Bristol

This section covers Paintworks, The Bottle Yard, TBY2, Patchway and Nine Tree Studios

 

 

Endemol West/BBC S&PP at Paintworks  –  Bristol  (2004 – 2013)

 

One development on the regional studios front was the move of Endemol to Bristol, thus creating Endemol West.  This happened in 2004 when they moved into an old paint factory in the centre of the city.  Endemol is an international media business that owns several TV production companies making gameshows, quiz shows, entertainment and drama.  They decided that for the kind of programmes they planned to make here – long-running gameshows and quiz shows that take up a great deal of studio time – it would make sense to own their own studios rather than hire them.  Thus over a few years they steadily converted parts of the old factory into no less than seven multicamera studios, controlled by up to four production gallery suites – although these were put together using temporary flyaway kit, as and when required.

 

 

The studios had chipboard TV floors and very basic scaffold or trussing lighting grids.  Endemol didn’t need anything more flexible as they were used for shows with standing sets which, once lit, could stay in position for weeks, months or in the case of Deal or No Deal – years.  The buildings Endemol West occupied were part of the ‘Paintworks’ development.  This is a large, trendy, Victorian industrial complex that contains a number of other media companies and some very small businesses such as artists and designers.  It includes an art gallery, bars and restaurants and is described as ‘Bristol’s arts and media quarter.’  It is considered locally to be a great success and benefit to the community.

Between 2004 and 2009 these studios were busy making a number of Endemol shows including Brainteaser for Channel 5, Efourum for E4, Art School for BBC2, Gala Bingo for Gala TV,  The Restaurant for BBC2 and C4’s huge hit Deal or No Deal which began in October 2005.  At their busiest, the studios reportedly transmitted eight hours of live television every day.  The operation here employed between 80 and 300 staff, depending on the work in hand.  However, Endemol’s operation here was scaled back during the early part of 2010 and for much of that year Deal or No Deal was the only show being made here.

 

In a surprise development that frankly very few people would have seen coming, in October 2010 it was announced that BBC Studios and Post Production (S&PP) had taken over the management and operation of these studios, working for and with Endemol.  Deal or No Deal  continued but no other shows booked space here.  Post production for that show continued to be done by The Farm on-site in a separate part of the building. S&PP was the BBC-owned company that operated BBC TV Centre in west London.  However, this certainly wasn’t seen as a possible site to move to when those studios closed.  This contract was simply a way of increasing revenue for the S&PP business when Endemol were looking for a company to take over the responsibility of running the studio.

 

Paintworks is owned by London-based firm Verve Properties.  From the autumn of 2013 they expanded the Paintworks site.  This involved the demolition of some unused buildings and the construction of a large number of new ones in the style of the existing old industrial units.  The building containing the studios was retained but there were no longer any studios in it.

 

BBC S&PP then took over part of a warehouse in The Bottle Yard – a 4-waller studio complex on the outskirts of Bristol (see below.)  Deal or No Deal was made there from October 2013 – 2016.  The technical equipment from the old studio was moved to the Bottle Yard and a new TV studio was created for the show within the warehouse space.

 

 

 

The Bottle Yard Studios  –  Bristol  (2010 – present)

 

In 2010 yet another film/TV studio complex that was previously an industrial plant was opened.  It was originally the main bottling plant of Harvey’s – famous for their Bristol Cream sherry since 1882, although the business itself was established in 1796.  Unfortunately for those working for them, they decided to move their operation away from here around 2008.

The city council took over the site after it was empty for a couple of years with the hope that it could become used as studios for shooting TV drama – although there was no intention to invest heavily in any conversion of the spaces into conventional sound stages.  What they do have is thousands of square feet of warehouse space – unusually with relatively high ceiling height – and four large buildings with very high ceilings called ‘Tank Houses.’

 

 

I visited the studios in May 2015 and was very impressed with what had been achieved with relatively little investment.  The whole site was busy with various productions.  Two of the Tank House stages had large standing sets from US musical comedy series Galavant and one had just finished shooting Poldark and was expecting a new booking shortly.  A new stage had been created within the warehouse space for a children’s drama and at one end of the building a complete very realistic supermarket set was being restocked for the next series of Trollied.  Meanwhile, in another part of the huge warehouse was the TV studio and all its surrounding facilities created by BBC S&PP for Deal or No Deal.  Sets for various productions were neatly lined up in storage in other areas.

A number of highly regarded drama and comedy single camera TV productions have made use of these facilities. These have include Trollied, The Fear, Frankie, Inside Men, Dirk Gently, Five Daughters, Excluded, Public Enemies, Hit the Road Jack, New Worlds, Poldark, Sherlock, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries, Wolf Hall, Broadchurch, Ill Behaviour, Three Girls, The White Princess, Crazyhead, The Living and the Dead, Golden Years, The Mimic, The Spanish Princess, Sanditon, The Pale Horse, The Trial of Christine Keeler, Hellboy, Fortitude, The Festival, Eric Ernie & Me, The Salisbury Poisonings, The Offenders, The Last Bus, Becoming Elizabeth, The Pursuit of Love, The Pale Horse, Chloe, The Girl Before, Showtrial, The Undertaker, The Killing Kind, Raindogs, Am I Being Unreasonable? The Flatshare, McDonald & Dodds, Dodger, Boarders, DarkGame, The Outlaws, A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder.

