Old Moaner Travel

Television and Radio Show Audience

 

Location: various 
Tube: Various

 

Nearly all television and radio shows have free admission for audience. They give members of the public to watch their favourite shows and it also gives a very interesting insight into how television and radio programs are made.

 

I recall once seeing one of the BBC’s top comedy shows being recorded and had not realised how bad an actor one of the most popular characters in the show was.

 

Attending recordings isn’t something that can be done spontaneously and tickets need to be booked in advance. It also goes without saying the more popular the show the greater the demand for tickets.

 

The BBC as the national broadcaster and have the most tickets on offer. The best way to book tickets is to visit their website at www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/tickets/

 

For most ITV and some BBC programs an agency called SRO Audiences look after ticketing www.sroaudiences.com/

 

Hat Trick Productions is an independent production company producing many popular shows for both the BBC and ITV. Their booking site is at www.hattrick.co.uk/ticketing/

 

Music

 

Most of the major arts centres offer good quality free foyer concerts including:-

 

The Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank of the river (Tube: Waterloo), with live music Wednesday to Sunday 12:30 - 14:00 plus a Commuter Jazz session on Fridays 17:15 - 18:45

 

The Royal Festival Theatre also on the South Bank of the river (Tube: Waterloo) has free music 18:00 nightly and 13:00 on Saturdays as well a some exhibitions.

 

The Barbican in the City (Tube: Barbican, Moorgate) concerts in the foyer most days between 17:30 and 19:15 and most Sundays from 12:30 - 14:30

 

Many City churches have free lunchtime concerts, full details available from the City Of London Information Centre near St Paul's

 

London boasts some of the best music colleges in the world and many offer free concerts.

 

The Royal Academy Of Music, Marylebone Road (Tube: Baker Street) has many free events, details on their web site

 

The Royal College Of Music, Prince Consort Road (Tube: South Kensington), offers a mixture of free and relatively inexpensive concerts. Details on their web site

 

The Guildhall School Of Music and Drama, The Barbican (Tube: Barbican or Moorgate) also offers a mixture of free and inexpensive performances, details at their web site

 

Busking

 

Like most cities London has many buskers with standards ranging from terrible to absolutely brilliant.

 

Transport For London issues licences for buskers and competition for the licences is so intense the buskers have to pass an audition, so anyone officially busking in an Underground Station is likely to be of a pretty good standard.

 

Some of the busking pitches at Covent Garden and the South Bank Complex, as well as in the Borough of Camden, are also subject to licensing and auditions.

 

In the Square Mile, i.e. the City of London it is illegal to busk for money.

 

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