The Great BBC Sell-off: latest auction raises more than £200,000

A vintage microphone was bought for £862 in the latest auction of items from the BBC’s former home at Television Centre. Photograph: BBC

In the real-life equivalent of Cash in the Attic, the latest auction of memorabilia from the BBC’s former home at Television Centre, including a giant Doctor Who canvas, has generated more than £200,000 for the corporation’s coffers.

Among the items under the hammer were a collection of black-and-white David Bailey portraits of stars dating from the 1960s, including The Beatles, Mick Jagger and Michael Caine, which went for £1,264.

The slew of quirky collectable items included historical broadcast equipment, such as a vintage microphone embossed with the BBC logo which sold for £862, and items from Studio 8, where Fawlty Towers and Monty Python’s Flying Circus were filmed.

One of the studio’s clocks sold for £780, while the Studio 8 sign which hung above the door was bought for £478. An original “flesh-tone” test card sold for £1,250 from among the 2,185 lots in the online aution.

The BBC said buyers from the UK, Europe and the US lined up for the auction, which also included a signed Strictly Come Dancing photograph from the 2008 series and a giant Doctor Who canvas featuring Matt Smith which sold for £145.

A giant Doctor Who canvas featuring Matt Smith sold for £145. Photograph: /BBC

But it was the items of industrial kit that raised the majority of the money. One bidder paid £16,000 for a generator, the BBC said.

BBC director of commercial projects, Chris Kane, said the auction marked the end of one chapter of the BBC’s relationship with the west London building, where the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, and BBC Studios and Post Production will return.

To date, the BBC has made £600,000 from selling off Television Centre items with more sales planned.

Previous auction items have included the entire Blue Peter studio, a desk used by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight, and the head of the robot Kryten from Red Dwarf.

The BBC sold the site to developer Stanhope in 2012 for £200m.

• To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”.

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.