One of the hottest actors on the planet right now, Aimee Lou Wood, has described her perfect day out in Manchester – and this woman really knows her stuff.
The Stockport-born actor is currently starring in The White Lotus, which will air its final episode of the season this weekend.
And in an interview with Elle, the 31-year-old star has spilled the beans on how she’d spend the ‘ultimate day out’ in Manchester.
The local lass has shouted out several independent businesses across Ancoats and the Northern Quarter, including some Manc favourites too.
Aimee Lou Wood said her perfect Manchester day would start with coffee and breakfast at Idle Hands, an independent coffee shop that’s also famed for its brunches and its pies.
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She said in her interview that it does the ‘best’ coffee, adding: “And they also have cherry pie, which is really delicious, which I try not to have for breakfast. I try and have an actual breakfast meal.
“They have this thing called divorced eggs. I would eat the divorced eggs and then possibly have the cherry pie.”
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Idle HandsKerb wine bar in AncoatsErst in AncoatsThe Norah Store in AncoatsSome of the Manchester spots Aimee Lou Wood recommended. Credit: The Manc Group
From there, Aimee Lou said she’d hit the many, many vintage shops around the Northern Quarter, name-checking favourites like Blue Rinse, Cow, and Pop Boutique.
“They always have amazing leather jackets and that’s my fixation, is leather jackets,” she said.
She then told Elle: “Later on in the day, I would stay in the Northern Quarter, but then maybe I would go to Ancoats, which is really really cool now, and I would go to Erst, which is an amazing restaurant. It’s the bread. The bread there is just so good.
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“But also, ooh, my friend’s shop! The Norah Store, which is in Ancoats, which is an incredible little shop, and then next door to it is this little wine bar, natural wine bar, called Kerb.
“And that is kind of the perfect day. It’s an amazing day.”
Aimee Lou Wood also said: “I love Manchester, so much.”
Channel 4 is looking for Mancs who think they can survive the apocalypse for a new TV series
Lydia Mastrolonardo
Have you always wanted to see how long you’d last in an apocalypse?
Well now’s your chance, as Apocalypse is potentially coming back to Channel 4 for a second series, with producers having put out a nationwide casting call for contestants willing to take part.
The casting call simply reads: “Do you think you have what it takes to survive the end of the world?”
Described as a dystopian series designed to test the creativity, resourcefulness, and resilience of our nation, Apocalypse sees players are pushed out of their comfort zones and put to the ultimate test.
In the series, ordinary people are tasked with surviving for 28 days in an abandoned city – used previously only for the military to practice urban warfare – with no food, running water, electricity or heat.
Produced by The Garden – which is part of ITV Studios – for Channel 4, the show’s creators are now calling on Mancs and people up and down the country with the ‘courage and ingenuity’ to compete, to get in touch and apply for the potential second series.
Does your mate always bang on after watching a post-apocalyptic film that they would’ve done things differently? Or is the news at the moment freaking you out and you want to give the end of the world a bit of a practice run? Either way, sign up, test that plan you’ve built in your head, and see if you’ve really got what it takes.
Applications are now open, and all you need to do is fill in a short application form and one of the production team will get back to you if they would like to proceed. Come on, let’s prove what Mancs are made of.
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.
Daisy Jackson -
4th April 2025 
