Banijay UK has promised a “multitude of local roles, training and development opportunities” in the West Midlands with MasterChef’s move to Birmingham in 2024.
The BBC1 cooking show is the first confirmed production to be based at the Digbeth Loc. Studios complex, which was set up by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight with support from Create Central. The facility sits alongside Creative Central’s £18 creative hub, unveiled earlier this month.
Banijay UK label Shine TV has signed a six-year deal with the BBC to produce the show from the facility, transferring production from London as part of the corporation’s Across the UK regional strategy.
The super-indie’s chief executive Lucinda Hicks said Birmingham is “on the cusp of being a major TV production centre again”.
She said it is “one of the most creatively exciting and culinary diverse regions in the country”, adding: “Having a multi-series, returning show like MasterChef made in the Midlands will provide a multitude of local roles, training and development opportunities, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the TV industry of the future.”
Create Central chair Ed Shedd said that the BBC’s growing investment in the area effectively meant that the licence fee is acting as “venture capital for our local creative economy”.
The six-year deal will extend to the show’s 40th anniversary, having launched in 1990.
All MasterChef spin-offs will also be produced from the new site, including MasterChef: the Professionals, Celebrity MasterChef and the upcoming BBC3 series Young MasterChef.
