Andy Tapley, sound supervisor and designer of audio and comms infrastructure, knows the value of teamwork, especially when delivering a production as complex and high-stakes as Strictly Come Dancing. Tapley and Richard Sillitto work alongside one another as sound supervisors on the BBC’s Saturday night juggernaut, although he’s quick to emphasise the pair are “just cogs in the machine, and it’s totally the team that brings it together.”
This collective spirit was the driving force behind a large-scale technical overhaul of the sound control room at Elstree Studios’ George Lucas stage, which has previously played host to The Voice and Britain’s Got Talent.
The Sound Control Room already included a Studer Vista X, installed in 2015, which had been kept for the upgrade, with the desk still supported and powerful enough to manage the high input/output demands of big productions. However, Tapley tells TVBEurope, the rest of the sound infrastructure was “in need of a refresh.”
“Our audio routing system was a Studer OnAir 3000 that was showing signs of age,” he explains. “It was a weak point in the chain and no longer supported by Evertz, the new owner of Studer.”
Previous upgrades, such as the switch from Clear-Com to Riedel comms, had been “bolt-ons,” not part of a holistic, original design. This problem was exacerbated by similar issues on the vision side, where old, separate embedders and de-embedders fed into a vision router that was also due for replacement.
“This was an opportunity to pull it all out and to rethink in a much more streamlined way how we wanted the integration to work, and that’s exactly what we did,” Tapley states. Starting the technical design in August 2024, Tapley took charge of the audio plan while his colleague, Sebastian Gomez, handled the vision design.
The project was more than a simple replacement; it was a near-total overhaul. “We completely ripped out the original wiring and bays and started again, but we kept the sound desk because that was supported,” Tapley recalls. The focus was on modernising the patch bays and connectivity, upgrading the IO on the Vista X and integrating it with a new Evertz hybrid vision router.
The design phase began in August/September 2024, following approval from BBC Studioworks’ senior leadership team, and focused on both the room’s space and functionality. Tapley and the team collaborated with two system integrators; IPE focused on the audio, and Custom Consoles handled vision.
The relationships with both companies were long-standing and built on trust. Tapley describes Gareth Meehan at IPE and Graham Buchanan with Custom Consoles as “old and trusted friends” who had knowledge of the previous installations.
“IPE were able to build pretty much the sound control room in their factory. I was able to give them things like the Bantam and Ghielmetti bays so they could rewire everything, making it much easier when it came to the installation, because we were also up against it for the window of opportunity to finish the project.”
Internally, Tapley worked with his technology team, Nancy Wright and Hitesh Parmar, configuring all of the sound and comms equipment. “I’ve been mentoring them for a number of years and they were involved in every aspect of the new design.”
The operational expertise within the team was also invaluable to the design. Wright, who also serves as the Grams operator on Strictly Come Dancing, played a key role. “Nancy did a fabulous job in designing the Grams area and how that all integrated. She brought the technical design side as well as the operational. That’s the best thing about the way that we work, we knew how we want to use the kit in terms of the space and ergonomics.”
To ensure consistency and familiarity for freelance operators who will also use the space, the team integrated Calrec’s Type R system into the design, which is now standard across other Studioworks’ studios. Beyond the major routing and console IO changes, smaller, smart integrations made a big difference. The sound control room expanded its use of the BNCS controlled GPIO matrix, which connects various systems and allows, for example, a vision mixer cue to trigger a sound or lighting effect.
In addition, an RTP MIDI network was introduced utilising iConnectivity’s mioXM boxes. “MIDI might be old, but it’s still incredibly useful – allowing an additional layer of control between so many devices,” states Tapley.
Ergonomics also played a major role in the final layout. Because Strictly is one of the few shows to use two sound supervisors working side-by-side, it was crucial that Tapley and Sillitto had enough space. “The redesigned room and bay layout make the room feel much bigger, and with our new sofa, it’s a comfortable space for visitors. Dave Arch frequently makes use of this as he works through the music with us.”
The new room became operational in May, and by the end of July, it was being set for Strictly 2025. The change in workflow was immediate, driven by the shift to hybrid routing and the seamless integration between the sound desk and the router, controlled by the BNCS system.
The sound room upgrade has provided a necessary layer of resilience and reliability for the George Lucas stage. Given the immense pressure of working on a live show like Strictly Come Dancing, Tapley and the team had felt they were in a vulnerable position with the ageing infrastructure. Now, that is no longer the case. “We can safely say we have an updated, state-of-the-art installation with much more resilience,” he states, adding that Strictly’s production team is “very, very happy that we’ve done it with them in mind”.
