TP Filming and Other Locations - Individual Pages

The Thames at Teddington and Thames Teddinton Studios

Thames Teddington Studios

The Thames Television Studios at Teddington were used for filming scenes set on the television show 'Opportunity Knocks' and the appropriate dressing rooms in the TP serial 'Revenge of Jedikiah'. Obviously the studios were also used for on-set recordings of the Television People!
As a result, in addition to appearing on screen as itself, this site substituted for a myriad of other locations over the course of The Tomorrow People's eight series run.
Commercial television in Britain came as a late rival to the state-established BBC. The Independent Television network (ITV) in the United Kingdom was established in 1954 as a group of local short-term franchises, with two companies serving each region - one for the weekend and the other operating Monday to Friday. The list of franchise holders grew over the next few years as new parts of the country were opened to the ITV network. Each company (a list which included Granada, Anglia, ATV and HTV amongst others) was free to commission its own programmes or to purchases programmes from other ITV companies.

© Freemantle Media.
(Above) The studios in May 2003 (from the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour)

(Above) The front car park at Teddington Studios in May 2003 - note the blue wall plaques. (from the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour)
As each round of franchise contracts expired and was re-awarded the network evolved. The split-week system was abandoned in some parts of the country and retained in others - including in London.
Thames Television was formed in 1967 by the merger of ABC (formerly the franchise holder in northern England) and Rediffusion (who already held the London weekday franchise). It shared the week with the newly formed London Weekend Television. This franchise arrangement continued until 31st December 1992 when Thames made its last broadcast to London and was replaced by Carlton.
In the intervening years, Thames became one of the leading providers of programming to the ITV network. Its contributions to television include The Sweeney, This is Your Life, Minder, The Bill, The Benny Hill Show and, of course, The Tomorrow People.

The impact of Thames programming on entertainment history can be seen in the number of commemorative blue plaques adorning the outside walls of the studios. The blue plaque schemerun by Comic Heritage (part of the Heritage Foundation) marks the acheivements, homes and workplaces of people who have made outstanding contributions to British culture. Plaques have been placed at Teddington studios for Tommy Cooper, Tony Hancock, Benny Hill, Kenny Everett and Eric Morecambe amongst many others.
Despite its loss of broadcasting rights, Thames's archive of recordings from their two and a half decades of broadcast remained a valuable property. Two months before their last broadcast (in November 1992) Thames and the BBC co-founded the sattelite channel UK Gold to broadcast repeat programming from their programme archives. Thames was purchased by Pearson in 1993 and continued to make programmes for the newly created channel Five in the late 1990s.
In 1997 Thames sold its Teddington Studios to the Barnes Media Trust for twelve million pounds, moving to a new central London location. Thames is now part of the Freemantle Media group.

(Right) PVC in front of Teddington Studios (from the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour)

The studios (now an independent company and still used for the filming of popular television series such as My Hero and Pop Idol) back onto the River Thames, are across the river from the open ground used for filming in 'A Man for Emily' and 'Worlds Away' and are adjacent to The Anglers public house. They were visited briefly by a group of Tomorrow People fans in May 2003 as part of a tour which followed the 30th Anniversary Dinner.
See a map of their location or for more detailed directions see the studio's homepage.

(Above) Tomorrow People fans and PVC outside the studios in May 2003 (from Janet Sullivan's photos of the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour)

Teddington Studios were sold to Pinewood Studios in 2005 and are expected to continue producing television. However, some parts of the large riverside site may be sold for housing development over the next few years.
(Right) The lobby at Teddington Studios in May 2005.
The Lobby of Teddington Studios

The River Thames at Teddington

The River Thames at Teddington, just up-river of Teddington Lock, appears in 'The Vanishing Earth' (in which the TPs actually explore it by boat) and 'Secret Weapon' (where it forms the backdrop for the site occupied at that time by Tyso's family). In 'The Vanishing Earth', the river was the hiding place for the Spidron's space vessel and his accomplice Sandor was captured in the victorian sewer system alongside it.

Thames at Teddington

The River Thames at Teddington Lock and Weir in May 2003 (from Janet Sullivan's photos of the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour).

Teddington Lock was constructed in 1811 to limit the tidal behaviour of the river Thames. Westwards of this point, the river shows no variation in its level with the tides in the North Sea one hundred miles to the East. Teddington also marks the boundary of the Port of London Authority (which extends to Southend-on-Sea on the Thames Estuary). The 'lock' itself consists of three individual locks of varying size (to accomodate different types of traffic with the Barge lock added most recently - in 1904), is controlled by the Environment Agency (which manages the river upstream of Teddington) and manned 24 hours a day.

