Granada Studios Tour
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Granada Studios Tour was an entertainment complex in Castlefield, Manchester operating from 1988 to 1999. It was situated on Water Street, adjacent to Granada Television's Quay Street complex.
The exterior of the complex was a New York street setting, complete with yellow cabs 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.
In the early days of the Tours, a bus would take you through a mockup of Checkpoint Charlie, and then down Baker Street towards Coronation Street, where you would disembark. 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.
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 drama serial State of Play. Abbott, himself a former Granada Television staff writer, bought it personally as the set would otherwise have been destroyed and he feared it would take too long to get the necessary money from the BBC. He currently keeps it in storage in Oxford.Abbott, Paul. Audio commentary on the DVD release of State of Play. BBC Worldwide. BBCDVD 1493.
Visitors could also enjoy a drink in a replica of the Rovers Return, the pub in Coronation Street.
Other attractions included the opportunity to appear in a special Coronation Street scene in the Rovers Return with the main characters, using the chroma key process. Also, a ride named MotionMaster was developed whereby people could watch a short adventure film while being strapped into chairs which moved in synchronisation with the action on the large screen. One such film was based upon the film "Aliens", when the squad entered the base in a transporter. Latterly, other rides such as a single-person monorail called a "Solocoaster", and other fairground-style rides were installed, including a 3-D film show.
For a short while before its eventual closure, the complex was open only to pre-booked parties.
In 2000, one year following its closure, parts of the tour were demolished allowing Granada the opportunity to expand the set of Coronation Street, to include a new viaduct (to allow filming on Rosamund Street without exposing the Quay Street Studios which run adjacent to the rear of the set), Roy's Rolls café, the renovation of the derelict Graffiti Club into a new medical centre, a new building yard, two shops joining the cafe (Diggory Compton's bakery -originally Sally Webster's hardware store- and Elliott and Son's Master Butchers) and a few new houses. Since the closure of the tour, the exterior set has been seen more often in the soap.
The former Baker Street building was turned into a new studio for Coronation Street, named Stage Two, containing more studio sets. The bonded warehouse, which sits at the end of Coronation Street, and housed most of the tour, now contains new studios and will soon become Granada's only Manchester home, after they move from the Quay Street building.
References
- ↑ Abbott, Paul. Audio commentary on the DVD release of State of Play. BBC Worldwide. BBCDVD 1493.
External links
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