I recognised some of the studios used in the saint and various other tv shows of the 60,s because of the brickwork. Amazing to see hopefully someday they will give tours of this unique film studio. I still remember seeing Roger Moore's Volvo ST 1 just outside Hitchin Hertfordshire and at the Cromwell hotel Stevenage old town as a kid , and of course not forgetting that they filmed much of what was produced from elstree in and around Hertfordshire .
awesome video. I remember being in the audence for who wants to be a millionaire here and loved seeing the sets and little bits of the outside. Amazing what has been filmed there and across the road and back a bit is the eastenders set
I worked here as a projectionist from 1969-1974. It was called ABP/ ELSTREE STUDIOS when I started and later taken over by EMI under the leadership of Brian Forbes. We were very busy with TV films like The Avengers, The Saint, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased, The Protectors and many more. The busiest sound stages were 2 and 3, right opposite the sound building, where we had Dubbing 1,2 and 3. The chief projectionist was Roddy MacCoughlin, a.k.a. Mac. I think all the best parts of the back lot are where Tesco's car park is now situated. They were special days.
Great story, did you have any dealings with the UFO tv series around that time? I'm a big fan of that series and would love to know more about how it was filmed
It's so crazy to think that that lot, those soundstages, is where the OG Star Wars trilogy and all 3 Indiana Jones were filmed, plus Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, etc.
Also during the 1980s : Willow, Young Sherlock Holmes and The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover. The 1980s was one of their most successful periods.
The studio where the Colorado Lounge from The Shining was the same room where Raiders Of The Last Ark snake pit burned down after production because the window lighting was too hot
Learning so much about this great studio and how it was gutted in the 1990s to build a blooming Tesco’s where I understand was the Star Wars stage 6 built for the empire strikes back
Three of the stages that housed The Shining and Indiana Jones interiors are now Tesco's car park and inside Tesco's would be stage 5 where the interior of the Torrance's Bolder apartment and the Gold ballroom were constructed. The studio needs at least two giant stages to compete with the other studios; look at Leavesden, now Warner Bros, which has seven giant stages. It's now roughly half the size it once was but the future's bright as more films are being produced today than ever before.
Hi. Yes you're right. Unfortunately Elstree can't compete with Pinewood of Leavesdon for the scale of the stages. The George Lucas Stage has been a great development for them and they still have many stages, all of which are seemingly in constant use. I understand that they may try to build another soundstage or two, so the future is very bright indeed.
Tesco's are greedy they like to buy up land, just so others can't build on it, without building on it themselves. I wished they'd show inside the studios, not just outside.
I wonder if the Well Of Souls set was built on 2 different soundstages? The host here, says it was on stage 8 or 9, but I've also heard it was on stage 3 ??
Its a good audio promotion for Elstree Studios, but visually they just walk around the connecting lanes, to see the outside of warehouses & older brick studios & offices. I did like the story about the six thousand snakes to the Indiana Jones film.
Done a Tour of Elstree 🇬🇧 Film Studios Borehamwòod Enjoy every minute, Cannot wait for the New Sky Studio's in Borehamwòod... Simon Templar 📽️🎞️🎬™️, Film at Studio's Brings back memories... I wish 20th Century Fox had bought Elstree Studio's, But Tesco stepped in... This site Belongs to the Film industry.. Good bye Tesco Supermarket..
I'd so LOVE to have a tour there.
I recognised some of the studios used in the saint and various other tv shows of the 60,s because of the brickwork. Amazing to see hopefully someday they will give tours of this unique film studio. I still remember seeing Roger Moore's Volvo ST 1 just outside Hitchin Hertfordshire and at the Cromwell hotel Stevenage old town as a kid , and of course not forgetting that they filmed much of what was produced from elstree in and around Hertfordshire .
awesome video. I remember being in the audence for who wants to be a millionaire here and loved seeing the sets and little bits of the outside. Amazing what has been filmed there and across the road and back a bit is the eastenders set
Thank you for this, Morris was a perfect host with the most, fantastic history in film.
I worked here as a projectionist from 1969-1974. It was called ABP/ ELSTREE STUDIOS when I started and later taken over by EMI under the leadership of Brian Forbes. We were very busy with TV films like The Avengers, The Saint, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased, The Protectors and many more. The busiest sound stages were 2 and 3, right opposite the sound building, where we had Dubbing 1,2 and 3. The chief projectionist was Roddy MacCoughlin, a.k.a. Mac. I think all the best parts of the back lot are where Tesco's car park is now situated. They were special days.
Very reminiscent for you, nice that you could share that & interesting to read about.
Great story, did you have any dealings with the UFO tv series around that time? I'm a big fan of that series and would love to know more about how it was filmed
It's so crazy to think that that lot, those soundstages, is where the OG Star Wars trilogy and all 3 Indiana Jones were filmed, plus Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, etc.
Also during the 1980s : Willow, Young Sherlock Holmes and The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover. The 1980s was one of their most successful periods.
It’s also strange that it now houses Have I Got News For You.
............and I worked on all of them except the first 2 Star Wars
This is where The Shining was filmed! oooooooooooooooo
The studio where the Colorado Lounge from The Shining was the same room where Raiders Of The Last Ark snake pit burned down after production because the window lighting was too hot
What did they do then? Build two sets of the Well Of Souls then, one on the Shining stage, and on Stage 8 or 9, where they host just showed?
Learning so much about this great studio and how it was gutted in the 1990s to build a blooming Tesco’s where I understand was the Star Wars stage 6 built for the empire strikes back
Three of the stages that housed The Shining and Indiana Jones interiors are now Tesco's car park and inside Tesco's would be stage 5 where the interior of the Torrance's Bolder apartment and the Gold ballroom were constructed. The studio needs at least two giant stages to compete with the other studios; look at Leavesden, now Warner Bros, which has seven giant stages. It's now roughly half the size it once was but the future's bright as more films are being produced today than ever before.
Hi. Yes you're right. Unfortunately Elstree can't compete with Pinewood of Leavesdon for the scale of the stages. The George Lucas Stage has been a great development for them and they still have many stages, all of which are seemingly in constant use. I understand that they may try to build another soundstage or two, so the future is very bright indeed.
They now have planning permission to take down the sound stage that was used for “Big Brother”, and build two new sound stages.
Tesco's are greedy they like to buy up land, just so others can't build on it, without building on it themselves. I wished they'd show inside the studios, not just outside.
Remember when you could build sets all the way out to the soundstage edge?
I wonder if the Well Of Souls set was built on 2 different soundstages? The host here, says it was on stage 8 or 9, but I've also heard it was on stage 3 ??
Its a good audio promotion for Elstree Studios, but visually they just walk around the connecting lanes, to see the outside of warehouses & older brick studios & offices. I did like the story about the six thousand snakes to the Indiana Jones film.
No mention of Eastenders
Alas, Eastenders isn't made at Elstree Studios, but at BBC Elstree Centre, which is up the road. Different studios.
Done a Tour of Elstree 🇬🇧 Film Studios Borehamwòod Enjoy every minute, Cannot wait for the New Sky Studio's in Borehamwòod... Simon Templar 📽️🎞️🎬™️, Film at Studio's Brings back memories... I wish 20th Century Fox had bought Elstree Studio's, But Tesco stepped in... This site Belongs to the Film industry.. Good bye Tesco Supermarket..
Jeez Tesco moved in.
Yep, and thereby half of the studios capacity was gone.
The chase anyone?
thats filmed at mediacity