While we’re all being a little more environmentally-conscious these days, one listener of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast wrote in to ask hosts Richard Osman and Marina Hyde how sustainable TV sets really are, and what happens to them once filming is done.
A crucial question that we may not love the answer to.
After the hosting duo had discussed the wastefulness of some of YouTube star Mr Beast’s sets, the listener said: “It got me wondering how green and sustainable the TV industry really is. Are these sets, for example, reused restored or forgotten and thrown away?”
Marina said: “You always see signs around saying ‘this is a sustainable production’ and things like that. I mean, I remember once being on set and seeing some claim about what that particular production’s use of reusable coffee cups had done for the rainforest. And just thinking, yeah, someone’s got the maths really wrong here because by the way you are making television.”
Hyde went on to say that TV sets are “one of the worst things you can do for the planet”.
“You go and see these sets, huge generators, the lights, everything about it is incredibly bad for the planet. And I’m have to tell you that very, very little of it is saved.”
Oh no.
She explained: “Think about a big studio complex in the UK. You’ve got lots of big black boxes that need to be emptied the minute your thing has finished. And many of them are completely full of set.
“So when that goes, we really would be overcrowded then, because they’d be... we just live in a country full of films that very little gets kept. Some props can be kept and some things, but lots of it goes.”
However, Richard did offer a more hopeful perspective, saying that some shows that come back do reuse their sets constantly.
He assured: “If you’re Have I Got News For You, or if you are Deal Or No Deal, your show comes back, you know,
“There are big storage facilities around the country that if you go into, you literally walk around and you’re on the set to Family Fortunes and then you’re on the set to Deal Or No Deal, and then you’re on the set for The Wheel. These things are all stored everywhere.”
Richard revealed that these sets will be reused for four to five series, but even when they do get a makeover, the entire set isn’t remade. Instead, it’s a lick of paint here and there.
The future of sustainable television is also looking better, as Richard explained that sets now have to meet a standard called ALBERT, which ensures that sets are as carbon neutral and sustainable as possible.