The BBC has announced that Salford will be the new home for both Children in Need and Comic Relief events.
These special fundraising telethon events – which are broadcast live on BBC One every year – are two of the biggest nights in the TV calendar, presenting jam-packed evenings of entertainment with line-ups of famous faces coming together to raise money for charities.
BBC Children in Need exists to change the lives of children and young people across the UK and Comic Relief has a vision of a world that’s free from poverty.
From 2021, both shows will be filmed and broadcasted live from MediaCityUK.
We have a new home! 🏠🥳
From this year the BBC Children in Need appeal show will be broadcast live from @dock10 studios at @MediaCityUK.
Our 41st show will be on @BBCOne, Friday 19th November. We already can't wait!
Children in Need, which is now in its 41st year, will shoot in November – with the live show hosted at the biggest multi-camera purpose-built TV studio in the UK, dock10.
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Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day will also be beamed from Salford – which is where the Sport Relief show has been broadcast from for several years.
The BBC says the move of these major shows to Salford will enhance its “commitment to the nations and regions” after the broadcaster revealed that it would favour the North over London in “ambitious plans” for its biggest transformation in decades, with more “power and decision-making” brought to the region.
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dock10 is the biggest multi-camera purpose built TV studio in the UK / Credit: BBC / MediaCityUK
“We are hugely excited to be bringing the BBC Children in Need Appeal show to Pudsey HQ in Media City,” said Simon Antrobus, Chief Executive BBC Children in Need.
“The past year has left lasting effects on the lives of children and young people facing disadvantage and the 2021 appeal show will be a chance for us to come together as a nation and demonstrate that we will always be here for the children and young people across the UK that need us most.”
Samir Patel – Chief Executive of Comic Relief – added: “We can’t wait to film from Salford next March [as] the support we get from the public all around the country, but particularly in the North, is simply outstanding.
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“To get back in a studio with a full crew and studio audience at our new ‘home’ will be a treat.”
Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day appeal show will also be broadcast from Salford from 2022 onwards / Credit: BBC One / Comic Relief
Salford is already home to some of the BBC’s best-known programmes including A Question of Sport, Dragons’ Den, Match of the Day, Blue Peter, University Challenge, BBC Breakfast and North West Tonight.
Children in Need and Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day are the latest to make the city their new permanent production base and broadcast location.
BBC Children in Need will air on 19 November 2021, and the next Comic Relief Red Nose Day will take place on 18 March 2022.
Featured Image – BBC One
TV & Showbiz
Iconic Manc movie 24 Hour Party People is set to return to cinemas for its anniversary
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most iconic movies is set to return to the big screen next month.
Remastered in 4K and returning to UK cinemas to mark 24 years since its original release, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biographical comedy drama film, 24 Hour Party People, tells the story of Manchester‘s popular music community from 1976 to 1992 – specifically about Factory Records‘ founder Tony Wilson.
The film begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s, before moving through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture, and of course, the ‘Madchester‘ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The narrative largely follows the career of Tony Wilson, played by Middleton-born actor Steve Coogan, while also covering the careers of the major Factory Records artists – especially Joy Division and New Order, as well as A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and Happy Mondays.
If you haven’t seen 24 Hour Party People before, it’s a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, and urban legends, as the film is sure to make clear.
Coogan is joined by a cast by a mixture of big names and, at the time, rising stars like Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Sean Harris, John Thomson, and even Peter Kay, alongside cameos from other figures connected to the Manchester music scene.
Before it returns to cinemas, the film will first open music and media festival/conference, Beyond The Music, at MediaCity in Salford on 6 October.
The screening at the festival will also be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom, and producer Andrew Eaton.
24 Hour Party People will then be re-released in UK cinemas from 9 October, and you can check your local cinema for screening times and book tickets online now.
Featured Image – Altitude
TV & Showbiz
Bury actress Kate O’Flynn wins big at 2026 Emmys with record-breaking comedy show
Emily Sergeant
Did you know that one of the big winners at the 2026 Emmy Awards last night was actually an actress from Bury?
In case it wasn’t on your radar, American television‘s biggest night, the Emmys, took place yesterday evening over in Los Angeles, and several records were broken in the process – including Apple TV’s comedy horror Widow’s Bay taking home the most Emmys ever for a single series of a comedy show, with 14 of them.
Widow’s Bay tells the story of mayor Tom Loftis, played by Welsh actor Matthew Rhys, who is trying to boost tourism on his rugged New England island, but must navigate several strange events that suggest it might be cursed.
Created by Katie Dippold, and executive produced and directed by Hiro Murai, Widow’s Bay was released in late April to widespread critical acclaim.
At the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards last night, the show scooped a record 14 awards, including for Outstanding Comedy Series, several acting wins, and wins for directing and writing too.
One of those acting wins was Kate O’Flynn for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – an actress who hails from the Greater Manchester town of Bury.
Kate stars as Patricia Moyer, mayor Tom’s eccentric assistant in the show.
She grew up in Holcombe Brook near Ramsbottom, and was educated at Bury Grammar School, before she went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Acting in 2006.
Taking to the stage to accept her award last night, Kate said in her speech: “I want to thank our mayor [Matthew Rhys] and all the residents of Widow’s Bay, in front and behind the camera – you’re amazing. This is the role of a lifetime, thank you Katie and Hiro for trusting a Lancashire lass to play a sassy broad like Patricia. And thank you Apple [TV] for saying yes.
“Thank you Nicky and Tony for looking after me, my family back home, my mum and dad, and the loves of my life, my husband and our darling daughter – another sassy broad in the making.
Emily Sergeant -
23rd July 2021 
