Granada Studios Tour

Granada Studios Tour was an entertainment theme park at the Granada Studios complex in Castlefield, Manchester, England which operated from 1988 to 1999. The park was in the heart of Manchester city centre adjacent to the Granada House building.

The tour attracted over 5 million visitors, but visitor numbers were waning by the late 1990s and Granada Television had to prioritise other parts of its business such as the failing ONdigital (ITV Digital) service. As a result, the Granada Studios Tour closed to the public in 1999 and for good in 2001. The Coronation Street set – part of the original theme park – was temporarily re-opened to the public in April 2014 for a six-month period, and its popularity meant it stayed open until December 2015.

History

Proposal

The park was the brainchild of Granada Television producer David Plowright, who had long been interested in developing the land around the Granada Studios complex in Manchester. Much of the land that Granada owned was derelict and underused.

Plowright's aim was to create a 'Hollywood-on-the-Irwell', a reference to the River Irwell which runs through Manchester. Granada Group - the parent company of Granada Television were initially pessimistic about Plowright's plans. Fortunately for Plowright, he gained the support of the Granada Television hierarchy, such as John Williams and commercial director Chris Mather, which managed to convince the Granada Group to invest in the park.

A key part of the tour would be for visitors to walk down Coronation Street, but the Tour would also include the former bonded warehouse adjacent to the main Granada House building. Plowright ordered the renovation of the Victorian warehouse for the Studio Tour at a cost of £3m.

Opening

The Granada Studios Tour opened in July 1988 and quickly surpassed all expectations. A feasibility study prior to its opening estimated first year visitor figures of 250,000 to 275,000, but within 8 months the Tour had 600,000 visitors.

Overview

The exterior of the complex was a New York street setting replicating Times Square, complete with yellow cabs, large neon advertisements and entertainers role-playing police officers. This area was the site of the first exterior set of '' Coronation Street'', used from 1968 until 1982 (chosen for the Victorian viaduct which lay behind the New York facade).

The guided tour itself, which lasted around an hour, comprised various mock sets from Granada productions including a recreation of Downing Street, the Sherlock Holmes-era Baker Street backlot set from ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' series, and the giant room from '' Return of the Antelope'', where furniture was designed on a much larger scale to create the illusion of small humans. The lounge of 'Home Farm' from ''Emmerdale'', and the café from ''Coronation Street'' were also mocked up for the tour.

In the early days of the Tours, a bus took visitors through a mockup of Checkpoint Charlie, and then down Baker Street towards Coronation Street, where they disembarked. This feature was later discarded, and the Baker Street set had a warehouse-style building erected around the outdoor set, creating an indoor street.

The focal point of the tour was the opportunity to walk down the actual cobbled street used in ''Coronation Street'' since 1982. The tour was closed on Mondays, as this was the day that the set was used for filming at the time.

Live action shows were performed at intervals throughout each day, including a parody of a political debate in the House of Commons chamber set used for ''First Among Equals''. This set was often used by other television productions wanting to set scenes in the Commons chamber, such as ''The New Statesman'', and in 2002 was purchased by the scriptwriter Paul Abbott so that it could be used in his BBC
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