Deacon Close
In the serial 'The Living Skins', the bulboids are seen to attack the residents of a London housing estate. The name of one street is clearly visible for several seconds: 'Deacon Close'. There are three streets with the name 'Deacon Close' in London - one in Purley, a second in Cobham and the third in St Albans.St Albans is rather further afield than the Tomorrow People usually ventured for outside filming. Purley, on the other hand, is an extensively built up region not far from central London. It is unlikely that the kind of modern and relatively deserted housing estate shown in the series could be found here. Cobham, in surrey, is some ten miles from Dorking and lies just off the M25. Deacon Close here lies on a small and isolated housing estate, with open ground surrounding it that would have been suitable for filming the bulboids arrival. Therefore Deacon Close, Cobham, Surrey would seem to be the most likely filming location for these scenes (Map).
St Paul's, Hammersmith
St Paul's Church Hall did not appear on screen in the Tomorrow People, but rather was used for rehearsals and read-throughs of the scripts before filming took place. The location is mentioned on the surviving scripts for `The Dirtiest Business' which used the hall for a read through at 10.30am on Monday 8th November 1976.
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St Paul's is a large and
impressive Victorian church, nestled in the shadow of the Hammersmith
flyover. Constructed in the 1880s, it was built on the site of
an earlier chapel dating from the seventeenth century. An active
community, the church supports a number of initiatives including
debt advice, family life groups and assistance for the homeless.
The church is grade
II* listed and is currently (spring 2007) in the middle of a
major renovation programme, repairing and cleaning the exterior
stonework, which follows an earlier scheme to renovate the building
interiors.
(Right) St Paul's church, Hammersmith, seen encased in scaffolding during the major renovation campaign in Spring 2007. |
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The closest rail station is Hammersmith, and the church is a prominant feature of the town centre. The church hall is some way from the church itself. Both are in close vicinity to the London Ark in Hammersmith.
Stephen Jameson's House
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See special page on Stephen's House for more photos and information.
When filming 'Slaves of Jedikiah' an ordinary residential house was required to represent the home of Stephen Jameson. It is seen twice in the serial, once when Mrs Jameson receives a telephone call informing her of Stephen's collapse at Shepherd's Bush Market, and later when John visits her in an attempt to explain Stephen's breakout. |  Front Door of Stephen Jameson's home in February 2005 (Photo © Jackie Clark with permission from Ruth Boswell). |
 Stephen Jameson's home in February 2005 (Photo © Jackie Clark with permission from Ruth Boswell). |
The show's producer, Ruth Boswell, chose to select her own home in Muswell Hill, North London, as the location for these scenes. Boswell, an experienced television producer who had previously worked on shows including Timeslip, still lives in the same property and the photographs here were taken with her permission by Jackie Clark. They should not be reproduced elsewhere. |
Wood Lane Station
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See special page on Wood Lane for more photos and history.
The abandoned London Underground station at Wood Lane was used for filming as the location of the Lab. The platforms of the abandoned station appeared in the serial 'The Medusa Strain' and the exterior of the station was seen elsewhere in the first series. Wood Lane was opened in 1908 to serve the Anglo-French exhibition. As the station was built on a loop in the line, it was impossible to extend the platforms to accomodate the increasing length of underground trains. The station was superceded in 1947 by its newly opened neighbour on the central line, White City. Unfortunately Wood Lane station has now been demolished as part of the White City redevelopment project and can no longer be visited. Its exterior facade has been preserved by the London Transport Museum at their Acton depot.
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 The platform of Wood Lane station (Seen in August 2003) |
Unsurprisingly, the station stood on Wood Lane (now the A219) - (map of its former location). For information on the history of the Circle line visit the tube home page.
I was fortunate enough to visit the platforms of this station shortly before its demolition. See photos of my visit to this station, and information on its history, elsewhere in these pages.