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Iconic TEN studios to go

It was once the famed Wentworth Detention Centre of Prisoner, but the Nunawading studios of Global Television is to be sold reports the Herald-Sun.

Principally the home of Channel TEN’s Melbourne base it has also housed Neighbours, Rove, Thank God You’re Here, Carson’s Law, Perfect Match, The Comedy Company, The Price is Right, The Box, Young Talent Time, Breakfast a Go Go, Matlock Police, Eyewitness News and The Early Bird Show.

It has been home to everyone from Jana Wendt to Deadly Earnest to Marty the Monster.

Global is looking to sell the site for housing, believed to be worth about $25m. Neighbours will be forced to relocate to inner-city studios. This would create production headaches in lost travel time for cast and crew working at the nearby Pin Oak Court houses in Vermont. But the biggest, direct threat for the show comes from potentially losing the exterior ‘Lassiters” sets, originally built for Holiday Island. TEN claims to have a secure contract until 2010.

Originally known as ATV-O it was the only purpose-built television studio in Melbourne until Seven’s new docklands precinct. It began transmission in 1964. TEN moved its smaller productions to its Como Studios in 1992 leasing the site for Neighbours and Rove (which moved to its new South Melbourne home in 2007).

It was also the first home of FOX FM.

Source: Herald-Sun

4 Responses

  1. Davnap well said.

    “Everyone says the internet will change TV”

    In my opinion it already has in a big way between UNI, work and being social me and most of my friends barely even watch TV maybe the news etc.

    But that’s not to say that we don’t watch TV shows the beauty of torrents etc is I can watch what I want when I want.

    Most TV shows that are coming up on Aussie I’ve seen already in the case of some 1 or 2 whole seasons. The ability to fit in TV with my schedule not the other way around is the way it should be.

    I really think you would struggle to find a person under the age of say 25 who doesn’t use the net to get some form of entertainment

    I really wonder where TV will be in 20 years time maybe we’ll just be able to flick on the box pick a show and hey presto it’s done.

  2. Well. I flagged this one ages ago. The place is in such a state of disrepair the buckets come out during a decent downpour – even in the Neighbours studio!
    Again, another loss to TV History, particularly drama, but what about all the Variety that came out of that very big main studio….all those Young Talent Times. I first visited ATV-0 about 30 years ago when a friend of mine was doing make-up on Prisoner, and for a kid from the north is was a buzz. Last visit was a couple of years ago and the place, apart from Neighbours, was almost derelict. Everyone says the internet will change TV – wrong – the greedy owners of the Networks will. And the property developers benefit.
    There’s a certain feeling when you walk into a place that’s full of the ghosts of the past – particularly where entertainment is concerned – old theatres, cinemas, TV stations. Walk into the ‘new’ ATV-10 – apart from a postage stamp of a studio it’s an office block. Walk into the Docklands studios, or Warner Roadshow in QLD – they’re just big sheds. In time they’ll have the ghosts as well. But not yet. Walk on to the Paramount lot or Fox in LA, so much history. You can taste it. With the demise of TCN, GTV and ATV-0 we lose more than production facilities. We lose a connection with the “golden age’ of Australian TV and the pioneering spirit of those days. You want to know why Aussie TV is bland and dull? We forgot how to entertain, how to have fun without the bullshit. Without these places to remind us of what we can do then the future looks dull indeed.

  3. Docklands cost the earth to hire. The Pink Oak Court houses aren’t in jeopardy due to separate arrangements, but Lassiters exterior sets are.

    By 2010 the question is now will we have Neighbours?

  4. Would the Docklands film studios be an option for Neighbours and others? They’ve hardly been used for a feature since they were built, and would give a lot more space for Neighbours’ standing sets.

    Fox FM also reported a rumour this morning that they were thinking of building a fake Ramsay St exterior with replicas of the house fronts from Pin Oak Ct. They’d need a bit of room to pull that one off!

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