When will the Beeb
dust off its £1m studio?

By RICHARD KAY FOR THE DAILY MAIL
Updated: 11:24 EST, 6 May 2011

In defence: Gary Lineker with Emmanuel Adebayor and Alan Shearer at last year's World Cup

New BBC chairman Lord Patten, who promises to cut waste on his watch, may find an interesting item in his in-tray. It concerns the much talked about ‘flat- pack’ TV studio which cost the Corporation around £1 million when used at last year’s football World Cup in South Africa.

At the time it was claimed that the portable, glass-walled contraption would save licence-fee payers money in the long-term because it could be re-used.
In fact, I understand the structure has not been set up for any other occasion.

The studio was not used for last October’s Commonwealth Games in India and other events have not been big enough to justify its deployment.

The ‘flat-pack’ building was purpose-built for the BBC after it decided to broadcast coverage of the 2010 World Cup from the top of a Cape Town hospital, 1,000 miles from the main base of the competition in Johannesburg.

At the time, experts claimed that the cost, including bills for satellite transmission, came to £1 million.

A BBC source last night insisted the Corporation still intended to use the studio at some point but none had come up.
It is thought the structure will be dusted off for a role in the Olympics. Corporation insiders continue to maintain that in the long-run the portable studio will be cost-effective.  

A source said: ‘There have been no other occasions to use it. But it will save us money.’

The insider added: ‘It could also be used for news if there was a massive event.’

However, for last week’s Royal Wedding the BBC used another temporary studio.

Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker has defended the unit, saying it was ‘exactly what the public would expect it to be’.

Last year, the National Audit Office criticised the BBC for building a £250,000 studio in Vienna for the Euro 2008 football championships because it did not like the original view of the city.

According to folklore, Elizabeth Taylor would unlock her jewellery safe every morning for 30 years to admire — and polish — the beloved 33.19 carat Krupp diamond ring given to her by Richard Burton.

However, Burton’s longtime pal Robert Hardy is not so sure.

‘She never took it off and it often looked filthy,’ Hardy tells me at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ show at the Mall Galleries.

The Churchill actor adds: ‘Once when I visited her in London there was a case of vodka at the bottom of her bed so I filled the washbasin with it and set to work cleaning the ring. It dazzled and she was delighted.’

Adds Hardy: ‘The next time we met she thrust the ring into my hand imploring: “Help me — it’s filthy again”.’

A royal shaggy dog story

Phone call: Caroline Warren

Their usual encounters are in the winner’s enclosure, but this week Frankie Dettori had an unexpected private audience with the Queen — after losing  his dog.

Frankie had thrown a party for friends at his Newmarket home on Sunday night after unexpectedly winning the 1,000 Guineas on Blue Bunting.

He went to bed late and left a door ajar, letting his long-haired dachshund  Scruby wander off.

Thankfully, Frankie’s phone number was on the pooch’s collar and the next day he got a call from Caroline Warren (left) whose husband John is the Queen’s racing manager.

Scruby had turned up at their house. 

Says Frankie: ‘I offered to come around and pick Scruby up right away but Caroline said, “Why don’t you come later, then you can meet the Queen.”

'She was coming over to watch the horses on the gallops. I went round with my daughter and sure enough the Queen was there, looking after the dog.

‘I couldn’t believe it. We had a nice chat about the wedding and the Guineas and  about dogs.

'It was wonderful to see her — and such a funny thing to happen. What are the chances of losing your dog then discovering the Queen has it?’

It’s certainly a long-shot, Frankie.

The list of powerful names is long and packed with intrigue: Maxwell, Branson, Al Fayed and, most recently, Bernie Ecclestone.

Now it is the turn of Simon Cowell to go under the microscope of investigative author Tom Bower, who has a habit of unearthing uncomfortable facts about his subjects.

But Cowell, a brilliant manipulator with a highly managed public image, has made an intriguing pre-emptive strike.

He has invited Bower to join him in the U.S. next week for the opening of The X Factor on American TV.

A friend of Cowell’s tells me: ‘Bower’s reputation precedes him but Simon has opened the doors to him.

His attitude is the opposite of those who have shrunk away from his inquiries.’

Bower tells friends he has been drawn to Cowell because ‘so much rides on the success of his American venture’.

Says a pal: ‘Ecclestone said he was going to kill Bower with love. Is Cowell going to try to do the same?’

Superman’s Ellen is jumping for joy

So excited: Ellen Whitaker

It has been a good year for handsome young actor Henry Cavill. In January it was announced that he had been cast as Superman in Zack Snyder’s remake of the film, and now he has found his Lois Lane, in the form of show- jumping beauty Ellen Whitaker, 25.

Stowe-educated Cavill, 28, proposed to Ellen, a scion of the famous Whitaker riding dynasty, in Hollywood.

‘I couldn’t believe it when he asked me.

'I thought we were there to celebrate his birthday, it was such a surprise and I am so happy,’ says Ellen, who is hotly tipped to make the British show jumping team for the 2012 Olympics, and whose uncles Michael and John are both Olympians.

Old-fashioned Cavill, a pin-up in the U.S. after playing Henry VIII’s serially seducing brother-in-law the Duke of Suffolk in The Tudors, rang Ellen’s father, show jumper Steven Whitaker, to ask his permission.

Says a friend of the couple: ‘Ellen was so excited she rang all her friends. They are just completely perfect for each other.’

IT was a talking point of the Royal Wedding — but for all the wrong reasons.
Three women chose to wear an identical Matthew Williamson outfit, a £1,015 leopard print coat.

But now — frock horror — I discover it was chosen by a fourth guest: Sarah, Marchioness of Milford Haven.

The daughter of the late boxer turned businessman George Walker, accompanied by Tory bigwig boyfriend Michael Spencer, was in good company.

Other wearers included actress/model Isabella Calthorpe and Meghan Gunderman, a pal of Kate and William’s.

P.S.Further to my item about Olympia’s grand hat sale, the London Ladies Club tell me they received headwear from four duchesses, three countesses, a lady-in-waiting, and the wife of the Governor of the Bank of England, Barbara King.

One lady was so moved by the idea to raise money for Armed Forces charity the SSAFA, she drove 36 quality hats down from Manchester while another donated 41.

I hear High Street retailer Sir Philip Green has offered hats from his outlets.

Hats off, indeed!

Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.