Leeds Studios: From Yorkshire Television to ITV Studios: Memories from Christine Talbot

From YTV to ITV Studios - Christine Talbot who worked at the Leeds Studios for three decades takes a trip down memory lane.

Transcript

00:00I'm Christine Talbot and for me the iconic Yorkshire TV building, now ITV Yorkshire on

00:06Kirkstall Road in Leeds is where I've had some of my happiest memories. I actually worked there for

00:12three decades so in many ways it was a second home. Our calendar studios were there from day

00:19one in 1968 and from the outside the building hasn't changed much but the sign now says ITV

00:25Yorkshire not Yorkshire Television anymore with the yellow chevron. Inside though is rich with

00:30memories of some of the great shows that were produced there during YTV's heyday and you know

00:36if you walk down the corridors late at night as I sometimes did on late news shifts when I was a

00:40reporter and presenter on calendar you can look at all the old framed photos on the walls and

00:47feel the echoes of productions like Rising Damp with Leonard Rossiter which is back in sale,

00:54Duty Free, do you remember the big shiny floor Saturday night shows like The Price Is Right that

00:59was made there with Bruce Forsythe, do you remember Come On Down that was made in the old Studio 4

01:06which is where the interior sets now of Emmerdale are. So as a young reporter it was a real thrill

01:13for me to be in the canteen queue with the likes of David Jason who'd be filming Touch of Frost,

01:18his grey tash and hair looked nothing like you did in real life or Dennis Waterman but to be

01:24honest Dennis would probably more be likely in the iconic YTV bar. All the stars were in there

01:30mixing with the crews there was no hierarchy at all but getting in there was like a golden ticket

01:36if you were on the outside. I'd sometimes see Richard Whiteley and Carol Vorderman in there

01:40having a laugh with all the camera crews after filming but then they changed the no alcohol policy

01:47within all the ITV studios and it was demolished and became the newest set for the Calendar Studio

01:54that was from 2012 so sometimes I've been there presenting the programme and just remembering

02:00the memories that that whole area held. Emmerdale moved into the main building with us and we got

02:06a swanky canteen but sadly a lot of the offices upstairs that used to house busy documentary

02:12teams even Wicker's World back in the day are lying empty these days and the old management

02:18corridor is now two dressing rooms for the calendar presenters and you know I even felt

02:24nervous going up those stairs to get just brush my hair or put some lipstick on because I could

02:30remember the days when the reason I went up those stairs was to meet the formidable but very

02:35charismatic managing director Bruce Gingell the Australian tycoon who was MD for a while.

02:41I still get a massive thrill driving past the Yorkshire Television Building and to be honest

02:48it's been a huge honour and a privilege for me to have been part of that building's history.