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live surprise

Turning a classic London bus into a mobile studio

One of the more unusual projects I’ve had to manage was the transformation of a classic (but battered) Routemaster bus into a fully-functioning mobile studio for outside broadcasts.

In late 2005 as those much loved icons of London had been decommissioned en masse, I’d dreamily floated the idea of turning one into a roaming studio. And yet, I was in unchartered waters when my boss said, “well, sort one out then”.

So it was on a rain-splattered day in December 2005 that I found myself handing over £8,000 and collecting RML 2573 from some Godforsaken windswept depot in South London. Showbiz indeed.

Here you can see the transformation in a series of rather shoddy shots, culminating in an appearance of the breakfast show team at Gray’s School in June 2006

Bonus detail for bus fans – the renovation was by Southeast Coachworks