The UK’s Strange Abandoned Universal Studios: The History Of Granada Studios Tour Theme Park
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- Join us on a new Expedition as we look at the abandoned history of Granada Studios Tour. This Manchester theme park was inspired by Universal Studios Hollywood and was the first tour attraction outside of North America to take guests into the world of TV and Movies and the real sets of Coronation Street. After many major additions over the years, including RoboCop the Ride and Aliens: The Ride it closed after just over a decade before being left abandoned.
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Please check out the original full videos below.
Credits -
Marni1971 - • Granada Studios Tour 1...
Kevin Mullarkey - • Granada Studios Tour 1992
Malcolm Drew - • Granada Studios Tour 1...
VHS Video Vault - www.youtube.co...
JCRoweCwll - • Coronation Street and ...
Bobthefurby - • Bob's Granada Studio Tour
Phil auld - • PART2/CHRISTMAS1988.PH...
Nostalgasm - • Granada Studios Tour J...
Geekster - • Video
Colin Prosser - • Granada Studios Corona...
Big Al - • Special Granada TV Stu...
Arfer - • Granada TV Studios in ...
Alan Benns - • Making of Sooty
CMPG2909 - • GRANADA STUDIO TOUR 1995
Shaun Abbott - • Coronation Street Set ...
David Taylor - • Coronation Street The ...
ByJosh - • 24HRS AT THE ABANDONED...
Britain’s Decays - • URBEX UK: Abandoned O...
Thumbnail photo by - Paul Donoghue
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What Expedition Extinct would you like to see next? Let me know and I will choose one!
I think it's still there so wouldn't be for an extinct but did you ever visit the Eureka science museum? That place is so nostalgic for me so many memories there!
Thank you for making this documentary. Visited as a child and wish it was still around.
Frontier Land, Morcambe Bay.
Log Jammer at Six Flags Magic Mountain. It was an original and then it was gone. No fanefare from the park or anything. I couldn’t find any reasons either. I had good memories of it.
In San Francisco was a place called PlayLand at the Beach. It’s been gone since the early 70’s. I went there at maybe 5-6 years old. I think you would love the history of it.
Speaking as someone who went there, multiple times, the one thing that was missed out of this video was the OFFICIAL Post Office, that u could sent a letter or postcard from, that would feature the post stamp of "Weatherfield" that was the fictional area that Coronation Street was in.
Oh yeah I forgot about that!
@@ExpeditionThemePark ha ha, I remembered something correctly!! My family is from Manchester, so used to do the studios tour loads, was always a good day out.
Was there a doll's House with a giant cat that came through the roof, or did I imagine that.
@@jamesmason3348 I'm pretty sure that was in The Borrowers section, where everything was giant furniture and stuff.
@@jamesmason3348 yeap! The Borrowers!
What they did in such a small space and a modest budget was quite remarkable but I think the constraints of both would have led to it being ended sometime, even without the financial troubles of the late 1990s. Plus the production demand on the Coronation Street set from the extra episodes would have needed more space and weekdays as well. The current set can on!y be visited on the weekends by prior booking. Good while it lasted though.
It was a lot in a small space!
Defo, loved the UFO Zone ride, wish there was a recording of what the ride was.
I remember going on the Granada TV studio tour, my family went on the robocop ride and we saw a sooty show. It was really underrated
I agree!
Do you remember the escaped alien ride? That lighting freaked me out as a kid.
@@samuelpoulston2964 there were some epic hydraulic leaks on that ride over the years back stage 😁. In the late 90s it was soooo rough!
@@martingibbons2488 Yeah it was very bumpy haha. Did it have like a holograph at the end when you finally see the alien? That was the bit that sicks in my mind.
Loved sooty, remember almost passing myself laughing when I was younger. Sweep makes me roll laughing even now in my mid 40s
My mum has a recording on a VHS tape of her, my elder sister and my grandma at the studios in 1993, dancing outside with a costumed Sooty and O.B. and this random guy was MC'ing it all. Seemed like a great trip.
Good times!
