Last programme from Lime Grove Studios

The final programme to be broadcast from Lime Grove Studios was an edition of the arts magazine, The Late Show. It featured a high speed journey around the building, and ended with a sequence where presenter Cliff Michelmore ceremonially pulled the plug on the television camera. Although this sequence was filmed earlier in the day, it provided a suitably witty end to the long life of Lime Grove.

Lime Grove started out as film studios, first for Gaumont, and later for Gainsborough and Rank. The BBC took over the building, opening in 1950 with a speech from Mrs Violet Attlee. It was originally intended as a stop-gap until Television Centre was completed, but was used for many years and proved its worth in the range of classic programmes that were made there. These programmes included Doctor Who, Quatermass II, Andy Pandy, The Grove Family, The Sky at Night, Dixon of Dock Green, Panorama, and Nationwide.

After the BBC moved out, Lime Grove Studios were demolished and houses built on the site. The Late Show moved to Television Centre, where it continued until 1995. Elements of the programme endure today in The Review Show and Later... with Jools Holland.