Sandor on the banks of the Thames (Left) Sandor walking along the river at Teddington
(Right) The Tomorrow People messing about on the River with Teddington in the background.
Screenshots from 'The Vanishing Earth' © Freemantle Media

Alongside the river, a long stretch of tow path survives. This now forms part of the 184 mile long Thames Path, a national trail. It is possible to cross the river at Teddington via an impressive suspension brige which replaced the earlier ferry in 1889. In fact, much of the riverbank in this area was reinforced and modified as part of the victorian effort to control the Thames and improve the sewage and drainage system for London. The area is now popular with walkers, cyclists and anglers.

Directly across the river from Thames Studios lies the open wasteground used for filming the doozlum pin sequences in 'A Man for Emily'. These are now somewhat overgrown, and housing developments have encroached into the area, but footpaths and openings still remain (see photo below).

Teddington Bridge (Left) The 1889 suspension bridge crossing the river at Teddington
(Right) The wasteland opposite Thames studio where the doozlum pin sequences were filmed in 'A Man for Emily' - now somewhat overgrown.
Photographs taken in May 2005
The wasteland across the river

This stretch of the river is immediately behind the Thames Television studios at Teddington where the programme was filmed and can be accessed by the path and afore-mentioned footbridge beside The Anglers pub (map of this location).

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The 1970s television series The Tomorrow People was created by Roger Price and is the property of Freemantle Media. Photographs on this page are the property of Elizabeth Stanway unless otherwise credited. They should not be reproduced without permission. Screenshots are taken from the DVDs of The Tomorrow People released by Revelation Films.

This page created by Elizabeth Stanway. Email me here.

The Thames Television Studios at Teddington were used for filming scenes set on the television show 'Opportunity Knocks' and the appropriate dressing rooms in the TP serial 'Revenge of Jedikiah'. Obviously the studios were also used for on-set recordings of the Television People! As a result, in addition to appearing on screen as itself, this site substituted for a myriad of other locations over the course of The Tomorrow People's eight series run. Commercial television in Britain came as a late rival to the state-established BBC. The Independent Television network (ITV) in the United Kingdom was established in 1954 as a group of local short-term franchises, with two companies serving each region - one for the weekend and the other operating Monday to Friday. The list of franchise holders grew over the next few years as new parts of the country were opened to the ITV network. Each company (a list which included Granada, Anglia, ATV and HTV amongst others) was free to commission its own programmes or to purchases programmes from other ITV companies.	(Above) The studios in May 2003 (from the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour)
(Above) The front car park at Teddington Studios in May 2003 - note the blue wall plaques. (from the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour)	As each round of franchise contracts expired and was re-awarded the network evolved. The split-week system was abandoned in some parts of the country and retained in others - including in London. Thames Television was formed in 1967 by the merger of ABC (formerly the franchise holder in northern England) and Rediffusion (who already held the London weekday franchise). It shared the week with the newly formed London Weekend Television. This franchise arrangement continued until 31st December 1992 when Thames made its last broadcast to London and was replaced by Carlton. In the intervening years, Thames became one of the leading providers of programming to the ITV network. Its contributions to television include The Sweeney, This is Your Life, Minder, The Bill, The Benny Hill Show and, of course, The Tomorrow People.
The impact of Thames programming on entertainment history can be seen in the number of commemorative blue plaques adorning the outside walls of the studios. The blue plaque schemerun by Comic Heritage (part of the Heritage Foundation) marks the acheivements, homes and workplaces of people who have made outstanding contributions to British culture. Plaques have been placed at Teddington studios for Tommy Cooper, Tony Hancock, Benny Hill, Kenny Everett and Eric Morecambe amongst many others. Despite its loss of broadcasting rights, Thames's archive of recordings from their two and a half decades of broadcast remained a valuable property. Two months before their last broadcast (in November 1992) Thames and the BBC co-founded the sattelite channel UK Gold to broadcast repeat programming from their programme archives. Thames was purchased by Pearson in 1993 and continued to make programmes for the newly created channel Five in the late 1990s. In 1997 Thames sold its Teddington Studios to the Barnes Media Trust for twelve million pounds, moving to a new central London location. Thames is now part of the Freemantle Media group. (Right) PVC in front of Teddington Studios (from the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour)
	The studios (now an independent company and still used for the filming of popular television series such as My Hero and Pop Idol) back onto the River Thames, are across the river from the open ground used for filming in 'A Man for Emily' and 'Worlds Away' and are adjacent to The Anglers public house. They were visited briefly by a group of Tomorrow People fans in May 2003 as part of a tour which followed the 30th Anniversary Dinner. See a map of their location or for more detailed directions see the studio's homepage.
(Above) Tomorrow People fans and PVC outside the studios in May 2003 (from Janet Sullivan's photos of the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour) Teddington Studios were sold to Pinewood Studios in 2005 and are expected to continue producing television. However, some parts of the large riverside site may be sold for housing development over the next few years. (Right) The lobby at Teddington Studios in May 2005.


The River Thames at Teddington Lock and Weir in May 2003 (from Janet Sullivan's photos of the 30th Anniversary Dinner Tour).