The Elstree Project

16/08/2026

The project has made the BBC News website with our virtual tour!

So long as people are still interested in the studio history in Borehamwood, we want to keep documenting it. Thank you to everyone who has liked, shared, commented, interacted, and given feedback on the work done by The Elstree Project.

Fans of Holby City, Top of the Pops and Grange Hill can look around their now-demolished studios.

14/08/2026

Yesterday, 13 August, marked the birthday of Alfred Hitchcock, born in Leytonstone in 1899.

Hitchcock would become one of the most famous directors in cinema history, with many of his later and more well-known films made in Hollywood. But there is a remarkable fact about his career which deserves to be better known:

Hitchcock directed more films at the studios on Shenley Road in Borehamwood than at any other studio complex at which he worked.

Between The Ring in 1927 and Number Seventeen in 1932, Hitchcock directed eleven feature films at the British International Pictures studios. He returned to the same studio — by then the Associated British Picture Corporation — for Jamaica Inn in 1939 and Stage Fright in 1950.

That makes 13 complete Hitchcock feature films directed at Shenley Road.

In addition, in 1930 he directed several sequences for the extraordinary all-star r***e Elstree Calling, and the same year made the now-lost ten-minute short An Elastic Affair at the studio.

Further towards the A1, also in Borehamwood, Hitchcock directed Under Capricorn (1949) at the rival MGM British Studios on Elstree Way; bringing his total to 15 films in Borehamwood.

One of the most fascinating of his Elstree films is Mary (1931), the German-language version of Murder!. Rather than dubbing the English film, Hitchcock directed an entirely separate version on the same sets with a largely German-speaking cast.

Hitchcock had picked up some German, but his command of the language was limited. He could give direction to the actors, but did not fully understand all the dialogue and idiom — an extraordinary situation for a director as famously precise and controlling as Hitchcock.

So although Hollywood would eventually make Hitchcock an international icon, no studio complex saw him direct more films than those in Borehamwood.

11/08/2026

Three interviews from The Elstree Project archive feature in the new series of TCM’s acclaimed podcast The Plot Thickens, focusing this season on the life and work of Stanley Kubrick.

The production includes oral history interviews recorded with members of Kubrick’s family and with his publicist, Julian Senior, contributed from The Elstree Project archive.

Produced with the backing of Warner Bros. and The Criterion Collection, the series gives these first-hand accounts a new audience and is a great example of how oral history material can continue to be used and rediscovered long after the original interviews were recorded.

You can see the trailer for the new series here, in advance of the launch in September:

Hosted by Ben Mankiewicz, this season of The Plot Thickenstraces Ku...

10/08/2026

The BBC Elstree Centre Virtual Tour is now live!

Explore more than 400 panoramic 360° images of the former Fairbanks Building and Neptune House, recorded in summer 2025 shortly before their demolition.

From studio stages, galleries and dressing rooms to production offices, technical areas, the canteen and surviving Holby City sets, the tour creates a permanent digital record of spaces associated with decades of British television — including The Muppet Show, Top of the Pops, Grange Hill, Sapphire & Steel, ’Allo ’Allo! and many more.

Recorded and built by The Elstree Project with grateful thanks to Oxygen Studios for granting us full access, and supported by an AHRC Impact Acceleration Account grant through the University of Hertfordshire.

Link in the comments.

30/07/2026

Will you endorse our campaign for a Special BAFTA for Elstree and Borehamwood?

Earlier this year, we launched a campaign asking BAFTA to recognise the extraordinary contribution made by generations of filmmakers, craftspeople and studio workers across Elstree and Borehamwood.

As the centenary of Elstree Studios approaches in December 2026, we believe this is the right moment for BAFTA to recognise Britain’s only true studio town — Borehamwood and Elstree have been home to eight studio sites and more than a century of film and television production. This is unique in the UK.

We are now seeking endorsements from members of the film and television community who have worked at the studios, with the aim of presenting BAFTA with a formal letter of support.

Whether you worked at one of the studios, made a production here, performed on its stages, or have another professional connection to Elstree and Borehamwood, we would be very pleased to hear from you.