It confused me as a kid but now that Im older its super interesting
Loved this place in the 90s , every attraction inside was free after the initial door fee, the food was really nice and tasty , the staff and actors were fantastic , 5.50 was in the reach of people on benefits to go out for the day , so many cool things to see there , 3D laser cinema with music by U2 , an alien cinema ride complete with cold steam being jetted at you , etc , I could go on , the coronation street bit was the boring bit for me as I could not give a shit about the show , the rest of it was incredible , being stopped by German soldiers at checkpoint Charlie was a highlight . So sad it closed down, it was the jewel of Manchester
Seeing that Granada logo makes me feel so old and takes me back to my Grandma and Grandads front room on a Friday night (we watched the local news on the BBC they ITV).
Yeah I totally get that Kat. Where I was from it was Central but when I visited my Aunt it was Granada. Sat with my cousins on school holidays watching kids telly. Really takes me back too.
My friend used to work as a cook at GST and thus at the time...I had a lot of free tickets to this place. I remember it really well. Great video...and can I just say...the research editing and presentation in this and all your other videos are absolutely brilliant. Big respect. Snow.
Thank you
Them tearing down and abandoning the old set pisses me off so much! So few attractions are themed after real places now! Disney tore down it's NY street and studio tour, the one in Paris is now ruined by CARS.
I never could’ve imagined a House of Commons attraction would be appealing, but… it looked fun. Oh and young Hugh Laurie yes please
Ahah right?!
i did that on one of the tours ..tbh i didn't find it that great but then again I'm not one for standing up in public and speaking, etc as when I went you were split into 2 sides of the commons and had to argue / debate on something was interesting but i wouldn't have called it fun BUT each to thier own as they say! 😉
Youngish, lol, he was probably in his 40's in the ad?
@@yakacm 30s
He looked like such a baby! But man he’s aged well.
It was really cool seeing the "Real" Coronation Street. When I visited they were still filming on the set. It was amazing how you couldn't really feel the scale change. A true gem, and for any Coronation Street fan of my age or older, it was an absolute visit to the Stars! Also, Manchester is such a great city, with really friendly people, shitty weather, an amazing Art scene, drama and dance, off the scale, and its got soul, something the millionaires, and oligarchs have sucked out of London. The Tour may have gone, but the World already knows something about Manchester, the thing to do, is go there and see for yourselves!
Grananda Studios Tour is a great and underrated theme park during that time. So sad it was closed in 1999. But it will forever be remembered in our hearts! Great Video! 👍👍👍👍
Thank you!
I used to love this place! Especially the alien ride. When the old abandoned Corrie set was there you could see it from some of the back windows at MOSI, I always made a point of going looking for it.
I would too
Only thing left to indicate Coronation Street was ever there is the painted arches on the side of the building Crystal Maze is now in. I'm kind of sad Granada relocated to Media City, but it made sense to make a new set. Granada Studio was incredible. And Similar, if you got the steam train ride at MOSI you could get a good view into the park, happy days
Friend, your reviews on UK attractions and parks make me want to plan a trip across the pond not for the history and culture of Britain, But for the amusement park life! Great review!
Thanks so much!
This brought back a lot of memories. I used to work in the diner which became a Burger King in the last couple of years before it all closed. Loved being able to wander around the place, riding the Motion Master, UFO Zone, and spending way too much time on the internet in Futurevision. One of the highlights though was having our staff Christmas party on the Baker Street set! Happy times and memories.
I went on a coach trip there post Skytrack addition (it wasnt working). I realise now how much it was probably on the downslide already at the time, as much of the theatricality of the tour was absent, no people in character, or studio insight, just a limp walk through a couple of sets, then being dropped off in the central area whith an opportunity to spend money in restaurants or visit shows and attractions at your own pace.
Came for the extinct theme park history, stayed for the really interesting British broadcasting history.
Ahah thanks
All I could think of was " OMG that Dr. House!" After watching the intro commercial 🤣
Nice! My parents are on vacation in England right now and maybe they'll pass by the site where the studio park used to be! hope to see you on the next expedition, can't wait to see what you've got in store for us thrill-seekers! (hopefully something on Luxor hotel or similar from Las Vegas)
Possible if they are in Manchester!
Sadly it's been knocked down and redeveloped
@@jameslawton2528 darn shame
My parents dragged me to that place, it sucked. Given that they live about an hour away from Poole or Devon, I can only imagine that place was the only reason they wanted to holiday up there that year.
