Pinewood Shepperton chief executive Ivan Dunleavy has said the plan to build a number of working sets within a “media cluster” is likely to have even greater benefits for the TV drama community than it will for the film industry.

Project Pinewood will sit on 100 acres of greenbelt land next to the current Pinewood facility and is expected to cost £200m.

It will comprise permanent working sets with a number of backdrops: a British suburb, a Venetian canal, a Roman amphitheatre, a replica of a medieval castle, a Los Angeles high school campus, Lake Como and street scenes from New York, London, Chinatown in Boston and a Chicago suburb.

Dunleavy argued that the tight budgets and time constraints in TV productions would mean dramas would benefit from being shot at the new site. For example, Doctor Who’s Manhattan-based battles with the Daleks could have been filmed at the new Pinewood rather than in New York.

Dunleavy said that comedies, such as Absolutely Fabulous which also set an episode in New York, would benefit too.

He added: “Being on location can be daunting, you can be in circumstances which are difficult to control ranging from dealing with traffic wardens to autograph hunters. Shooting within a controlled environment allows for a cost effective production - a great advantage to the TV industry.”

In addition, if the project goes ahead, Pinewood will host a residential development, which is expected to support between 2,000 and 2,250 homes.

The company still needs to secure planning permission for the development. The planning process will take between 18 and 24 months.

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