In January 1966, 2001: A Space Odyssey moved its production to MGM British Studios, after a brief spell at Shepperton Studios where the Tycho Moon Crater excavation was filmed.

What followed at Borehamwood was one of the most extraordinary concentrations of film craft ever assembled in British studios to create sets and effects which still are, 60 years later, among the best ever put to film.

Stages used at MGM British Studios, Borehamwood:
• Stage 1 – Pod Bay
• Stage 2 – Aries Passenger Area
• Stage 3 – The Dawn of Man sequence & interior of the Space Station
• Stage 4 – Centrifuge; Discovery emergency airlock; the white Renaissance-style bedroom
• Stage 5 – Clavius Base conference room
• Stage 6 – HAL’s brain room

MGM British Studios would close in 1970. A brief merger with EMI at Elstree Studios followed, but by 1972 MGM had withdrawn from the UK entirely. Much of the MGM site was later demolished, including the striking white Art Deco administration building with its clock tower, finally lost in the mid-1980s.

2001 endures as a benchmark for production design, visual effects, and cinematic ambition that still feels unsurpassed.

The Elstree Project is proud to have recorded oral history interviews with crew members who worked on the film, including camera operator Kelvin Pike, props and effects technician Mick Brady, and rigger Alf Newvel.

Alf shared a brilliant anecdote about a studio manager moving an effects camera without Stanley Kubrick’s knowledge — a story you can hear on our website in the Stanley Kubrick section: https://theelstreeproject.org/films/stanley-kubrick/