Capitol Theatre, Manchester
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The Capitol Theatre was a cinema in
Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
later used as television studios by ITV contractor ABC Weekend TV from 1956 to 1968. The building opened as a cinema in 1931, but was badly damaged by fire in April 1932 and was closed for repairs until August 1933. The cinema was equipped for the production of live shows, and was used for occasional pantomimes and amateur theatrical performances. In 1956 it was converted into television studios for ABC Weekend TV. Programmes such as '' Opportunity Knocks'' and '' Police Surgeon'' were made in the studios. Following the merger of Associated Rediffusion and ABC to create
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
(on air from July 1968) the studios were leased to
Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
in 1967 for recording pre-launch programming whilst their own studios were being constructed and in 1970 was sold to Manchester Polytechnic and was the base for their theatre and television school from 1971. Renamed the Horniman Theatre, it staged performances by students of the college, including early performances by Julie Walters, Bernard Hill, and David Threlfall. The theatre reverted to its original name in 1987, and the polytechnic was granted university status as "Manchester Metropolitan University" on 15 September 1992 under the provisions of the
Further and Higher Education Act 1992 The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 made changes in the funding and administration of further education and higher education within England and Wales, with consequential effects on associated matters in Scotland which had previously been g ...
. As part of the university restructuring in 1997, the building was sold to a development company and demolished to make way for blocks of flats. The School of Theatre moved its faculty and performance space to the All Saints campus on Oxford Road, where there is now a new Capitol Theatre, a 140-seat studio space.


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* {{Coord, 53, 24, 58.13, N, 2, 13, 20.38, W, scale:3125_region:GB, display=title Theatres in Manchester ITV offices, studios and buildings Buildings and structures completed in 1931 Didsbury Television studios in Greater Manchester