I probably disliked it cause I had no interest in the shows, plus was probably told theme park and assumed something like Alton Towers. All I remember is being stopped by an actor cop, which I didn't enjoy. And for some reason I also remember the debate hall and some info about how it differs from the real one.
Yeah it was very show heavy
I was fortunate enough to work at Granada Studio Tours in 2001-02 for a 6 month period after it had closed down and was recruited as the Management accountant with responsibility for selling off a lot of the old studio tour's inventory (including the Giant room props, theme park rides etc) and merchandising stock (Coronation Street or 'Corrie' for short). I vividly remember starting work there the day before the September 11 twin tower attacks occurred in America and all of us at the Granada offices on the day watching it all unfold in disbelief on the tv sets in the 3sixtymedia team area. My family were big Corrie fans and I loved entering the studio tour site for work early each morning via the turnstile at the main tour entrance off Quay Street, with my work desk situated in the bonded warehouse area adjacent to the old Corrie filming set.
Every day working at Granada studios was a blast and I would see various well known tv personalities in the canteen at lunch breaks. However, the best day there by far was when we organised a Christmas stock sale of all the Corrie and other old tour merchandise on site and quite a few of the Corrie actors from the show at the time popped into our temporary festive store that we had set up for the week, it was really surreal seeing all the actors in the flesh after watching them on the box for years. A young Tyrone Dobbs from the show and his mate (Andy Whyment who also used to be in the Royle Family tv comedy show) stood and chatted to me about football for a few minutes which was cool and made my day, good times 😀
Wowzers! This place must have great, I felt a strange sense of nostalgia watching this, turns out I visited at about 3 yrs old, must have been a crazy experience if a 3 yr old can recall it 😬
Great watch, big fan of the due diligence made with research and in depth background to the origin story of the attraction.
Thank you. I was worried it was too much not about the park so I appreciate that
@@ExpeditionThemePark I find all the extra information interesting, especially as it’s an attraction not many people knew about/got to experience.
I went to the Granada Studios Tour in about 1991. This stirred up so many memories. Thank you. 😊
I used to work at Granada on Quay Street. Was always a weird place to walk into honestly. This was fun to watch.
Another video studded with memories. I went twice as a kid. Things that stood out - the motion master was worth the admission alone. Also the American set was my favourite as well as one of the best gift/joke shops my little child mind he ever been in. Plus my mum being a huge fan of Corrie helped.
I loved the American set!
Talk about timing. I’ve spent the past week watching old episodes of Corrie, then this video pops up! 😂
It’s like I knew!
Interesting to think that UK TV started as this London-centric thing and now MediaCity is the hub of a huge chunk of it. Great area too, although I doubt there'll ever be a rollercoaster out that way.
Yeah a huge change over the years!
26:54. Tom Baker's voice. The Tom Baker, the definite article you might say.
Me and my family went when I was young. We found it pretty boring and I don’t remember a lot of it so didn’t leave any impression on me. The only thing I remember was funny as hell! We watch a sooty show and they asked if anybody had a birthday today. My brother was alway funny he said yes but it wasn’t. They called him to the front of the show and sooty was wishing him happy birthday, he pulled the puppet of the guys hand and shouted it’s a puppet, still a fond memory.
My parents went to this on a date one time before I was born. There used to be an attraction where you could ‘star’ in your own short episode of Coronation Street by reading out lines that would be spliced into a pre-filmed scene from the show. My parents still have the souvenir VHS somewhere I’m sure of it!!
I visited twice, once in the late 80’s/early 90’s (I think) then just before it closed. The sky ride wasn’t working on either visit and I don’t recall a team working.
It was a decent day out but wasn’t not at all busy on either visit. The highlight was getting chased by an East German border guard!
As a contrast, I went on a tour of the new Coronation Street nearing the end of the construction. It was really noticeable, all those years later, how different the full sized new set looked than the old scaled down one.
Another smashing great video. Excellent historical research and context.
In relations to having a function at the attractions, I fear it wouldn't bode well if a wedding was held in a House of Commons debating chambers especially if the opposition side was full.
Haha it’s true!
