BBC to sell EastEnders set at Elstree as part of deal to make savings
The BBC is selling its Elstree Centre – including the famous EastEnders set – as it continues to find ways to make millions in savings.
The BBC has exchanged contracts with Axa Investment Managers for the 16-acre site in Hertfordshire, which includes seven stages as well as workshop, office and post-production facilities.
However, the corporation has agreed to lease part of the studio campus for 25 years – meaning EastEnders will still be filmed on site.
BBC Elstree Centre was the first of several similar complexes in the area, which are collectively known as Elstree Studios.
The value of the sale has not been revealed, but the broadcaster is currently looking to find £500m in annual savings. It was reportedly looking for £70m, according to a BBC news report.
Alan Dickson, the BBC’s chief financial officer, said the sale was part of an ongoing review of the BBC’s property portfolio in order to provide the best value for licence fee payers.
“As part of the sale, the EastEnders site has been secured on a long-term lease and Elstree will continue to be the home of Albert Square,” he said.
“Moreover, AXA’s investment ensures the Elstree site remains a fantastic asset for the UK’s creative economy.”
The sale comes two years after the BBC finished rebuilding the EastEnders set at a cost of £87m, which was £27m over budget.
Last summer, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer bought the corporation’s famous Maida Vale Studios in London in a partnership with three film producers.
And in November it was announced that Newsnight was being cut by 30 minutes and losing more than half its staff.
Maida Vale Studios was bought by Hans Zimmer in 2023
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BBC Elstree Centre was originally created as a film studio for Neptune Films in 1914 and converted for use as a television studio in 1960.
It was sold to the BBC in 1984 as the production base and set to launch EastEnders and has previously been used for shows including Children In Need, Casualty, and Top Of The Pops.
The wider Elstree Studios is one of the world’s most famous film and television production campuses in the world, where blockbusters such as Star Wars have been filmed, and is not included in the sale.
John O’Driscoll, global co-head of real estate at AXA IM Alts, said the company aimed to continue the legacy of producing “celebrated films and television series”.
“With the signing of BBC Elstree Centre we will be acquiring one of the oldest working TV and film studios in the UK, with a history dating back almost 110 years,” he said.
“The structure of the transaction allows the BBC to continue its production on the site for at least another 25 years, while providing us with the opportunity to invest in the site to create new world-class studios.”
Mr O’Driscoll said the move was “underpinned by increasing demand from an ever-broader array of production houses, content creators and broadcasters”, coupled with a limited supply of high-quality modern film and production space, “particularly in and around London where new construction is hindered by a lack of available land in the right locations”.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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