Inside the BBC Paris Studio
Posted: Thu May 18, 2023 9:46 am
The confusingly titled BBC 'Paris Studio' got its name from the building's brief tenure as a cinema in 1939...
In 1940 it was acquired by the government and later sold to the BBC in 1946. With seating for about 400 it became a popular venue for comedy and variety programmes like The Goon Show. In 1963 The Beatles used it to record five editions of Pop Go The Beatles, plus an edition of From us To You, The Beat Show (with an audience) and The Ken Dodd Show (again with an audience, soon to be repeated for the first time on Radio 4 Extra).
Quite by accident I came across this old movie where they pan across Regent Street (I always used to snap that one up in Monopoly!) and to the queue waiting outside the Paris for an edition of 20 Questions. We then go in and down the stairs into the studio, the same way The Beatles once would have. The room was essentially unchanged in 1963 when the Beatles used it.
I thought it interesting - a little bit of time travel. Of course there's the famous cine film of them clowning around outside The Paris as they depart to do their gig at Stowe School. And I don't need to tell you that the cover of Live At The BBC also shows them walking down this very street (again, remarkably unchanged despite the passage of 13 years).
Don't bother looking for it now - it's a gym.
In 1940 it was acquired by the government and later sold to the BBC in 1946. With seating for about 400 it became a popular venue for comedy and variety programmes like The Goon Show. In 1963 The Beatles used it to record five editions of Pop Go The Beatles, plus an edition of From us To You, The Beat Show (with an audience) and The Ken Dodd Show (again with an audience, soon to be repeated for the first time on Radio 4 Extra).
Quite by accident I came across this old movie where they pan across Regent Street (I always used to snap that one up in Monopoly!) and to the queue waiting outside the Paris for an edition of 20 Questions. We then go in and down the stairs into the studio, the same way The Beatles once would have. The room was essentially unchanged in 1963 when the Beatles used it.
I thought it interesting - a little bit of time travel. Of course there's the famous cine film of them clowning around outside The Paris as they depart to do their gig at Stowe School. And I don't need to tell you that the cover of Live At The BBC also shows them walking down this very street (again, remarkably unchanged despite the passage of 13 years).
Don't bother looking for it now - it's a gym.