Manchester the big star of the small screen

Manchester is the New Big Star on the Small Screen

Manchester has been transformed into an array of diverse settings for the small screen this year.

ITV's Eleventh Hour and Northern Lights, BBC's Life on Mars and the third series of Channel 4's award winning Shameless, are just a few of a wide range of TV dramas that have been shot at locations in Greater Manchester; utilising the free filming service offered by North West Vision's (NWV) Manchester Film Office.

Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Salford were the boroughs used for Life on Mars, an exciting new drama set in 1973 and made for BBC ONE by Kudos, the makers of Spooks and Hustle. The first of four episodes (starring John Simm) will be aired on BBC ONE from Monday 9th January at 9.00pm.

Eleventh Hour (starring Patrick Stewart) commences on ITV ONE on Thursday 19th January and runs for 4 weeks. Northern Lights (with Robson Green) starts on ITV ONE on Monday 16th January and runs for 6 weeks. Shameless is on Channel 4 at 10pm on Tuesdays.

Manchester has always been an attractive location for filmmakers, but over the past two years the city's popularity as a filming location has soared dramatically, turning 2005 into the busiest filming year to date. 348 production enquires were facilitated resulting in 1211 of location filming days. 2006 is already shaping up to be another productive year, with seven dramas in various stages of production.

Commenting on filming across the city, Alice Morrison Chief Executive of North West Vision said:

" Manchester has always made a fantastic location for TV makers not only due to its stunning buildings but also because of its amazing talent, first class transport links, award winning hotels and restaurants, free film office service, film friendly local authorities and most all its people. Manchester offers the whole film package and it is no surprise that TV makers are choosing to use the city as a backdrop for their productions".

Granada TV kindly supports North West Vision and the Manchester Film Office by providing office space in its Quay St premises.