I do wish Universal had a European park. Not because I'm there, but because it would be neat
We went a few times when visiting the fine city of Manchester. It was a wonderful day out that , as you say , developed year in year . A shame it closed down .
A fantastic video that rekindled old memories.
Apparently the Corrie set is haunted. There was an inside number 9 episide based around it. Its sad to see stuff like this being lost to time :(
OMG you finalllllllyyyyy did a video on it, I remember asking you years ago to do this!
When will the video be up for Phantasialand? as you have had the logo up for months now?!
Also please tell me you came back to this as 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. I still have my merch from late Summer of 2015 😊
Please do one for the MOMI Museum as well mate 🙏
Aha Mikey you should know it by now I will get to them eventually 😂
@@ExpeditionThemePark Yea I know, I know 😂
Better late than never mate-and as I said please do one for the MOMI Museum(The Museum of the Moving Image)
Okay, Ridley Scott is English so I guess that is at least a tenuous connection to Alien. But how does Robocop possibly fit in a small regional theme park in the UK??
It's a really small thing, but it wasn't channel 3 back then, was it - it was just ITV. BBC 2 didn't launch until the mid-60s. I still remember my Nana's telly from the mid-70s had labelled push-buttons on it: BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, ITV2 on the assumption they'd launch their own second channel one day.
I vaguely remember this place as a kid. I swear there was a giant cat in the large room!
There was!
HI i went there with my late nan in late 1980's just as it was closing . at leasr i Got to sea the original Coranation Street, none of the Attractions where running when i Visted Granada
You know you've seen too much House when you hear Hugh Lourie speak with his normal voice and it sounds very off
I have very faint memories of going to this. The 'New York' street blew my mind. All I can remember is not being allowed to have any food as the prices were high, going in the 'house of commons' and the speaker picking on my dad for being bald and 'meeting' the actor who played Percy Sugden on coronation street who, even at my young age, made it obvious he didn't want to bet there.
I loved it, actually called my grandparents from the phone box on Coronation Street.
I've subscribed, this was extremely well done. Seeing those studios, you can't help but feel nostalgic. There is something quintessentially British about this!!
I had no idea the massive balls up that was ITV Digital was what killed the Granada Tour! I'm in no way surpried but all the same! Cheers for giving me more reasons to think that was a complete shitstorm, mate :)
Lucky to have been one who visited in primary school in the 90s. I remember meeting Ken Barlow as one of the surprise celebs in the indoor sets, I think it was his livingroom.
24-Hour Party People had a lot of scenes shot there
You have one of those annoying traits of raising the last word in each sentence.
All right, the surprise Hugh Laurie demands this to be one of my new favorite YT videos. Thanks.
Awesome video nonetheless!
I was waiting to see if I was going crazy.. almost expected to hear Stephen Fry in there too! I'm in the States, but I love watching Fry and Laurie whenever they're on.
Interesting topic but the voiceover is jolly poor.
Can u do a expedition Efteling again one time? Would be amazing :D!
I will soon!
14:50 Great Scotland Yard. It's Sooty And Co. I've Used To Love Watching Sooty And Co When I Was A Kid And Since Then I'm A Huge Sooty Fanatic. Thanks A Lot Expedition Theme Park Mate. X
Thanks for covering this! I went loads as a kid, and was there serving coffees when the street re-opened for the last time
Outstanding video as always! I went here in roughly 1999 (based on your video it must have been as I rode the solo coaster ride).
My memories: first and foremost, one of the most fun days I had in my life, what an awesome attraction for the uk (obviously didn’t think that last part at the time, I was 13 lol, but do remember having the best time!).
Standouts were the Robocop 4d cinema ride, the Downing Street set where I’m pretty sure they showed you how rain machines worked? (You will know better than me from your research, but definitely a rain machine example in there somewhere).
The giant set that I could have sworn was the borrowers from memory, but your video says otherwise (again, I believe you over my memory from 23 years ago, unless it changed in later years of course).
The set of This Morning where I got to sit down and present the show for my tour group for a couple mins (never been adverse to being centre of attention haha).
Coronation street was fine, but my mam and Dad were really into it so they loved that bit.
The blue screen in the cafe with Gayle and Co, I still have that video at my mams, watching this is making me want to dig it out and upload it to TH-cam, that was fun.
