abbey road studio 2 / cilla

[drakula63]

Watching the otherwise brilliant docu-drama 'Cilla', I noticed that, for some reason, the set of Studio 2, Abbey Road, was built the wrong way round. The famous staircase is on the right of the main doors as you walk in and not on the left as seen in the programme. Most of the shots, shooting towards the main door, had the staircase on the right of the shot, whereas in reality it would be on the left. There was also a curious shot of Bobby, out in the corridor, watching through a little window in the door as Cilla recorded. There are no windows in the doors. Also, the layout of the building was incorrect, as the entrance to studio 2 is on the right hand side of the corridor as you walk down it and not at the end, as depicted.

Obviously calls of 'artistic licence' will probably greet this post, but I can't for the life of me work out WHY they would change such fairly important and easily researched things. Did they get it wrong on purpose or by accident?

As a (sort of) programme maker myself, I can't say that the inaccuracies spoiled the storytelling, but neither did they add anything to the mise-en-scene either.

[MartcasterJunior]

I've not seen the programme but perhaps the sets were designed based on photos of Cilla in the studio that were somehow reversed during publication or printing? I'm guessing that having the entrance at the end of a corridor rather than off a turning would give it a more dramatic "This Is Abbey Road!" feeling for an audience who wouldn't otherwise know or care.

Interestingly, there's some footage at 1:30 here which shows Burt Bacharach and George Martin walking into the studio through double doors and the stairs aren't on the right-hand side. I'm not 100% sure if this is Studio 2 though (and didn't S2 have double doors at the back at some point as well?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDF_taQnoXk

Cheers

Matt

[MartcasterJunior]

Oh. According to Wikipedia, Alfie was recorded in Studio One, not Two. Don't know if that has any bearing on the programme itself.

[drakula63]

I can well imagine that 'Alfie' would have been recorded in Studio 1, as it's HUGE - about the size of an aircraft hanger! Interestingly, there ARE stairs in there, on the opposite side of the studio to S2, but they don't lead up to the control room. I think S2 is the only studio where the control room is on a different level.

It's unlikely that Cilla, or anyone else, would have been using Studio 1 so early on in their careers.

I too wondered if the set was based on photos that had been printed in reverse. It seems unlikely that this could have been the case, especially nowadays with such a plethora of visual documentation available freely on the internet.

So it was either deliberate or an accident. either way, I can't see a reason for it.

Let's hope that when the Shadows movie is made - just one big win on the Euro for me and I'll crack on with the script! - the set builders are given better reference material.

[JimN]

It's unlikely that Cilla, or anyone else, would have been using Studio 1 so early on in their careers.

Alfie was recorded live-in-the studio (no overdubbing) with Cilla accompanied by a full orchestra (with, as you probably already know, Burt Bacharach conducting).

This was, as it happens, three years into Cilla's career as an EMI artiste. She'd already had great success - and Alfie was probably her greatest artistic triumph.

Incidentally: there is contemporary live footage of the session; it is said to have been Studio One:

[MartcasterJunior]

Maybe they used the film of the Alfie recording as a reference point for the programme? I've watched the clip in question now and I can well imagine that they just used a room that was somewhere close to what they needed and could be 'dressed' appropriately, what with TV budgets being what they are these days.

[Stratpicker]

I can well imagine that 'Alfie' would have been recorded in Studio 1, as it's HUGE - about the size of an aircraft hanger!

Let's hope that when the Shadows movie is made - just one big win on the Euro for me and I'll crack on with the script! - the set builders are given better reference material.

At 0.34 in the video clip GM actually says it was recorded in Studio1

A Shads movie? Well we can hope, cant we.
cheers
ian

[JimN]

Maybe they used the film of the Alfie recording as a reference point for the programme? I've watched the clip in question now and I can well imagine that they just used a room that was somewhere close to what they needed and could be 'dressed' appropriately, what with TV budgets being what they are these days.

My understanding is that a (plainly, disused) warehouse on the North Liverpool (former) docks was used as a space for the setting up of many of the miscellaneous indoor scenes (including the Abbey Road studio). The steps of the Adelphi Hotel (corner of Ranelagh Place and Copperas Hill) were used as a stand-in for whichever London hotel was portrayed in the second or third episode. That spot was instantly recognisable.

Other locations (eg, Scotland Road) were unusable because they have changed too much. Holt Road (Liverpool 7) looks nothing like Scotland Road, even as it was in 1960, but was the stand-in for the location of the parental home.

The late-night scene at the phone-box was unintentionally hilarious. The "parkland" surrounding it, looking down the hill from Everton towards Scotland Road, was chock full of terraced streets at the time.

One thing that jarred - especially for anyone who can remember the day in question - was that "Cilla" learned of Brian Epstein's death during dinner at a West End restaurant. In fact, the news was announced in the middle of that Sunday and the Beatles had already been approached for comment (at Bangor, N Wales, if I recall correctly) by the time of the teatime TV news on that summer Sunday. Cilla and Bobby would have to have been unduly incommunicado all day not to have heard the news. Everyone else had (and that would have included other diners and the waiting staff).

[drakula63]

Maybe they used the film of the Alfie recording as a reference point for the programme? I've watched the clip in question now and I can well imagine that they just used a room that was somewhere close to what they needed and could be 'dressed' appropriately, what with TV budgets being what they are these days.

Strangely enough, coincidentally, I had the same thoughts last night watching ep 3. I wonder if they decided to build a generic/all-purpose Abbey Road studio which could double as 1 and 2, without being an accurate representation of either. This would make sense as there is probably no way they could have afforded to construct an accurate, full-sized replica of 1. I was wondering where it was actually filmed - and now I know.

[JimN]

Very informative article:

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/recreating-cillas-liverpool---behind-7766232

QUOTE:
There are plenty of street scenes, with the cast wandering down Yates Street in Dingle, past the Cross Keys pub off Old Hall Street and drinking at Ye Cracke on Rice Street.
ENDQUOTE

Now that is weird.

When I was a teenager, my mother kept the "Ye Cracke" pub (which still exists, but has since been much extended) and I lived in the tiny first floor flat.

I don't recall seeing anything in the "Cilla" series which made me think of "Ye Cracke".