In 1954, the studio was taken over by BBC Television and became home to many of their most iconic programmes, including Hancock’s Half Hour (1957-60) and Doctor Who (1964-68).
That building became our original community arts centre in 1976 and, following Peter Gill’s landmark production of The Cherry Orchard in 1978, we quickly acquired our reputation for excellence and innovation.
Since then, Riverside has brought the world to West London, with a dynamic programme of international theatre, dance, visual art, television, comedy and music. The variety of our collaborators – who have included Amy Winehouse, Benjamin Zephaniah, Yoko Ono, Samuel Beckett, Black Theatre Cooperative, Michael Clark, Helen Mirren, Graeae, Lenny Henry, the Wooster Group and David Bowie – echoes our position as an intersection for the arts.
Our new building, opened in 2019, provides a state-of-the-art environment for this thrilling convergence to continue.