Series 5 of CBBC drama Malory Towers was filmed here in 2023.   There were 20 x 25 minute episodes.  Interestingly, the first four series were made in Canada, so it is great that it moved to the UK.  The extensive interior sets were built in these studios with locations in Devon and Cornwall.  Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures is made here for CBeebies by the BBC’s Natural History Unit – a large green screen studio was created for this show in 2016, which has been used since by several other productions.

A number of support companies are also located here including 180 Rental, Filmscape, TR Scaffolding, Grip Services, Location One and several more.

 

A well as huge areas of warehouse space, the facilities on offer include:

 

In 2013 one of the warehouse areas was converted by BBC S&PP into a fully equipped TV studio for Channel 4’s Deal or No Deal.  This show moved here from The Paintworks – also in Bristol.  The new studio opened in October 2013.  The studio was larger than the one they left in the Paintworks – 93 x 87 metric feet (about 9,400 sq ft. gross).  It is surprisingly high – around 9m – which is unusual in converted industrial units.  It does have 4 pillars within the working area but these were incorporated into the set design.  S&PP built a well-equipped control room suite with support facilities and a 9 suite post production area was run by The Farm.

Deal Or No Deal was axed in 2016 and BBC S&PP removed all its kit from the studio.  They no longer have any connection with The Bottle Yard.  However, the galleries were brought back into operation using hired in equipment for two weeks in January 2017 for C4’s Cheap Cheap Cheap and then later in the year for The Crystal Maze.  The main sets were built in warehouse space and the final room with the ‘dome’ was in the old Deal or No Deal studio.

Due to the lack of available studio space in and around London, in March 2018 ITV’s daytime gameshow Tipping Point moved into this studio.  It was here for several months so when  Crystal Maze  returned, they had to use another space within the building. Tipping Point was also made here during 2019, 2020 and 2021.

 

 

The lighting grid consisted of a widely spaced trussing mother grid from which other trusses were suspended and there was a basic chipboard floor.  Other associated facilities were very good indeed – and still exist for users of this space.  There is a large production office, wardrobe, make-up, meeting rooms, audience handling area, contestant green room, canteen and rest area.

In October 2016 the studios were given £692,000 investment by Bristol City Council to pay for new roofs, production offices and IT infrastructure.

In September 2024, the local council – the owners of the studios – announced that they would be put up for sale.  This was to ‘maximise future investment opportunities.’  It should be emphasised that the future of the studios is not in jeopardy but simply that the council can no longer afford to raise the capital to carry out improvements.  The new buyer will be carefully chosen by the council to ensure that the long-running success of the studios is continued.

 

 

TBY2

In January 2021, The Bottle Yard announced that they had secured funding of over £11.7 million from the West of England Combined Authority.  This enabled them to purchase an industrial property at Hawkfield Business Park, half a mile from the existing site.  Three sound stages have been created within the building measuring 20,000, 16,500 and 7,000 square feet. This brings the number of stages on offer to 11.  The stages have a maximum height of 34ft.  There are also ancillary spaces including production offices, prop stores, costume/makeup areas and break out areas, totalling more than 40,000 sq ft.  Improvement and repair works have also been carried out to the existing facilities. 

In July 2022 it was revealed that the planned installation of rooftop solar panels is triple the amount previously announced.  These produce a surplus of energy enabling it to be distributed around the city of Bristol as well as the studios themselves.  The new stages opened in October 2022.  The first productions were an 8-part drama called Rivals for Disney+ and season 3 of Alex Rider, made for Amazon.

 

 

 

 

Patchway Studios – North Bristol  (from 2022)

 

Patchway Studios opened in 2022 in a large industrial unit that was previously a refrigeration plant.  They offer 100,000 sq ft of flexible production space including stage 1 (20,000 sq ft), stage 2 (11,000 sq ft) and stage 3 (9,000 sq ft).  There is also 7,000 sq ft of ancillary space and offices and a 56,000 sq ft back lot.  The business is backed by SG Capital Partners, who in 2023 announced a quadrupling of the facilities to take place over four years.

Productions using the facilities so far include The Winter King season 1 (Bad Wolf for ITVX) ’22-’23, A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder (BBC) ’23, The Crow Girl (Paramount+) ’24.

 

 

 

 

Nine Tree Studios – Bristol  (from spring 2023)

 

Nine Tree Studios began opening in phases from April 2023.  It is backed by Bristol-based video production company JonesMillbank.   Phase one comprises a ‘production space’ with offices, suitable for a range of dry-hire and set-build requirements.  The photo issued in the press release shows a warehouse-type building with skylights and no soundproofing.  However,  phase two will see the build and fit-out of a state-of-the-art production facility encompassing a 2,600 sq ft soundstage, two smaller 300 sq ft studios, grading suites, wardrobe, sound facilities, and expanded office and meeting space, all housed in a Class-A soundproofed facility.  This new studio adds to the already impressive range of facilities in Bristol.