The UK’s Strange Abandoned Universal Studios: The History Of Granada Studios Tour Theme Park 

What Expedition Extinct would you like to see next? Let me know and I will choose one!

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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! 👍👍👍👍

I never could’ve imagined a House of Commons attraction would be appealing, but… it looked fun. Oh and young Hugh Laurie yes please

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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!

I went to the Granada Studios Tour in about 1991. This stirred up so many memories. Thank you. 😊

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.

Great watch, big fan of the due diligence made with research and in depth background to the origin story of the attraction.

I have a photo of me and my dad standing outside the Coronation st pub whilst on this tour when I was about 5 years old! Happy memories! Thanks for covering this.

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!!

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.

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!!

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.

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)

All I could think of was " OMG that Dr. House!" After watching the intro commercial 🤣

Thanks for covering this! I went loads as a kid, and was there serving coffees when the street re-opened for the last time

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 😬

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.

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!

I used to work at Granada on Quay Street. Was always a weird place to walk into honestly. This was fun to watch.

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.

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.

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 😀

Talk about timing. I’ve spent the past week watching old episodes of Corrie, then this video pops up! 😂

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.

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!

Yesss been waiting for this! Thanks for the brilliant vid mate!

I love your channel so much! Thank you for everything you put into it! Thank you! ❤️

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

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 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

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

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.

Really great video can tell how much research has gone into it too.

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 RU-vid, 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

What a wonderfully researched and excellently presented video 👍👍

That one really took me back to the 90's! Excellent vid as always

Living in greater manchester, i went to this once or twice as a kid.. The tour incl a room with a ghost... always freeked me out!! Remember seeing the corrie indoor sets. Great vid Sam.

I went here in the later days of its life, still loved it. This was a part of growing up in the north west. Blackpool, North Wales coast, Camelot and Granada Studios Tour. The 4 places everyone had been.

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.

Came for the extinct theme park history, stayed for the really interesting British broadcasting history.

I remember my sister going on a school trip here and talking about the coaster and the alien ride. I was SO jealous and often felt since I'd imagined the place ever existing!

Good video. Very well researched. Was that Katy Hill?

Until watching this episode I didn't realise Grenada studios was there for such a short time, I remember going when I was in school and I went again 2 more times, I have fond memories or the place and it is sadly missed. You do excellent work and go into fantastic detail, I enjoy your videos (especially the UK based) thank you and please keep up the great work!

I have never seen any of these shows but man, this looks like it was the best thing ever.

Great video, I remember visiting the tour in the late 90s, I remember the motion ride and check point charlie, downing street etc. I also got to go in 2014 and saw the old Coronation Street set one last time.

Thankyou so much for this one. Had Many a school trip to Granada studios. So many cool childhood memories

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.

Used to live in Manchester ifor thirteen years and went there once thank you for the upload brought back memories love from Wales

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?

Granada studios was fantastic, tbh along with the development at GMex it breathed fresh hope into the city in the late 80s. I had many happy times their on school trips. Your research is also obvious, such as the mention of Belle Vue zoological gardens shows that. Outstanding work fella.

Oh wow I grew up in Manchester and went there when I was a kid. Aw you unlocked a memory. Thanks 😊

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!

So much UK content. Thank you expedition

I loved it, actually called my grandparents from the phone box on Coronation Street.

I went in 1988 both as a visitor to the attraction with family and on another occasion as a photography student in their photography department in the real studios not open to public, the real Coronation street sets etc. Glad I had that insight back then.

I remember going on the tour as a child, stepping on the cobbles of coronation street, I was also the person selected to have film makeup done in the theatrical effects makeup show where they gave me a bloody black eye. I'm sure they'll be photos in a family album somewhere lol.

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.

Honestly, this place sounded amazing. I bit before my time for sure but it certainly seemingly did the shows justice and the public too. They used such a small bit of space so well.

I had the experience of visiting Coronation Street the Tour in August 2014 & 2015. It was brilliant.

I'm from Manchester and went to Granada Studios a few times as a kid and it was a blast. The Alien and Robocor motion master rides were great and the UFO Zone scared the crap out of me. So wish I had been able to ride Skytrak when it was there but sadly missed out on it. A cherished memory of a place sadly lost to time. Watching this and 24 hour party people this week has given me such warm nostalgia for a Manchester that just doesn't exist any more.

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.

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 remember going there when it first opened , thankyou so much for sharing

I went here when we were on holiday in Blackpool. I met Percy from Coronation street and had a photo with him. I remember enjoying getting to yell in the house of commons show too. It was a great tour.

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.

This is literally where I became an enthusiast from, now I literally go to Alton Towers like, every week maybe!

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 🙏

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.

Another brilliantly made and interesting video, your work is really great I enjoy your videos alot mate. Also this brought back some real memories of the one time I visited here when I was a child.

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

Amazing video! Loved this place in the 90’s. Nearly 30 years later I work in the Bonded Warehouse and walk past the old cobbles everyday.

Really enjoyed this revisit, I remember going on a school trip and the one real memory I have is of the sky track ride not working properly!

great times in my life thanks so much for the upload xx

Great video. I absolutely loved Granada Studios. Such a shame it closed. Really was a great place to visit.

I don't know why this video was recommended to me, but I'm so glad it was. I wasn't into many Granada shows but I found this so interesting

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.

Great Vlog 👍👍👍 I have been to Florida 15 times since 1995 but I remember going to this place first. I am a train driver based at Liverpool and would go through the town centre of Manchester and I remember the flying coaster being built and not lasting long ha ha 🤣🤣. I remember the actor Tony Curtis doing the advert for Granada Studios. I remember going here the year before I first went to Florida and thinking it was rubbish. There was a replica of parliament and I remember the comedian Peter Kay was one of the actors in the set. He stood out like a saw finger he was so funny. I remember my ex saying he was wasted and later on in the 90s there he was on our TV. I also remember the UFO ride. Keep up the good work 👍👍👍👍

I'm from London and I barely remember Granada studios as a thing (born in 86) and none of my friends went/were interested. I did however go to euro Disney in 1992 for the opening and it was amazing!

Wow, this really was a trip down memory lane. I think I probably went 4 times overall and have some photos but no video. Some parts I'd totally forgotten too! And yes, on my last visit Skytrak was open so I got to go on that a few times, was really impressed with it at the time.

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.

Thank you for this video - I was starting to think I'd invented the place in my head! I went on a school trip and loved it but never heard anything about it again

I learned about Graada thanx to the great great Tony Wilson :) "And So it Goes" Cheers from Mexico City. Love your channel dude.

this jogged some seriously old memories for me!! i barely just remember going, i was still in a pushchair!! all i do remember was the corrie set and the sooty show and thats about it 😅

I did the first advert as part of Oldham theatre workshop not sure weather it got aired but I was on the main poster going into Manchester City centre . Great times

Loved it! Some of this place is absolutely carved into my mind. The room where you’re made to feel tiny with the giant furniture especially. Does anyone remember as well going into a room and the ceiling being lifted off by a giant cat?!? Surely I’m not dreaming that! As a regular visitor to Universal Florida (and having been once to Hollywood), I have to say I really feel this was of a similar level in the early 90’s albeit at a smaller scale. A real shame it closed, with investment in more thrill attractions (that worked!) it could have lasted, albeit it did have a tiny footprint to work with. Great video as ever Sam, enjoyed it.

Went with my family and also school trip. Think I was about 10 (1990). Very good memory of the place

I vaguely remember this place as a kid. I swear there was a giant cat in the large room!

This was really interesting, thanks - can’t believe I’d never heard of it! 😊