Lime Grove Studios Lime Grove Studios were a collection of inter - connected buildings located on Lime Grove Street in the Shepherd ' s Bush district of the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham . They were the site of much of the studio recording done during the monochromatic era of the original series of " Doctor Who " . Site history . Lime Grove dates to 1915 , when it was built by Gaumont Films . It was originally constructed with glass ceilings above the sets , because the studios used no artificial lighting . This was soon seen as impracticable , however , and the site switched to internal lighting in 1917 . It underwent a couple of construction projects in 1927 and 1932 - 33 , but these were the last innovations brought to the site ' s physical plant . By the time , the BBC bought it in 1949 , it was already an ageing property . Indeed , the BBC initially acquired it as a " stopgap " facility for use only until the new BBC Television Centre could be completed . Nevertheless , it continued to be used well after the opening of Television Centre , to the dismay of producers like Verity Lambert who had accepted the challenge of filming there only on a very temporary basis . The site was closed in 1991 and demolished in 1993 - - outlasting the original run of " Doctor Who " . Several of Jon Pertwee ' s links for " The Troughton Years " video were filmed at Lime Grove in April 1991 , three months before the studios were closed . Relevance to " Doctor Who " . Lime Grove Studios were the predominant studios used to film " Doctor Who " during the early William Hartnell and most of the Patrick Troughton eras . They were used for principal photography . As such , they would have been a primary workplace of Hartnell , Carole Ann Ford , William Russell , Jacqueline Hill . Frazer Hines , Wendy Padbury , Deborah Watling and Patrick Troughton . They were also the first workplace of John Nathan - Turner on the program , who was a floor assistant on the single episode of " The Space Pirates " which was shot at Lime Grove . The studios were notably hated by Verity Lambert , both for their size and lack of facilities . One of her principal technical ambitions was to get " Doctor Who " shifted out of the cramped quarters of Lime Grove . She succeeded in the second season , but only because Sydney Newman himself threatened to stop making " Doctor Who " unless better facilities could be found . Thus , for all but the last six months of Newman ' s contract with the BBC , " Doctor Who " was mostly recorded at Riverside Studios . Nevertheless , " Doctor Who " returned to its Lambert - era digs beginning with the last episode of " The Moonbase " . Like his predecessor , Innes Lloyd was unhappy with the move , as he found Lime Grove even more antiquated than Lambert had . " Who " continued using the old studios as its main recording facilities until Deborah Watling ' s last appearance in " Fury from the Deep " . Nominally , " Doctor Who " was then permanently moved to Television Centre . However , a number of shows involving Wendy Padbury were at least partially recorded at Lime Grove . " Doctor Who " finally shod itself of Lime Grove with the first episode of " The Space Pirates " , the last whole episode shot at the Grove . Various studios within Lime Grove . Studio D . Studio D is perhaps the most famous of the Lime Grove studios to " Doctor Who " enthusiasts . It was the original studio location for the programme and has become famous in descriptions of the filming of the pilot , " An Unearthly Child " . It is also the subject of many unpleasant memories on the part of the production staff . Its many inefficiencies have been touched on in the pages of " Doctor Who Magazine " and in DVD extras , for years . Studio E . Studio E " may " have been used by " Doctor Who " . If so , it was apparently only used for one day in the history of the program : 13 March 1972 . It is unclear what , if any , material was shot . Two sources are in significant conflict over the use of Lime Grove for this serial . One suggests that TC8 was used on 13 - 14th March , while another suggests that TC8 was abandoned for Lime Grove Studio E on the 13th and TC4 on the 14th . Studio G . Studio G was a long , narrow , rectangular space which Verity Lambert was offered by the BBC Planning Department . In the deal , she got Planning to agree that Studio D was unsuitable as the main recording space for the programme . She even got them to rotate " Doctor Who " to the top of the list of shows to be scheduled at Television Centre . However , if TC was unavailable , she would have to use Lime Grove ' s Studio G . Lambert continued to argue against this " compromise " because the shape of Studio G was totally wrong for the depiction of science fictional vistas , and allowed for no sense of depth . . In practice Studio G was used only once by " Doctor Who " . Use of Lime Grove within " Doctor Who " fiction . Lime Grove is implied by the story " The Idiot ' s Lantern " , in which the very earliest days of the BBC are featured . Particularly relevant is the clip of " Muffin the Mule " , which would have been produced at Lime Grove .