Granada Plans To Kill Gulls

[RitaLittlewood]

From the News of the World:

Get squawky!
Corrie plot to cull gulls

By Jane Atkinson, 07/02/2009

EEE by gun! Coronation Street bosses have come up with a plot involving the cold-blooded slaughter of screeching birds.

But don’t worry. Janice Battersby and Liz McDonald aren’t being written out just yet.

The birds in question are seagulls—and it could be their blood raining down on the famous cobbles.

ITV chiefs are considering moving the show from its central Manchester base to waterfront location MediaCityUK at nearby Salford Quays.

But a show source told us: “The problem there is the seagulls that make loads of noise.

“Even one seagull caught on camera would look ridiculous. Weatherfield is supposed to be in Manchester where you mainly get pigeons. The other problem is the costs they could incur. If one flies into the scene they would have to re-shoot, wasting time and money. In meetings there have been some ideas such as poisoning them or hiring a marksman to shoot them.”

The source explained why the famous ITV soap was considering the move. “Currently the indoor filming is done in two studios which are around 400 yards apart which causes logistical problems.

“The knicker factory and Rovers are indoors in one set and the other indoor sets are in a separate warehouse. Part of the outside set is also separated by a wall. They would love to use a vast warehouse for indoor scenes and have outdoor scenes on one continuous set.”

An ITV spokesman confirmed: “We are continuing to examine the available options regarding ITV’s Manchester base.”

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Simple solution - don't sodding move then! You'll be forever wasting money reshooting because there's millions of gulls, you greedy planks!

Patsy

[sallywebster]

I hope they dont move - Corrie has been made at Granada Television's Manchester studios since day one!

[RitaLittlewood]

Waste of money at a time when they're supposed to be saving if they do.

Patsy

[sootycat]

There are nearly as many gulls inland these days.
We get loads and we are nowhere near the coast.

As you say Patsy, don't move....there you go, problem solved.

[RitaLittlewood]

More on rumours they'll move from the Daily Mail which will hardly save them money when it'll cost them to move it all - arses!:

Coronation Street set to be relocated to Manchester wasteland

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:28 AM on 05th March 2009


Plans are being discussed to move the entire set cobble-by-cobble from its home at Granada's base in Manchester city centre to this site at Salford Quays.

Land across the water from the BBC at MediaCity has been reserved for ITV's new northern headquarters.
Coronation Street

If the proposals get the go ahead, Granada's current base in Manchester would be sold and staff moved to the site next to the Imperial War Museum North.

That may include Coronation Street, described by ITV as the most valuable programme on British television.

It would involve the building of a near-identical exterior set plus interior studio sets.

Other options being examined include moving the nation's most famous street to its own dedicated site at another location.

Corrie celebrates its 50th anniversary in December next year. The current exterior set dates back to 1982. Although part of Salford Quays, the proposed new site is on land at Trafford Wharf, just inside the border of Manchester.

Talks have included a possible link across the Manchester Ship Canal to the main MediaCity site, plus the option of Granada moving in with the BBC.
Kym Marsh

Kym Marsh (Michelle Connor) and her on-screen family on the soap's current set at Granada Television's base in Manchester city centre

If a move goes ahead, there is expected to be shared-use of studio resources involving BBC North's new HQ.

Five BBC departments, including Sport, Children's and Radio Five Live, are due to move to MediaCity by 2012, along with more than 1,600 jobs.

In addition, about 800 existing BBC staff in Manchester will move to Salford when their current home in Oxford Road closes.

A final decision has yet to be taken by ITV, but there is speculation that the outcome of negotiations could be known by July.

ITV chief operating officer John Cresswell said: 'We're in deep discussion with MediaCity and it's something that maybe we'll be able to announce.

'The key thing in this is protecting Coronation Street, which is the most valuable programme on British television. So we're not going to rush into a decision.'

Production of the Channel 4 quiz Countdown is moving to Manchester - and possibly on to Salford Quays - after the closure of ITV's main TV studio in Leeds was announced yesterday.

Salford Quays is now set to become the focus of ITV's business in the north.

Developers were asked to create a masterplan for the 24 acres of land owned by ITV on its Quay Street site in Manchester. The economic downturn has reduced both the value of the land and development options. But a sale would give ITV much-needed cash.

A decision to stay has not been ruled out but that would create problems for the filming of Coronation Street while development work was going on nearby. Originally the entire set was inside a studio.

The first outside set was seen on screen in 1968 before the latest version arrived 14 years later.

Almost 49,000 bricks and 6,500 roofing slates were reclaimed from Salford streets to give the TV soap the right look.

[Alice]

Wow that is crazy, and they are worried about Seagulls so their plan is to, shoot them out of the sky! They'd need antiaircraft guns to shoot down all the seagulls!

Even then, total up the cost of ammunition to keep firing up and its going to cost regardless.

[RitaLittlewood]

www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/2815687/Seagulls-foil-Corrie-set-move.html Anyone else getting deja vu here? One minute they're moving, the next they're not due to seagulls.

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

And the Corrie producers wonder why fans are leaving the soap in droves

[sootycat]

I suppose it could get interesting pigeons fighting gulls. ;D ;D

[RitaLittlewood]

LOL! A new twist on the triangle as well.

Patsy