Villiers House

The former BBC office building, Villiers House, rising 9 storeys above Ealing Broadway station, has had a tricky career - and, former occupants will be delighted to know, the BBC has now revealed it was constructed using Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete. 

The BBC first started selling tv programmes abroad in 1958, and, by 1967, the department known as Television Enterprises became an anchor tenant of Villiers House, acquired on a 100-year lease.

"General Features", under Aubrey Singer, were moved  in, from Lime Grove in 1967. Producer Paul Bonner said "The telephones didn't work, none of the windows opened and it had appallingly bad air conditioning. When we all complained, the administrative man in the group, called Arthur Radley, came up with the dictum 'If you throw the telephones that don't work through the windows that don't open, at least you'll feel better' ". 

 Meanwhile, sales of radio programmes, via 'Transcription Services', were merged into "Enterprises" in 1969, and in 1979, with government agreement, Enterprises became a wholly-owned limited company, with a boss class based not in sleepy Ealing, but The Langham, opposite Broadcasting House.  But the tv side wanted to be closer to Television Centre, so moved another new building, Woodlands in 1981. 

So Villiers House became a holding pen, for Finance and Accounts, and Education Programmes, until it all became surplus to requirements in 2002. There have been various sub-tenants - local charitable enterprises, the University of West London, but no sign of a long-term deal - and, in recent years, it's been cut--off by the major development of the station at its base to accommodate the Elizabeth Line. 

• One good thing to come out of Villiers House: multiple episodes of Dr Who, thought lost in the the 'official' archive - copies made for sales abroad were found in filing cabinets in 1978 as Enterprises prepared to move out. Today, the BBC has announced plans to put Dr Who's back catalogue on iPlayer.