Save Havelock House
A Television Pioneer
The conversion of Havelock House for television use was a landmark development in broadcasting on these islands.
Before its launch, many outside observers expected Ulster Television (UTV) to fail. It would be the first commercial station to serve fewer than 2.5 million people and its advertising revenue was expected to be negligible.
The Independent Television Authority (ITA), which oversaw the ITV network, was opposed to small stations but had given into pressure from the Stormont government.
The success of UTV proved that small stations could work, prompting the ITA to establish a network of them across the UK.
Creating a station
Havelock House was a key part of UTV's success. It was a significant departure from the large studio centres operated by other broadcasters.
From the outset, UTV's founders realised that their station had to be built on a very tight budget and be designed so it could operate as efficiently as possible. The goal was to create a facility which could be operated by fewer than a dozen people at quiet times.
The cheapest option was to convert an existing building. The choice came down to two buildings: Havelock House and a disused iron foundry.
Havelock House was initially ruled out because there was nowhere to put a studio. The standard practice for conversions was to create a studio from a large high open space within the building.
But it turned out that it would be too expensive to convert the foundry due to the level of work involved. At this point, Havelock House was re-examined and UTV's technical advisors Marconi suggested that it might be possible to build a studio in the old goods yard.
Marconi's suggestion was a significant gamble. It was an untested solution and the dimensions of the yard meant that UTV would be reliant on what would easily be the UK's smallest production studio for local shows.
The studio was designed by Howard Steele, who would later become ITV's director of engineering due to his work on Havelock House and other projects.
Steele's design was small, simple and flexible. It allowed UTV to produce a high volume of local shows from a tiny studio. All these shows were screened entirely live - UTV couldn't afford a videotape recorder or a film processing unit.
The alterations made to Havelock House itself were minimal. Local architect Brian Hewitt retained the building's Victorian superstructure and made new rooms using partition walls. The most visible alteration was the rendering over of the building's decorative Victorian exterior to give it a more contemporary look.
National Impact
Upon its opening in October 1959, Havelock House exceeded industry expectations. Although there were only 90,000 TV sets in Northern Ireland, UTV was almost immediately profitable.
It success reshaped the ITV network. Its performance convinced the ITA that small stations were viable, prompting it to permit a wave of other small stations across the UK.
Most of these stations were modeled on Havelock House with guidance provided by UTV and Steele. Steele and Hewitt were even given the challenge of building the studio centre which would bring ITV to the Channel Islands, a region of only 100,000 people.
As UTV grew, it sought to maintain its pioneering reputation through a series of broadcasting firsts. The most significant of these was Midnight Oil, the UK's first adult education series and the first precursor to the Open University.
Cultural Impact
Northern Ireland is one of the most culturally distinct parts of these islands, which was immediately noticed by the Marconi engineers assisting with Havelock House's conversion. One engineer later observed:
"[The] industrial population there is traditionally supposed to be against innovations. Moreover, the Ulsterman takes pride in a characteristic bluntness and impatience with 'London'".
In any case, BBC NI's limited TV output seemed designed to cater for an English audience, meaning that Havelock House brought local popular culture to television screens.
UTV's local shows all tapped into aspects of Ulster's popular culture. Although some of these series were disliked by critics and bewildered outside observers, they were extremely popular with local audiences.
There was a strong focus on audience engagement: Teatime with Tommy was based almost entirely on audience requests while thousands of local children featured on Romper Room during its ten-year run. Meanwhile, Charles Witherspoon toured Ulster by bicycle to interview local characters.
Havelock House was also symbolically important as the region's most prominent cross-community workplace, pointing to a brighter, more integrated future.
A photograph taken by Marconi just prior to the start of conversion work at Havelock House.
A similar view taken soon after the building's conversion.
Creating an industry
The opening of Havelock House marked the beginning of Northern Ireland's modern television industry.
Although BBC NI had been doing TV broadcasts since 1953, its local output was limited to an hour per week.
This meant that most Northern Irish people interested in TV had to emigrate to get work.
UTV was required to produce at least six hours of local shows per week, which led to the return of many migrants and plentiful opportunities for fresh talent.
From the outset, UTV shows had a good reputation, leading to the poaching of talent by larger broadcasters.
Stars who began their TV careers at Havelock House included Roger Whittaker, Frank Carson, Gloria Hunniford, Eamonn Holmes, Gordon Burns, Patrick Kielty and Val Doonican.
Behind the cameras, production staff included award-winning director Derek Bailey, future independent production pioneer Brian Waddell and Paul Smith, the creator of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Today, the reputation for talent and innovation established at Havelock House remains the basis for Northern Ireland's TV industry, which has become a significant economic driver.
Romper Room was so popular with local children that the series ran for almost ten years
Teatime with Tommy was a simple but effective format where viewers' musical requests were played.