Honestly, up to that point, probably the best day out I ever had. Even 10 years later when I eventually went to universal studios, for all studios was far superior, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Granada Studios, making comparisons to t2 and Robocop for example.
So disappointed this attraction ultimately failed, I would love to take my kids there. Florida is out of budget in the school holidays!
Great video, really enjoyed it, brought back loads of memories of a great day
I remember going here as a kid, I guess around 1994.
Odd how memories work. I can remember sitting in the parliament benches and the guide saying the only difference between the set and the real one was the set had 1 less row of benches.
This place was fantastic. Still can't believe Manchester demolished the Coronation Street set. Wish I’d known about this video I have quite a fair bit of footage of the place in the late and early 90s. Great video!
Ahhh dang. It was quite tough looking for footage, had a small amount of my own but not much. Have you got anything of skyTrak?
@@ExpeditionThemePark sadly no SkyTrak it really was short lived! 😄
the set itself needed to be made bigger, as hd tv was coming and the old set was tiny, i remember going there on a school trip
@@jimsmith1998 makes me wonder even more why they couldn’t have just left it and built around the set seeing as it was so small. It would have made for a lovely little heritage sight in the city.
@@adamwillis5013 it was strange where it was located, Is the new media city built on the site now?
I remember going on the Granada Studios Tour as a Kid... it was ruddy awful. Unsurprisingly it wasn't very fun as a kid to walk around a fake street from a show my mum somewhat liked lol.
I dated a girl who worked at the architecture firm that dealt with the move of CS to Media City. She was heavily involved and I got to hear all sorts about her interactions with cast members and that the old set wasn't to 'true life' scale. I went with her to the 'pre launch' of the set. I never got to see any cast. But I did notice doors weren't as tall as their real life counterparts.
Also, when I was young I went on the Granada tour and we still have an old VHS of my mum acting with (greenscreen) with Betty. Chesney used to go to the same gym as me. Dinky little dude.
I wanted to see the Aliens bit. Never got to. Did get to go on the Alien War ride in Londons Trocodero Centre though.
This was OK, but apart from the exterior Coronation Street set, most of the sets were duplicated or made specifically for the tour - For example, they claimed you could have a pint in the Rovers - Not true. The exterior of the pub was just an empty shell - You could have a real drink in a Rovers bar replicated elsewhere on the site, but you weren't allowed to see the actual interior set they filmed on which was located in the Studio 1 complex, along with all the other interiors used for Coronation Street - But again you weren't allowed in there , which would have been much more interesting.
Britain's answer to Universal Studios, and it seems fitting that it's kind of awkward.
I never knew it existed, since my family never watched soaps.
Katy Hill. 😍
Yesss been waiting for this! Thanks for the brilliant vid mate!
Thank you!
Eh, Hugh Laurie's British accent is a little to on-the-nose for me.
😉
It's all his.
I don't know why I never went to this, but after seeing your video it makes me feel sad that I didn't, because it looked amazing!
Thank you for an excellent video of an excellent and truly magical attraction.
It brought back such incredible memories.
What it didn't show and why would it, as it isn't as obvious, is what other benefits the tour brought to other types of business, not only in the area, but much further afield as well. In my case I went there nearly daily as I ran buses and coaches from Blackpool to there.
Some days there could be four or five "dupes" or extra vehicles fully loaded just for Granada Studios Tour. Some companies even invested in new or upgraded vehicles, just for that one attraction, which is almost unheard-of.
In fact when it closed, which it did very quickly with virtually no warning if I recall correctly, it did effectively virtually shut some transport companies down and certainly made a great impact into their viability.
Many years later I got to ask someone who was one of the tour's board of directors why it shut so quickly.
Whilst I'm sure having to divest some investments to fill the hole that ON digital/ ITV Digital left was a part of it, but the lady told me that as "Corrie" was stepping up the number of episodes and therefore shooting schedules, it simply wasn't able to be open enough when filming didn't require it, to make it sustainable.
Whether that was actually the case, I wouldn't like to say, but it was around then that it did step.up a lot and it was also around then that a lot more investment would have been needed, so maybe it was part of it. Who knows? All I do know is that it was excellent and is very sadly missed, so many thanks for putting this up for me to enjoy.
