Kingswood Warren is unlike any research lab in the world. For more than 60 years, the BBC’s engineers have worked in this gothic mansion in Surrey to develop some of the greatest milestones in broadcasting technology: from FM to DAB radio, colour television to high-definition TV, and Ceefax to bbc.co.uk.

“They are the time lords,” says Matthew Postgate, controller of BBC research and innovation. “They regenerate themselves to react to whatever comes next.”