Townhouse Studios history, being the first studio in the UK to install one of their B-series consoles. The 1000th console produced by SSL was installed in studio one. The SSL B mixing desk still exists. Studio One originally was home to a 72-input Helios console with an Alison 64K computer mixdown system, which now resides at Shorefire Recording Studios, Long Branch, New Jersey, United States. In July 1984, Townhouse 3 was opened, this being the old Ramport Studios in Battersea, purchased from the Who, the Helios from Townhouse 1 eventually being installed there, replacing a Neve, the Helios later giving way to
Shepperton Studios their company, Lee International. Bankers Warburg Pincus acquired the studios, which became busy with the filming of TV shows as well as such films as Franco Zeffirelli's "Hamlet" (1990), Kevin Reynolds' "" (1991) and Nicholas Hytner's "The Madness of King George" (1994). In 1995, the studios were purchased by a consortium headed by Ridley and Tony Scott, which led to an extensive renovation of the studios as well as the expansion and improvement of its grounds. In 2001, Shepperton Studios was sold to the Pinewood Group, which also owns Pinewood Studios in the UK, as well as Pinewood Studio Berlin