down on the studio floor while their shows were going out. But they were all up in the bar while their PAs were directing the shows.
The main part of the building is listed, so at least it can’t be demolished. I don’t expect a plaque to commemorate my work there, but there are so many great names who did some of their best work in those studios.
Unlike many other BBC buildings though, it doesn’t appear to be haunted by any of the great and the good – not even Ronnie Barker or Eric Morecambe.
The old BBC studio in Langham Place did have a ghost, until James Alexander Gordon, the legendary reader of the football results on BBC Radio, threw his artificial leg at it and the ghost was never seen again.
Last month I was on Graham Norton’s Comic Relief marathon, when he got into the Guinness Book of Records for asking the most questions in one programme. That took place in the iconic Studio One, where the biggest shows have always been filmed, and it was the last time it was used. It makes me sad just thinking about it.
The closure of Television Centre is both sad and inexplicable. We're losing something extremely important
The BBC will now have to rent space, but it’s going to be a struggle to find studios big enough for Jools Holland’s Later and Strictly Come Dancing. I don’t even know where Children In Need will be filmed next year. What’s that all about? Why not just keep TV Centre? No one asked me, but I don’t suppose they would.
The closure of Television Centre is both sad and inexplicable. We’re losing something extremely important. People say it’s moving forward; I don’t believe that.