The Royal College of Physicians, the leading venue overlooking London’s Regent’s Park, has been chose to host one of the BBC’s best loved radio programmes, Gardeners’ Question Time. Recording is set to take place in the venue’s Wolfson Theatre on Monday 23 January.
The RCP’s suitability for the programme has been helped by the fact that it is the location of one of the country’s most significant ‘medicinal gardens,’ sited in a secluded area to the side of its main building. The garden, which includes many exotic and historic medicinal plants - including some dating back to prehistoric times - is a popular location for summer events such as drinks receptions and barbecues and provides a relaxing break for conference delegates. Exhibits include traditional medicinal plants from various cultures, labelled and arranged in beds, mainly according to their geographical origins from regions which include North America, the Orient, Central Asia and the southern hemisphere.
The Wolfson Theatre is the RCP’s largest events space. It is a purpose-built tiered auditorium and lecture theatre, seating a maximum of 300 people, and equipped with comprehensive audio-visual support with Bluetooth technology. A recent £250,000 refurbishment saw new upholstery for all seats, new carpets, improved lighting systems incorporating a motorised bar to facilitate control, a new central projection screen and curtain, a remodelling of the facilities for support technicians and further development of the theatre’s accessibility provision.
The BBC organisation regularly uses the RCP as a setting for significant programmes. Its historic Dorchester Library has been the location for the prestigious Dimbleby Lecture and its kitchens have been used for the finals of “MasterChef: The Professionals”.