Cheers.
Ps.I loved the Baker Street "trams" which were fake tramcar bodies mostly built on Ford Transit chassis. The magic of television eh?
No way that park actually seems pretty fun imo, the development is also pretty interesting 🤔
Wow this brought back some memories. I know it really well behind the scenes as I used to supply techs and the AV systems for rentals and conferences there.
Sadly it went to ruins with many attractions badly run down, out of date and poorly maintained. They took more money for events meaning attractions to the paying public we're not available.
I remember the gladiator ride barely running and then being hastily removed.
Sad they didn't modernise and invest in it.
If you want to know more give me a shout.
Great Video, i work in the bonded warehouse now we have a radio station there and next door is also the home of the crystal maze attraction, so the site is still being made good use of. also we had our radio station in the old granada studio for a couple years before moving to the bonded warehouse. although the site was shut to the public it was still being used for media production and still to this day!
How come you don't have 100 million subscribers? The quality and uniqueness of these videos are off the charts, and your knowledge and research are unprecedented. Thank you.
Hey, Expedition Theme Park! Please do the History of Euro Disney!
One day for sure!
So it’s a theme park in Manchester, named after a city in Spain, designed to look like a city in North America. Wat.
Haha yea
SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A B&M !!!!
The cracker show was used in 2001 as a studio for making episodes of the ITV digital football quiz "Do I Not Know That" which were filmed every Sunday from about 10am to late. I know as I was in it.
3:21 Oh my god that's so refreshing to hear instead of some bs philanthropic nonsense or proclaiming how you are better.
Showing you respect the competition and hope you can live up to it, beautiful.
Treat on the Street was a great thing that they did in the early noughties. To have all the studios become bars and dance areas for the Manchester Pride was amazing. Was very surreal to be drinking and dancing on the cobbles of coronation street, or in the Baker Street set. We were sad to see it close as it was truly unique
I went there twice and still have the guides. It was a great place to go and it's a shame most has been demolished.
I worked for Granada back in the late 80s/early 90s. But not the TV part of the company. I worked in one of Granada's motorway service stations, in the restaurant. I didn't even know about the studios tour until they started a promotional campaign for it, giving out leaflets in the services. I never did visit the studios tour, but I always wanted to go there. Too late now sadly.
Ahhh a shame
So much UK content. Thank you expedition
Thank you!
Went many times as I had friends in Manchester. They operate a successful steel engineering company and at the time the tours operated they were based just down the road. One of their main customers were Granada and they built lots of sets and bits and pieces for various TV shows. They were called in many times to work on Skytrak and did lots of reworking and reengineering on it whilst it was there. My friend always promise me a ride on it out of hours but sadly I never got the chance and it had closed before I got to ride it. He rode it numerous times and said it had loads of potential. The tours as a concept and a day out was just brilliant in my opinion - I loved going to it and still would if it was there now. I also visited its sister attraction the American Adventure and was utterly underwhelmed by it - but the tours will always be a favourite of mine
I went there with school in the 1990s when studying GCSE Drama, we spent a full day there, doing the “tour” in the morning then spending a few hours on the Baker St set to do some lessons on melodrama and historic acting styles. It was a fantastic place to visit, even if you weren’t a fan of Coronation Street, visiting the actual set (as it was at that time) was a great honour to just be able to step onto the cobbles. It’s a pity it’s no longer open as it was brilliant.
I remember going in the 90’s and thinking what a great place , loved it and wanted to work there , I now work at Universal so I managed to work at a studios eventually.
We loved this place Sam, I never got to ride the coaster but starting to Visit Orlando made Granada seem a little dull but we did visit the Street when it reopened and absolutely loved it. Great video and research as always, thanks for bringing back the memories yet again.
I was studying set design/TV prop making and media at University in the UK. At the end of our course we were meant to all get an apprenticeship with the Granada studios/the tour or with the BBC. This had gone on for years but at the end of my university time when we were meant to get our apprenticeship start dates...... They closed Granada down and the BBC stopped offering places.
I am STILL SALTY years later 🤣 Weirdly; I also worked at The American Adventure theme park AND the Gulliver's Kingdom theme park(s).
