and are not fully-equipped television studios. Fountain undertook the daunting task of the refurbishment and by 1994 the first shows began to trickle in. Hearts of Gold with Esther Rantzen, Talking Telephone Numbers and The Day Today were amongst the first shows to use Fountain's facilities. Many high-profile productions were still produced at Fountain Studios up until its closure in February 2017; these include The X Factor, Play to the Whistle, 1000 Heartbeats and Britain's Got Talent. Closure In January 2016, it was confirmed that the studios had been sold for £16 million to a property developer, Quintain. The lease (at present up to eight years) for the site is still available and several parties have expressed an interest. The most likely use will be to retain the building and turn it into a 1,000-seat theatre and that may start after the decommissioning of the studio equipment for sale by auction in February 2017. The site was leased from Quintain by Wembley Park Theatre Ltd in September 2017 for a 'meanwhile use' of the site until the site is demolished to make way for new developments. The duration of this use was for up to seven years as submitted by Quintain in November 2017. The existing buildings to be repurposed on a temporary basis as an event space (primarily concentrating on theatrical use). The multi-functional venue will be predominantly focused on a main auditorium which will be designed for use in a number of layouts. This will be formed from the former studio space. In addition, various parts of the building will be used in a number of layouts and for a number of functions, including the former offices, restaurant, storage areas and car parks. Work started in September 2017 with minor modifications to the scene dock area and the addition of extra fire doors. It is expected that the first productions will start in the early part of 2018 Brent Council has various documents relating to the Theatre use. London promoter LWE hosted a club night on 6 May 2018 featuring The Martinez Brothers headlining a Cuttin' Headz showcase. That was followed on 10 May 2018 by an appearance from Paul Kalkbrenner. Some photos of the current state at that time can be found online. A press release was issued on 23 May 2018 stating that the studios would open in the latter half of 2018 as a flexible