This is not about recognising one company or individual. It is about celebrating the thousands of people whose skills, creativity and hard work have made Elstree and Borehamwood such an important part of British screen history.

To endorse the campaign, please comment below or send The Elstree Project a private message with your name, role and connection to the studios.

Please also share this post with colleagues who may wish to add their support.

30/07/2026

With Paramount’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. in the news at lot recently, here is an interesting connection to Borehamwood's past involving Warner Bros and Elstree Studios.

Famed studio chief Jack L. Warner never directly ran Elstree Studios, but he pulled the strings on the Associated British Picture (ABPC) board from his base in Burbank, California, for almost two decades.

Warner Bros. had acquired a major shareholding in ABPC during the 1940s, attracted not only by the studio itself, but by the company’s powerful ABC cinema chain and contract stars.

In 1947, Warner announced that six major films would be made at Elstree with Hollywood stars and directors. In the end, only one direct ABPC–Warner Bros. co-production emerged: The Hasty Heart, starring Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal and Richard Todd.

Warner clashed repeatedly with ABPC executive Head of Production, Robert Clark. Clark wanted Elstree to maintain a steady programme of modestly budgeted British films, keeping hundreds of studio employees in permanent work. Warner favoured productions designed for international - and particularly American - audiences.

Clark was removed from control of Elstree in 1958 (though retained a seat on the board of ABPC), and replaced with Cleo "C.J." Latta who was more aligned with Warner's views. Although Warner never held complete ownership of ABPC, his influence helped move the studio away from continuous in-house British production and towards hiring its stages to independent and international filmmakers.

Warner Bros. disposed of its ABPC shares in the 1960s. Clark was appointed Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman of ABPC after he was removed from leading production at the studio itself, and remained until the takeover by EMI in 1969.

24/07/2026

The Elstree Project is looking for more people to contribute to our growing archive of oral history interviews.

Since the project began more than 16 years ago, we have filmed 81 interviews with cast, crew and studio staff from Elstree and Borehamwood’s film and television studios — including National/ATV/BBC, ABPC/EMI/Elstree Studios, MGM, Millennium and Danzigers.

We are always looking to record, preserve and share the history of the UK’s only studio town, and would particularly like to hear from people connected with studios for which we currently have fewer recordings, including Danzigers, The Gate and Millennium.

We are also keen to record more underrepresented voices, especially those of women who worked across the studios.

As we approach the 70th anniversary of the sale of National Studios to ATV in 2028, and the 60th anniversary of the closure of MGM in 2030, we would also love to hear from anyone connected with those studios — from production staff and technicians to those working in administration, offices and the many other areas of studio life.

No story is too small to tell. Every contribution forms part of our rich film and television heritage.

Please share this post with anyone who may have a story to contribute.

22/07/2026

Today would have been the 100th birthday of Bryan Forbes — actor, writer, director, producer, and, for just under two years, Managing Director of EMI Elstree Studios.

Forbes took over the studios in April 1969, following EMI’s acquisition of ABPC, and was also placed in charge of a new production division, EMI Films. At a time when the British film industry was in severe decline, he arrived at Elstree Studios with enormous enthusiasm and a determination to invest in British films, filmmakers and new talent.

During his tenure, the company produced 11 films, including The Railway Children, The Go-Between, Tales of Beatrix Potter, The Man Who Haunted Himself, Hoffman, And Soon the Darkness and Get Carter. He was especially proud of The Raging Moon, which he greenlit, adapted and directed himself (which also starred his wife Nanette Newman).

His ambitions frequently brought him into conflict with fellow EMI board member Nat Cohen, who ran his own internal production division (Anglo-EMI) and favoured a more commercial approach, including low-budget television spin-off comedies such as On the Buses. Forbes later described Cohen as a “built-in enemy”, although it should be noted that Cohen’s own strategy was also successful and he later supported films including Murder on the Orient Express and Swallows and Amazons, as well as the early career of David Puttnam.

Forbes resigned in March 1971, frustrated by boardroom opposition, restricted funding and corporate restructuring. He later stated that the 18 films commissioned or initiated during his time at EMI had cost £4 million and returned £18 million in profit, with only two making a loss.

