EastEnders Live Week - Uncovering the Technical Set-up Behind the 0 Anniversary Celebrations

EastEnders Live Week' - Uncovering the Technical Set-up Behind the 30th Anniversary Celebrations 17 February 2015

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BBC Studios and Post Production uses its technical expertise to deliver a week of live segments and a full live episode of the nation's favourite soap

BBC Studios and Post Production is providing full technical services and crew for EastEnders Live Week, the week-long celebrations from 17 February to mark the soap's much anticipated 30th anniversary. Billed as an explosive week of drama on BBC One, with shocking revelations and unguessable' twists, it will be a week that will change Albert Square forever. With a series of live elements in all the episodes, EastEnders Live Week will culminate with a full live half-hour episode on Friday 20 February.

The technical requirements of delivering a live event of this scale are considerable. For the EastEnders Live Week, OB 10 provided by CTV will assist to facilitate the operation, interacting with BBC Studios and Post Production's infrastructure on its BBC Elstree site on the edge of London, including controlling the playout. To assist with the challenge of intercutting live elements into the pre-recorded material, the pre-recorded material will be played out from an EVS server. The vision mixer then cuts to the live material and back to the pre-recorded material at the appropriate time.

A crucial element of the production is the complex camera set-up required to handle the different scenes taking place in the studios and on the outside lot. Up to 30 cameras and 45 radio mics will be used in each of the live episodes cutting in with the pre-recorded material, scaling up to 41 cameras for the 30-minute live episode. Well-rehearsed technical set-ups mean that some cameras will be tracked to bring movement to the live scenes.

To manage the additional production crew and technical staff deployed to work on Live Week, a special comms system has been installed. A Motorola radio system will enable the production team to have complete coverage of the Elstree site, while also giving a greater resilience. Over 140 handsets are required to be deployed on set at any one time ensuring efficient communication throughout the episodes. The live dub will be managed from the OB truck and the dedicated sound facility pre-recorded foley, including background noise from the market and pub, will be inserted into the mix.

To ensure a consistent picture between the pre-recorded and live material, cameras will be wrapped in the same way as for normal recording and balanced to colour match the grade to the pre-recorded footage.

John O'Callaghan, Head of Studios and Post Production Services at BBC Studios and Post Production, said: This week marks an incredible milestone for the cast and crew of EastEnders and we're thrilled to provide the platform to make this happen. Delivering live drama comes with its own unique set of challenges, not least the need to balance being responsive and flexible with thorough planning and rehearsal of the technical set-up. We're looking forward to seeing it come to life this week.

This isn't the first time that EastEnders fans have been treated to live episodes and segments. BBC Studios and Post Production delivered a full half hour live episode for the soap's 25th anniversary in 2010 and a live segment in 2012 featuring the character of Billy Mitchell carrying the real Olympic Torch through Albert Square.

Over the last month, EastEnders has triumphed at both the National Television Awards (NTA) and the Broadcast Awards. At the NTAs, the soap picked up the highly coveted award for Most Popular Serial Drama, and cast members Danny Dyer and Maddy Hill took home the awards for Outstanding Serial Drama Performance and Most Popular Newcomer, respectively. At the Broadcast Awards, EastEnders won the Best Soap / Continuing Drama award.

To follow the action of EastEnders Live Week on twitter, use the hashtags #EELive and #WhoKilledLucy.

About BBC Studios and Post Production

BBC Studios and Post Production is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC, providing world-class studios, post production and digital media services. It works with media companies and broadcasters, making content for a variety of broadcasters - from Channel 4's Winter Paralympics, ITV's The Chase and Sky's A League of Their Own, to BBC One's EastEnders, Children in Need and Strictly Come Dancing.

Its award-winning Digital Media Services team preserves, re-masters and manages content through its digital archiving, restoration and distribution services, working with content owners like Imperial War Museums to conserve and maximise the value of their material. Credits include Dr Who, The Professionals and The Queen's Coronation.

While Television Centre is being redeveloped, BBC Studios and Post Production relocated its London studio business to Elstree, situated just 25 minutes from Central London, where it offers fully equipped HD TV studios and post production services. Its Digital Media Services team operates from a permanent, purpose-built facility at Odyssey Business Park, South Ruislip.

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