The City of Manchester and its surrounding area has a strong heritage for television broadcasting. The city is home to the oldest television studios in the UK and the most successful ITV franchisee,

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

. Manchester's most famous television exports include ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'', ''

Seven Up! The ''Up'' series of documentary films follows the lives of ten males and four females in England beginning in 1964, when they were seven years old. The first film was titled ''Seven Up!'', with later films adjusting the number in the title t ...

'', ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...

'', ''

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

'', ''

Question of Sport ''Question of Sport'' (previously ''A Question of Sport'') is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It is the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast onl ...

'' and ''

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of the ...

'' - all of which are still broadcasting to large audiences today. Granada's productions gradually waned in the 2000s, but it is hoped the BBC move to Salford Quays in 2011 will spawn a new era of television broadcasting in the area. Manchester also has a high correlation of successful television drama series, with many being produced and filmed in Manchester and the surrounding areas. Television broadcasting in Manchester is currently undergoing a major transition with the famous

Granada Studios Old Granada Studios (known simply as Granada Studios and previously known as The Manchester Studios) is a television studio complex and events venue on Quay Street in Manchester with the facility to broadcast live and recorded television programm ...

and New Broadcasting House being demolished by 2013 to be replaced by

MediaCityUK MediaCityUK is a mixed-use property development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The project was developed by Peel Media; its principal tenants are media organisations and the Quayside MediaCi ...

and

The Sharp Project The Sharp Project is a Manchester space hosting flexible office, production and event space. It is based in a refurbished warehouse previously occupied by electronics company Sharp. Manchester City Council purchased the former warehouse owned ...

. Both the BBC and ITV have promised to invest more in the North and Manchester will be the base for these operations. MediaCityUK, located two miles from Manchester City Centre, will act as a new second home for the BBC and ITV away from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. This is a list of

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

mes that are/were either set, produced or filmed in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. The

Media in Manchester Media in Manchester has been an integral part of Manchester's culture and economy for many generations and has been described as the only other British city to rival to London in terms of television broadcasting. Today, Manchester is the second l ...

page provides a more in depth look at the history of broadcasting and media in

Background

The city has had a long heritage of producing programmes at various studios, most notably at ITV's

and the BBC's New Broadcasting House. Dock10 studios is located in

, Salford Quays, a couple of miles (about three kilometres) outside Manchester city centre. The Studios at Dock10 is now home to BBC North and ITV Granada since 2013, along with other departments transferred north. Most television programmes produced in Manchester have been done so by Granada Television, the most successful

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

franchisee who are based at

in Manchester. The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

through

BBC North BBC North (Group) is an operational business division of the BBC. It is also a brand that has been used by the BBC to mean: *The large ''BBC North'' region, centred on Manchester, that was active from the late 1920s until 1968 and was based up ...

also have a key influence in Manchester and the corporation sees Manchester along with

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and

as its main broadcasting centres.

Productions in Manchester

Manchester has two main production units in

and

BBC Manchester BBC Manchester (often known as BBC Salford) is the British Broadcasting Corporation regional headquarters for the North West, the largest BBC region in the UK. BBC Manchester is a department of the BBC North Group division. The BBC considers th ...

at New Broadcasting House and both share a joint venture in 3SixtyMedia. Smaller Manchester based production companies such as

Red Production Company Red Production Company is a British independent television production company owned by StudioCanal. Background Red Production Company was formed in 1998 by Nicola Shindler, a television producer who had worked on ''Our Friends in the North'' ...

and more recently RSJ Films led by writer

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

have consistently used Manchester and north as a background for drama. Manchester has been used as a setting for many TV programmes with its industrial past, quirky cultural modern atmosphere or working roots. Some programmes are set in Manchester but weren't filmed or produced there, as in the case of Father & Son, a 2010 drama which was broadcast on ITV.

Awards given to Manchester produced or filmed programmes

BAFTAs

Since the introduction of the best drama series at the BAFTAs in 1992, Mancunian produced or filmed drama has won the award on 9 occasions out of the 19 awarded (up to 2011) - more than any other city. ''

Cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...

'' (Granada Television) won twice in 1995 and 1996, '' The Cops'' (filmed in Manchester) won twice in 1999 and 2000, ''

Clocking Off ''Clocking Off'' is a British television drama series which was broadcast on BBC One for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott. It was effectively an ant ...

'' (

, Manchester production company based at

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

) in 2001, ''

Cold Feet Cold feet is a phrase that refers to a person not going through with an action, particularly one which requires long term commitment, due to fear, uncertainty, and doubt. A person is said to be "getting cold feet" when, after previously committin ...

'' (Granada Television) in 2002, '' Shameless'' (filmed in Manchester) in 2005 and ''

The Street The Street may refer to: Geographical *Wall Street in New York City's Financial District * The Street, Lawshall, Suffolk, England * The Street (Heath Charnock), a building and bridleway in Rivington, Lancashire, England Film and television * ''The ...

'' (Granada Television) in 2007 and 2008. Peggy Ashcroft won a BAFTA TV award for best actress in 1985 in her performance in '' The Jewel In The Crown'' and later

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...

won best actress three consecutive times, a record, for her performance in the Granada-produced ''

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...

'' series.

References

{{Manchester

Television shows set in Manchester Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

Background

Productions in Manchester

Awards given to Manchester produced or filmed programmes

BAFTAs

See also

References