Welcome to Babylon

Tower Bridge TV Studios proved ideal as a location for a high-profile comedy-drama for Channel 4 about the people and politics at the heart of London’s police force.

 

Babylon, written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong and directed by Danny Boyle, is a feature-length production by Nightjack Ltd that first aired on 9 February 2014. For this pilot episode, the Studio was turned into a venue for a would-be mayor’s news conference.

 

“We needed a central London venue with the appropriate City views, and Tower Bridge TV Studios proved ideal in every way,” says Tony Hood, Location Manager. “The view is perfect, but it also comes with the bonus of a fully equipped studio set-up. That meant we could just turn up with our crew and a couple of hard drives. We used Trickbox TV’s full studio set-up, from cameras and lighting to audio equipment and data storage. Everything we needed was on site and ready to go, ably supported by the Trickbox team, so the shoot was really quick and easy – we could get in and out well within our schedule. They also kept a copy of the content as a back-up for us.”

 

A complete series of Babylon is now in pre-production, and Tower Bridge TV Studios may make a repeat appearance. “It’s perfect to double as the mayor’s office, since you can shoot the view of the bridge without seeing City Hall,” says Tony. “If we need a similar location for the new series, we’ll certainly consider returning to the Studio as we could shoot a lot of scenes here and we know the technical side will be hassle-free.”