His time at Elstree Studios was brief, but he brought immense ambition to the studios and tried to create a self-sustaining British film industry built around homegrown talent. In the modern era where we rely so much on external investment into our industry, Forbes' vision should be celebrated and recognised for its aim in supporting the British film industry.

His departure eventually paved the way for Andrew Mitchell to become Managing Director in 1973, a position he would hold until 1990.

Today we remember Bryan Forbes, and his bold attempt to build a new future for British filmmaking in Borehamwood.

21/07/2026

Eleven years ago today, on 21 July 2015, filming began on The Crown. I had to double-check the date to really confirm it had already been more than a decade.

Produced by Left Bank Pictures for Netflix, the series was based at Elstree Studios throughout all six seasons. Its production offices were housed in the Enigma Building, while the stages, workshops and backlot became home to an extraordinary collection of permanent sets.

Around a quarter of the first season was filmed at Elstree Studios during its 152-day shoot. The sets constructed at the studios included the Royal Family’s private living quarters, the Cabinet Room and other Downing Street interiors, as well as the interior of a private jet. On particularly busy filming days, as many as 300 background artists could be working on the production.

On the Elstree Studios backlot, the production built the entrance gates of Buckingham Palace and the exterior of 10 Downing Street. As the photographs show, the relatively modest physical sets were surrounded by vast green screens, allowing them to be extended and transformed through visual effects into some of Britain’s most recognisable buildings.

In September 2013, Hertsmere Borough Council and the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership funded a £4.5 million project to clear "the mound" — a large accumulation of over 30 years of construction waste on the studio backlot. This proved crucial in allowing the studio to bring productions onto the lot, and The Crown was one of the very first to benefit from this investment into the studio.

Filming on the sixth and final season officially concluded on 21 April 2023, bringing to an end almost eight years of filming at Elstree Studios — and one of the most significant and sustained productions in the studio’s recent history.

These behind-the-scenes photographs provide a wonderful glimpse of the remarkable craftsmanship that went into constructing the world of The Crown in Borehamwood.

Did you watch the show? A total of 73 million households worldwide have watched The Crown since it began in 2016, according to figures released by Netflix. Once again, Borehamwood proved it can entertain the whole world with the highest quality productions.

15/07/2026

We’re delighted to share the news that, for the first time, one of The Elstree Project’s documentary films is being distributed by Criterion.

Our oral-history documentary, Staircases to Nowhere: Making Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, will be included as a special feature with The Shining in Criterion’s forthcoming 4K collection of Stanley Kubrick’s films, accompanying the film in a newly expanded edition.

This new version has been extended from 55 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes and features 15 interviews with members of Kubrick’s family and the film’s crew. The original 2013 version was described by the BFI as “like being on set with Stanley Kubrick” and was endorsed by Warner Bros. and the Kubrick Estate.

The Elstree Project has a long-standing connection with The Shining. Alongside recording the oral histories and producing the documentary, Howard created and hosted the film’s official 35th-anniversary reunion, bringing together 26 cast and crew members for a special screening at the Odyssey Cinema in St Albans.

It is an enormous honour to have our film included in this landmark box set from one of the world’s leading boutique film labels.

The documentary is a deep exploration of the vital contribution made by Borehamwood’s film crews to the production of some of the greatest films in cinema history. It recognises the craft, skill and inventive genius of artists and technicians including Ron Punter, Mick Mason, Kelvin Pike, Ray Merrin, Doug Milsome, Garrett Brown, George Gibbs and many more.

This is precisely what The Elstree Project is all about: celebrating the film studios of Borehamwood and Elstree and bringing their extraordinary history to audiences around the world.

We are hopeful that the documentary will also become available outside North America as part of a future UK Criterion release of The Shining, although this is currently unconfirmed. For now, it will be available in the 4K box set and will stream on the Criterion Channel from October.

The Elstree Project began in 2009 as an initiative to record oral histories about Stanley Kubrick, coinciding with an exhibition at St Albans Museum. We subsequently partnered with Elstree Screen Heritage between 2010 and 2015 to record oral histories covering all of Borehamwood and Elstree’s film studios. Since 2016, the project has been run entirely by Howard Berry.