For Top Gear and Saturday Night Takeaway you need to visit and register with The Applause Store
Once you register they will email you when new shows are available so you will get a ‘heads up’ when the oppertunity comes up. And it isn’t just the two shows I’ve mentioned above. Here is the current list of some of the shows they manage the audience for.
- Top Gear
- Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway
- Catchphrase
- Big Brother/Celeb Big Brother
- Play To The Whistle
- Britain’s Got Talent
- Alan Davies As Yet Untitled
- Celebrity Juice
- Take Me Out
- QI
- The X Factor
- Through the Keyhole
- A League of Their Own
- Bring The Noise
- Love Island
- All Star Mr & Mrs
- Piers Morgan’s Life Stories
- WOULD I LIE TO YOU?
- POINTLESS
- ALL STAR FAMILY FORTUNES
- And Many, Many More!
The way you request tickets is similar to the requesting tickets from the BBC. They do ask a few more questions but often let you request up to 6 tickets at a time. They also let you register in advance for shows that aren’t yet available. This is useful if you see a show on catch-up and think you’d like to go to the recording but there aren’t any shows being recorded at the moment.
The shows are recorded in multiple locations around the uk, with many in London but also plenty elsewhere. The locations I’ve been to have no indoor/covered queuing areas so if the weather is bad, bring an appropriate coat/umbrella. You could be queueing a while.
When you arrive you will need to queue up where a production team member will supply you (generally) with a wristband to confirm you have had your ticket validated. The wristbands do have numbers on them so its important, like at the bbc, that if you want to be seated together you get validated together. Generally the staff give out wristbands to people with a ‘high’ chance of getting into the studio. Once they hit that limit they will turn people away from the queue for validation. The next stage is when they doors to the studio open and they call groups in by numbers on their wristbands. “Numbers 50-100 come to the studio doors.
There will be some people they keep in reserve in case people don’t come back after having their tickets validated. If you are part of this reserve numbers (high up) then the staff usually tell you whether they think you will get in.
Tips and Tricks
The Reservations Show Two Times.
One time is for when the show starts and one time is for when you can start to validate tickets. Don’t get these muddled up!
For the Best Seats Arrive Early.
For popular shows people start queuing 60 minutes (and earlier!) before the tickets are available to be validated. It is often better to be a bit earlier than you think you will need to be.
Arrive Together.
If you have multiple tickets reserved and you want to sit together, you need to have your tickets validated together. If you arrive at different times your wristband will have different numbers and that means you could be called at separate times to enter the studio. The danger is your will be sat separately or even some of you wont get in at all.
Bring your own food/drink.
You could be queuing for a long time so bring a drink and some food if you need it. Different studios (and shows) have different rules about what you can take in with you but generally a bottle of water isn’t denied (but this isn’t the same as being allowed!). Some shows recordings are 2 hours plus so be prepared for a long haul. If you are going to buy food to eat in the studio…. PLEASE make sure it is not in a bag that crinkles!
Grab a Drink.
Once you have your stickers/wrist band there is usually well over an hour before the doors to the studio open. You don’t have to stay on-site, use this time to grab a coffee or do some quick exploring.
This blog post is about how to watch Top Gear and Saturday Night Takeaway for free. If you have any questions then please ask below.