The buildings of the BBC, the Broadcasting House Bristol, are located in Whiteladies Road, Clifton. It is very easy to get there as they are right at the top of Queens Road, in an interesting area of Bristol not far from the City Centre. The BBC has been in this location for 80 years now, as the first building (21/23 Whiteladies Road) was built in 1852 and has been in use for this purpose since 1934. The BBC in Bristol hosts, among other things, the offices and studios for the BBC Natural History Unit, BBC Radio Bristol and BBC West.
The tour lasts about 90 minutes and gives you the chance to visit a lot of places in the BBC campus, including the rooftop garden from where the weather forecast is broadcast on nice days the Radio Bristol studios, the Points West studio, and the journalists room. You can see people at work, discover how programmes are made and what goes behind the scenes.
The tour is very interactive, as you can experience the making of sounds effects on the radio, have a go at recording your own radio drama and present the news and weather. We were accompanied by two experienced and kind tour guides, who explained us everything in a clear way and told us facts about some of the programmes broadcast at BBC Bristol.
To do a tour of the BBC Broadcasting House it is essential to pre-book. Regular tours take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10.00am, 12.45pm and 3.15pm and each one takes a maximum of 16 people.
Prices:
Adult £8.50 – (£9.25 from 1 April 2015)
Child (under 16 years) £6.50 – (£7.00 from 1 April 2015)
Teacher £6.50 – (£7.75 from 1 April 2015)
The excursion is very informative and fun, if you have never been in a radio or TV studio it makes you understand and learn a lot of new and interesting things, offering nice and instructive activities. Tour guides have been really kind and glad to answer to all our questions. We really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who wants to spend 2 hours in a different and entertaining way!
Children under the age of 10 are not admitted on the tour. It would be a great experience especially for teenagers who want to find out how TV programmes work behind the scenes.
Rosalia Ruggiero, Intern 09/03/2015
Graziano Aletta, Intern
Radio Bristol Studios
Points West studio
Rooftop garden