Manchester, Television & the City: Ghosts of Winter Hill

4 November 2009 – April 2010 at Urbis, Manchester

For half a century domestic life in Britain has been dominated by Television. The box ruled our living rooms and shaped National identity. On 4 November 2009 this relationship enters a new phase with the Digital Switchover of the Granada region‟s Winter Hill transmitter. Opening on the first day of this new technological and cultural era, Urbis presents a celebratory exhibition, Manchester, Television & the City: Ghosts of Winter Hill

Based on an original concept by Writer and Consultant Curator Phil Griffin, and developed and realised by Urbis Co-Curator Paul Luckraft, the exhibition highlights Manchester‟s contribution to television history and looks at the cultural impact that television has had on the city itself. No city outside London has seen itself on screen as much as Manchester, in turn fine-tuning its own distinctive voice and identity. Manchester, Television & the City: Ghosts of Winter Hill tells this intriguing and surprising story through a wide variety of clips from programmes -both well loved and little known - rare archive images and contributions from significant figures in the Television industry.

As well as looking back over the past half a century, the exhibition asks what the future might hold. For Manchester, the development of MediaCityUK and the arrival of BBC North signal an exciting new era. But as we increasingly watch Television „on demand‟ via the Internet, our viewing habits and relationship with the medium change fast, and there is uncertainty and upheaval in the air. Manchester, Television & the City: Ghosts of Winter Hill highlights these changes and asks what the social and cultural implications of life after the Television Era might be.

Pollyanna Clayton-Stamm, Head of Creative Programmes at Urbis comments: “After several years of discussion with Phil Griffin I‟m thrilled to finally see such an exciting and pertinent concept explored and presented within our programme. The exhibition showcases another facet of our city‟s incredible cultural and creative offering, this time a celebration of its prolific and maverick Television production. To feature it now, as MediaCityUK progresses in Salford, and the digital switchover takes place on 4 November, makes perfect sense as we await developments in the new television era.”

Highlights of the exhibition include:

 A journey through Living room interiors of past decades, from the 1950‟s until the present day. In these spaces period TV sets will show montages of short clips from programmes of that decade. Visitors can enter the rooms and sit and relive the programmes that defined the times.

 Thematic sections highlighting Manchester‟s key contributions to Television, including youth culture and popular music, investigative journalism and documentary, comedy and drama. Numerous programmes will be featured, including Top of The Pops, World In Action, Coronation Street, The Comedians, Brideshead Revisited, Queer as Folk and Cold Feet.

 Displays that pay tribute to people who have made significant contribution to the story of television from Manchester – including Johnnie Hamp, Peter Eckersley, Ray Gosling and Tony Wilson.

 A „Future Lounge‟ space exploring the issues around the changing nature of TV production and consumption. Developed in partnership with BBC Future Media & Technology it will give visitors a hands-on experience of new technology, allow them to record responses and opinions, and view new content made by young people.

 A profile of Manchester‟s media landscape including Channel M, and a look to the dramatic changes on the horizon with the arrival of MediaCityUK and BBC North.

 A large scale map of locations around the city where iconic TV moments have been filmed. This will form the basis of a specially designed Urbis Tour, giving visitors the opportunity to go out in to the streets to hear the stories behind them first hand.

-ENDS-

For more information on „Manchester, Television & the City: Ghosts of Winter Hill‟ and Urbis, to request interviews or images please contact Jo Franks or Anys Williams at Anita Morris Associates on 01943 603311 or email [email protected] or [email protected]

Editor’s notes Urbis is open daily 10am-6pm Entry to Urbis, Manchester, Television & the City: The Ghosts of Winter Hill and ‘Home Grown: The Story of UK Hip Hop is free Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester, M4 3BG Tel: 0161 605 8200 www.urbis.org.uk

1.The Digital switchover is the process of turning off the UK‟s analogue TV signal and replacing it with a digital signal, meaning that almost everyone will be able to receive digital TV through an aerial (Freeview) and there will be more room for services such as wireless broadband, local TV and High Definition Television (HDTV).

2. On 4 November 2009 the Analogue Television Signal at the Winter Hill Site will be switched off.

3. Winter Hill is a famous broadcasting and telecommunications site on the border of Lancashire and Greater Manchester. Serving the Granada region, it has the second greatest population coverage of any British TV transmitter at around 7 million people. Its signal is received in many large towns cities across North West England including Liverpool, Birkenhead, Manchester, Warrington, Preston and Blackpool.

4. MediaCityUK is due to be completed in 2011 on Salford Quays in Greater Manchester and will be home to around 5,000 people who work in the digital and creative industries

5. MediaCityUK will be the new northern home of the BBC with 2,500 jobs moving North from London in 2011.

6. The Governments‟ Digital Britain report was started on 17 October 2008 by Lord Carter, minister for communications, technology and broadcasting. With it the government wanted to draw up an action plan to help Britain make the most of new media. The final version was released on 16 June 2009 and the wide-ranging report tackles everything from broadband speeds to internet regulation and public service broadcasting.

7. Phil Griffin is a writer and broadcaster with a special interest in architecture and urban issues. He has lived in Manchester all his life.

He worked for Piccadilly Radio from 1974 – 78, and for Granada Television from 1978 – 89. He was a regular contributor to Manchester‟s City Life magazine and wrote a weekly column, Archisnap, for eight years. The column produced an exhibition, Look More Slowly, at CUBE in 2002. In 2006 he curated Every Cloud, an exhibition at Urbis marking the 10th anniversary of the Manchester IRA bomb.