During 1928, the studio was sold to Ludwig Blattner who connected it to the electricity mains and introduced a German system of sound recording.

Studio D, with permanent audience seating, was used for light entertainment programmes[3] such as the ATV Morecambe and Wise series Two of a Kind (1961–68) and The Muppet Show (1976–81).

[4] When ATV was restructured as Central Independent Television in 1982, one of the conditions of its licence renewal by the governing body of the ITV network, the Independent Broadcasting Authority, was that ATV should leave any London-centric facilities and become more focused on the Midlands, the part of the United Kingdom to which it broadcast ITV programmes.

In addition to EastEnders, many other programmes have been made there including Top of the Pops, 'Allo 'Allo!, You Rang, M'Lord?, Grange Hill, Hangar 17 and Holby City.

British National Pictures Ltd. purchased 40 acres (16 ha) of land on the south side of Shenley Road and began construction of two large film stages in 1925.

[7] In 1974, Andrew Mitchell took over from Ian Scott as managing director of the studios but was almost immediately told to close the facility and lay off all the staff.

This led to subsequent Lucas productions such as the Star Wars sequels and Indiana Jones franchise being made at Elstree and also brought in director Steven Spielberg.

Acquired by the entertainment and property company Brent Walker part of the largely derelict backlot and their facilities were demolished and 19 acres were sold to Tesco plc to build their superstore.

Harkness Screens moved out of the site in 2004 having established a global manufacturing base in France and the US and relocated its UK operation to a new production facility in Stevenage.

The building in Borehamwood was demolished in 2006 to make way for apartments new properties, the development being named Gate Studios in homage to the former site.

Alexander Korda made one of his greatest successes at the studio, The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), which starred Charles Laughton as the King.

[14] British and Dominions made a substantial investment in Pinewood Studios at Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, and moved production there.

The support buildings in Borehamwood that remained after the fire were sold off to various companies including Frank Landsdown Ltd, which opened a film vault service.

MGM sometimes leased the studios to other film companies including the 20th Century Fox-produced The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), for which a large set of a Chinese town, complete with artificial lakes, covering some 500,000 square feet, was constructed.

[16] Several stages were taken up with the sets for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) over its extended production schedule, and indeed Stanley Kubrick's film is sometimes blamed for making the studios financially unviable.

The American company formed a short-lived deal with EMI, while the site of its former studios was redeveloped for industrial use and housing.

In 1956 the Danziger brothers converted a wartime plane engine testing factory into a film studio they called "New Elstree",[17] which was located to the west of the Aldenham Reservoir.

[19] In December 2019, media conglomerate Sky announced plans to develop a new studio facility at Rowley Lane.