Maidstone Studios
| The Maidstone Studios | |
|---|---|
The Current Maidstone Studios
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 Location within Kent
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| Former names | TVS Television Centre Vinters Park Studios |
| General information | |
| Status | Open |
| Type | Television studios |
| Address | Vinters Business Park, New Cut Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 5NZ |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°16′48″N 0°33′00″E / 51.280°N 0.5499°ECoordinates: 51°16′48″N 0°33′00″E / 51.280°N 0.5499°E |
| Opening | Autumn 1982 |
| Owner | Maidstone Studios Limited (2002-) |
| Other information | |
| Parking | 350 |
| Website | |
| The Maidstone Studios | |
The Maidstone Studios, formerly called TVS Television Centre, is the UK's largest independent television studio complex based at Vinters Park in Maidstone, Kent, UK. It is home to a varied selection of independent British television programming including Later... with Jools Holland, Jools' Annual Hootenanny, Take Me Out, Catchphrase, as well as popular children's shows such as Mister Maker and Let's Play for CBeebies.
Other recent credits also include: Bang on the Money, The Royals E!, Ultimate Brain and Hetty Feather for CBBC, Davina McCall - Fitness DVDs, and The Coalition drama for Channel 4.
The site was first chosen by the then incumbent South of England ITV company Southern Television in 1979, and purchased the following year, for a proposed new studio facility should they win the Independent Broadcasting Authority contract for the new dual South and South-east of England region in 1981. However, following the loss of their franchise, they sold the site to the successful applicant Television South (TVS) at a premium. In fact it was part of the agreement between TVS and the IBA that TVS must provide a studio facility for the new South East region if TVS were to win the contract (although Maidstone was not specified by the IBA). The complex first opened in late 1982 and provided significant output for the company alongside long-standing facilities in Southampton (which they also purchased from Southern).
The site was used frequently for production, as a regional office and as a newsgathering hub, with the South East daily edition of Coast to Coast being based here from the completion of the studio complex. A small studio located in Dover had been used on Friday evenings only to provide an opt-out News Service for Kent and East Sussex until Southern ceased broadcasting at the end of 1981.
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