Pebble Mill Studios

For the talk show, see Pebble Mill at One.

Pebble Mill Studios was located in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham, England.

Opened by Princess Anne on the 10 November 1971, it was a prominent landmark in the Edgbaston area. The lease for the site was acquired by BBC Birmingham in the 1950s but the plans for the site were not approved until 1967, the same year that construction of the studios began.

The centre opened with one main television drama studio (Studio A) and a regional news studio (Studio B). The planned second drama studio (Studio C) was never built. For many years references to this ghost studio could be found in the building wiring systems, and in the video and audio switching matrices. There was, however, a Gallery C, which wasn't associated with a studio but could control cameras and other facilities connected to wall boxes around the complex, such as the foyer and conservatory used for Pebble Mill at One.

The seven storey site contained offices, television studios, radio studios, two canteens, a post office and a garden. The views from the roof overlooked Cannon Hill Park, a nature centre, as well as Birmingham's city centre.

Within the BBC, the facilities were second only to Television Centre. The world's longest running radio soap, The Archers was produced at Pebble Mill, as were talk shows Pebble Mill at One and Good Morning with Anne and Nick, Midlands Today and television dramas All Creatures Great and Small, Howards' Way, Juliet Bravo, This Life and Doctors. The English Regions Drama department was based at Pebble Mill and, particularly during the period 1971-81 when it was headed by David Rose, produced much admired single plays and serials. Programmes such as Play School (and even the Doctor Who serial Horror of Fang Rock in 1977) used the centre's facilities when studio space was unavailable at Television Centre in London.

The centre was also home to the largest and most advanced BBC post-production departments outside London, including six VT edit suites, two dubbing suites and a multitude of Avid non-linear suites. The centre was responsible for a thriving level of output into the mainstream of network radio. Senior Talks Producer David Shute recalls working with stars like David Suchet, Ian Richardson, Richard Todd, Moira Lister, Frank Windsor and many others in the Premier Division of acting.

On 20 September 1979, the studios were visited by a Sea Harrier aircraft from RNAS Yeovilton (aircraft FRS.1 XZ451 of 700A Squadron), which landed (and later took off) vertically, on the adjacent BBC Social Club's football pitch, in conjunction with an episode of Pebble Mill at One.

The end

Problems with the lease and changes in the way television is produced, in addition to increasing repair costs due mainly to the building suffering concrete cancer led the BBC to vacate the premises and move to new studios at The Mailbox, completing the transfer on 22 October 2004 after 33 years at Pebble Mill. Remaining fixtures, furniture and technical equipment were auctioned at Pebble Mill a few weeks later. The studios were demolished the following summer, with developers planning to develop a technology and science park on the site. However, five years on the development has yet to begin.

The decision to relocate was controversial. Indeed, not long after the decision was made to move to The Mailbox, it was discovered that there was not sufficient strength in the foundations to construct the area of mezzanine floor as originally planned. Some departments had to be relocated to a second site (notably the drama department) which became known as the 'Drama Village'. There is talk of looking again for a single site and a further relocation.