Studio A - EMI

Studio A, which is situated nearest the south east tower and the transmission mast, was formerly the Marconi/EMI studio. Of course, once the Baird system was removed in 1937, Marconi/EMI equipped both studios.

Studio A and Studio B are identical in general dimensions, though it was left to the individual companies to decide what internal fixtures and fittings they would require. EMI specified that a metal walkway with a gantry which would span the studio in the centre be constructed (see images above). This gantry served multiple purposes, having lighting and sound equipment suspended from it during many productions.

Today, what remains of Studio A is still lit, though somewhat poorly, and has much of the BBC grey painted walls left intact. In places, the ceiling is falling down, but it is nothing like as bad as that in Studio B. The metal gantry across the centre of the studio is not the original, but is positioned in much the same place. You may be just able to see at the far back of the studio - just below the gantry - the window which looks down from the Control Gallery.

Studio A is used a storage area for a small collection of items which make up an exhibit of the television period at Alexandra Palace. These are mostly old television sets and cameras, as well as diagrams of the Palace and the television studios in better times. The exhibition items can be viewed by the general public, but only as part of the Alexandra Palace Historical Tours. This can be done by contacting the Palace management who occupy the offices in the south east tower at Alexandra Palace.

Undoubtedly, Studio A is the best preserved area of the television complex at Alexandra Palace, though even this is in desperate need of renovation. It is a shadow of its former glory as these images from the Ambrose Octet setting of 9 February 1939 (below left) and 'Money for Jam', transmitted on 30 January 1939 (below right) demonstrate.

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.