Hey! It's that guy who's only role has been Dr. House on that one American television show that one time and NOTHING else ever. Nope. Just that one thing as far as we in the states are concerned.
Great video as always, thank you. I wanted to go here but never did, I remember the advert so clearly! My partner went and we were both saying we think it would have done well today as UK leisure appears to be having a resurgence :) Shame this, Camelot and American Adventure are no more. I also have a video suggestion if thats OK: Pleasure Island/Festival Gardens in Liverpool 🤞
I learned about Graada thanx to the great great Tony Wilson :)
"And So it Goes"
Cheers from Mexico City.
Love your channel dude.
They should of dropped the Name GRANADA STUDIOS for starters it might as well have been called BLAND LAND! (All that glitters & all that!)👎🏾🤦🏾
I was fortunate enough to visit this when I was 12 years old in 1991. I’ve lived in the UK all my life. Alton Towers, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, American Adventure. Done them all. As an adult I’ve even made Disney Paris, Disneyland & all the parks of Orlando (Disney / Universal etc). It’s not quite up there with the best that the USA can offer. I’ll say this though. TO THIS DAY it is the best attraction in the UK I’ve ever been to. I’d rather go to this than 2022 Alton Towers, 2022 Pleasure Beach or anything else in Britain right now. This had imagination. It had shows, sets, simulators (the motion master cinema was almost on a par with Soarin’) and interactivity. Most UK parks are just one stomach churning roller coaster after another and nothing else at all. This is what sets the US apart from us and why I always go there not here. Imagination. Granada Studios tour had it. I sorely miss it as an attraction and long for the day when a theme park comes to Britain with just 1 rollercoaster but loads of other dark rides, simulators, shows and interactive entertainment like this used to offer but with more of it. The problem is we’ll never get it.
Yeah we need more
Went to this place in 97 or 98 on school trip. Had a kinda shitty version of the tour where we did the Cracker detective thing but Cracker wasn't exactly on a bunch of 15 year old's radar; It'd probably been off the TV a while anyway. The giant's room was cool, though and having been to the Bradford Museum of photography I was vocally unimpressed by them showing us how TV and bluescreen worked. I was such a smart-arse kid. Poor tour guides.
After that we just had free run of the place. The skytrack wasn't operating, of course but being kids, we had a blast going on Motion Master about 10 times. I also remember some slow ghost-train type thing that wasn't scary and as some zombie or scary old man torso thing popped out of the wall my buddy Bennett punched it so hard it's face caved it and our car just continued on leaving it dangling from the wall.
Other than that I just remember a lot of really lame attempts at being hip and cool like the hall of the internet which had all this presentation about how "The future is here" and the word "cyber" about a million times but it was just a room with a bunch of computers in kiosks. I guess, at this point, it was really on it's last legs.
To quote Peter Ludlow from The Lost World Jurassic Park, "You don't bring people halfway around the world to visit the zoo, you bring the zoo to them!"
Anyone else remember the King Kong theatre where King Kong would lift the roof of the cinema off and roar down into the audience?
That is sad. It was a decent day out. You could drink beer in the bar and buy stamps in the post office
That place was a joke. I'm not surprised it closed down. The U.S. Police cars you see at the start were nothing more than painted up scrappers (rust all over them) , as was the helicopter.
As you went around the place it became more and more irritating and fake as anything.
You had a guided tour explain things as you went along. We came to one part and they said ' Oh sorry, we can't go in this part yet, they are still filming, be quiet please''.
There was a frosted screen and you could see silhouettes and hear voices of presenters from the time (back projections but we weren't supposed to know that). I think Tony Wilson was one of them. Thing is that the projections they were showing (supposedly we were watching a 'live' recording) was so out of date. It was a total rip off. Seriously, that place was terrible.
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American adventure survived until 2007, John Broome formee towers ceo bought it and tried to save it. But he failed.
A LOT of tv scenes of parliament were filmed in that studio. Most to be honest.
I really enjoyed this video, I grew up in the Manchester area and even though I never went to this, It is still a massively important part of my home history
Thank you for watching!
So, the street party exceeded visitor numbers? Did you mean, visitor attendance projections? Your phrasing is often awkward.
My brain read Granada as ‘Grandma’ instead. It’s 4am. I should probably sleep now 🥲