BBC won’t surrender Birmingham like Bake-Off

IT may have lost the Great British Bake-Off but the BBC isn’t giving up on Birmingham – at least not until 2020.

The corporation has confirmed that it will continue to produce dramas in the city for another four years, at which point the lease expires on its Drama Village in Edgbaston.

Confirmation of the Beeb’s commitment comes in a new planning application to Birmingham City Council.

The broadcaster has applied for permission to replace a modular storage building at the Drama Village, based at Archibald House on the Selly Oak campus of the University of Birmingham.

The building is used to store the costumes used in various shows such as Doctors but it has become so dilapidated that a replacement is needed.

In a letter supporting the application, Paul Smith, head of estate management for the BBC, said the broadcaster needed to retain the storage facility so it could continue to operate out of the Drama Village until the lease ended in July 2020.

“The challenges facing the BBC to deliver the highest quality programming against our commitments to provide cost savings during these challenging times, means that it is imperative for Drama Village to continue in its current format to enable programmes to be produced within Birmingham and the wider West Midlands until 2020; this is part of our commitment to better represent the regions outside London,” he said.

“We would urge you to support the retention of this temporary building until the BBC’s lease expires in July 2020 as it is an essential requirement to operate from the site and ensures that programmes can continue to be made from the Drama Village.”

The broadcaster set up its operation at the Drama Village in 2003 following the closure of nearby Pebble Mill.