Well here we are again, happy as can be, all good friends and jolly good company. I must congratulate the BBC on getting Strictly Come Dancing back on television; as you know it is filmed at Elstree Studios.

Apparently 12 million other viewers agreed with me as we all need some light entertainment. I was due to meet one of the professional dancers, Giovanni, this year but obviously that has been postponed until the spring.

Read more: Nicola Adams and Katya Jones out of Strictly after positive Covid-19 test

As all the group dance routines were filmed in advance I wonder if that means once a celebrity is voted off their professional partner can also go home?

Harrow Times:

Strictly Come Dancing judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas and Motsi Mabusi

I am always amazed as to how some of the celebs with no previous dancing experience pick up the routines and do such a great job under a lot of pressure. Personally in eight decades I have only mastered four dances. The twist, the mashed potato, the okey cokey and the conga. We did have dance lessons at school, which we lads frowned upon, but at a pinch I could still stumble around the dance floor doing what I call the shuffle waltz, especially once I had imbibed of a couple of medicinal vodkas.

It is also great news that Holby City is back on air from the BBC Elstree Centre and it will be interesting to see how they tackle the distancing challenges for the actors on set. EastEnders has made it look easy with camera angles and tricks - it must be a giant headache that is not going away soon.

It was wonderful news to hear that Hertsmere Borough Council have given their full support to creating a film and television centre to celebrate our unique heritage stretching back over 100 years. However, it must be stressed they see their role as facilitating the idea rather financing or running it. I understand an advisory panel will be set up next year to explore the possibilities . It will not be an easy task as funding is a major issue: what a centre would be like, copyright issues regarding what would attract the public and so on. I would love to see it happen but in the past 40 years I have been involved in four such schemes and all failed.

Harrow Times: Paul Welsh

Paul Welsh

I think George Lucas and Steven Spielberg should cough up say £10 million from their enormous wealth and tax deductible considering they made a fortune from the films they shot at Elstree Studios and both called it their second home. In return I will put on a peak cap and help show visitors around albeit boring them with my anecdotes.

If invited I will volunteer to join any panel. Dreams sometimes come true, provided they are based in reality and followed up with actions and not words. If it boils down to some panels in our local museums then it is shall we say an underwhelming idea albeit requiring little effort. To make it a must-visit tourist attraction with all the spin offs to the local economy is a huge financial challenge but who knows? Well, George and Steven, if via your press cuttings service you get to read this, thank you once again for your letters of congratulations to me when we saved Elstree Studios. We are all now of a certain age so splash the cash and leave a bricks and mortar legacy so I can donate those letters rather than they end up on a well-known auction site or the skip when I the kick the bucket in 50 years' time.

  • Paul Welsh MBE is a Borehamwood writer and historian of Elstree Studios