The Baird Spotlight Studio

To the left of the former Baird Control Room is the area which was once the Baird Spotlight Studio. As you can see from the current photograph, the area has changed enormously since the diagrams of 1935 and 1936. The ceiling has now gone and the area is open right to the roof. Today, it is just possible to see where the ceiling line of the Spotlight Studio used to be, the white line on the wall (where the cable is crossing the room).

Though the 1935 diagram shows an area above the Spotlight Studio which looks very much like a dressing room, in actuality this area was never used as such. In fact access to the Baird Control Room and later Studio B Control Room was gained from here. Though the floor of this area has now gone, the doorway still exists - just out of shot on this picture - through which the metal ladder to the Control Room can just be seen.

There really isn't that much left of what was the Baird Spotlight Studio. This area is badly decayed with broken floorboards through which joists can be seen. The area is in fact quite dangerous and care must be taken when walking here to ensure that the floor you are standing on is safe and will support weight. The door at the far end leads through to the main corridor which continues the entire length of the television studios area from Studio A right through to Studio B.

The importance of this building as a national heritage site cannot be underestimated. While funding from many sources, such as the lottery, is liberally thrown at buildings such The Dome, which has no heritage value whatsoever, Alexandra Palace, and the site of the world's first regular television broadcasts, continues to fall further and further into disrepair.