Half term is here once again, and that means parents across Greater Manchester will be the look-out for activities to occupy the kids.
Half term is a time that most kids look forward to, but most parents, carers, and guardians tend to dread, as it usually means having to search around for various different ways to keep the youngsters entertained, educated, and engaged, all while making sure they’re still enjoying themselves – which is, undoubtedly, a real task.
Luckily, the bustling city of Manchester and the surrounding areas have got you covered with so much to offer.
From exploring a brand-new city centre urban park, to making the most of a whole host of museum events, and so much more, there’s lots of things to do this half term if you’re in need of some inspiration.
Here’s just a handful of our picks.
ADVERTISEMENT
___
Half Term at the Science and Industry Museum
Science and Industry Museum
ADVERTISEMENT
Half Term at the Science and Industry Museum / Credit: Science Museum Group
Mancs will get the chance to “unravel the secrets of sound” through experiments, play, and performance at the Science and Industry Museum this half term.
The Science and Industry Museum is encouraging families to “march to the beat of their own drum” and have a go at finding their inner musician, as there’ll be a whole host of interactive activities, special shows, and unique performances all themed around the science of sound to get stuck into.
Aside from sound, there’s also still time to check out the interactive gaming experience, Power UP – where players can enjoy the very-best video games from the past five decades, and try out over a hundred different consoles to rediscover childhood favourites and test out some of the latest developments in virtual reality.
ADVERTISEMENT
Find out about everything happening at the Science and Industry Museum over the half term here.
___
Castlefield Viaduct
Manchester City Centre
Castlefield Viaduct / Credit: National Trust
Manchester‘s new ‘sky park’ on Castlefield Viaduct has reopened after being closed for maintenance over the winter, and families are encouraged to make the most of it.
The New York-inspired elevated urban park on the giant Grade II-listed 330-metre steel viaduct has been closed since December to allow time for the team of National Trust gardeners, volunteers, and community partners to prune, plant, and create new and exciting areas,
ADVERTISEMENT
On top of the work to add a variety of seasonal planting displays created by, four plots on the viaduct have also been handed over to local community groups and partner organisations to create their own unique gardens for visitors to enjoy.
A booking system will stay in place for guided walk visits between 11am to 12:30pm, but unlike last time it was open, those wanting to explore the viaduct at their own pace after 1pm can now just turn up on the day without needing to book.
Little Mancs can try their hand at becoming a pilot this February half term, as the much-loved Flight Academy returns to Manchester Airport.
The Flight Academy programme is back at Runway Visitor Park with 90-minute sessions to give curious kids the chance to learn all about the different job roles that help keep Manchester‘s airport in action throughout the year.
The first part of the session takes place aboard a retired Monarch DC10 airliner, so kids can sit in the cockpit and find out about everything from the cabin crew’s role, to the ground operators, and more, and they’ll even get to dress the part, and “take control” of the flight deck too.
Looking for somewhere to take the kids for a hearty meal this half term, but keen to keep the pennies in your pockets?
With the rising cost of living crisis sadly continuing to make its impact felt on many families, plenty of supermarkets, independent and chain restaurants, and pub groups across Greater Manchester and the UK are offering kids the chance to eat a hearty meal out for as little as £1.
Some are even offering up children’s meals completely free of charge.
So if you’re looking to treat the kids to a meal, but you want to things on the cheaper side and save a few pennies, then thankfully, eating out just got a whole lot easier.
Read our roundup list of February half term food offers here.
___
ADVERTISEMENT
Manchester Museum
Manchester City Centre
Manchester Museum / Credit: The Manc Group
Manchester Museum has finally reopened to the public after an ambitious £15 million transformation project.
After an 18-month refurbishment, the cultural institution – which is part of the University of Manchester – has expanded into a modern new two-storey extension, with new exhibition spaces and inclusive facilities added into the space.
New spaces inside include a brand new Exhibition Hall, which has opened with the blockbuster exhibition Golden Mummies of Egypt, where visitors get an unparalleled access to more than 100 objects and eight mummies in a UK debut, while the new extension also includes the South Asia Gallery, which will be the UK’s first permanent space to explore the lived experience of South Asian diaspora communities.
There’s a new dinosaur in town too, joining the museum’s legendary T-Rex Stan.
Totally Roarsome North West / Credit: Totally Roarsome
One of the North West’s most-popular outdoor events is back once again at the picturesque Arley Hall in Cheshire for the February half term, and with more than 200 individual dinosaur models making up the woodland trail this year, it’s an ideal day out for families.
Aimed at primary school children, and named as being one of the safest attractions for all the family in Greater Manchester, Totally Roarsome gives families the chance to get up close to the raptors, brontosaurus, spinosaurus, triceratops, stegosaurus, and more.
ADVERTISEMENT
Wild animals, sea creatures, unicorns, aliens, farm animals, pirates, and dragons are just some of the other themes at the event this year.
Tickets priced at £8.95 and already selling fast – grab yours here.
___
Half Term at East Lancashire Railway
Bury Transport Museum
Malice in Wonderland & Dragon Quest / Credit: ELR
East Lancashire Railway and the Bury Transport Museum has, once again, got a wide range of fun activities planned to keep the little ones busy this February half term.
ADVERTISEMENT
While the trains may not be running, there’s lots of other events in the calendar – including a visit from Peppa Pig, a tumble down the rabbit hole with Alice and friends, and a dalliance with dragons on an epic Dragon Quest.
There’s also museums and galleries to explore too, if you’re keen to keep things educational.
SEA LIFE Manchester is inviting families to dive deep into the past this February half term with its new pre-historic adventure called ‘Jurassic Seas’.
For those up for the true Jurassic experience, you’ll be able to dig for fossils, take part in challenges, enjoy dino photo opportunities, meet and greet The Professor, and even see animals from pre-historic times up close and personal – including sharks, turtles, and sea anemones.
The extremely popular ‘Family Fridays’ event returns to Manchester’s largest street food hub and social space GRUB for a half term special this week, with a range of activities including everything from watching specially-selected kids’ films at the in-house cinema CULTPLEX and playing puzzles and board games, to arts and crafts, music making, bulb planting for spring and more.
There’ll even be face painting, temporary tattoo workshops, and lots of fun with glitter too, on top of a wide range of street food, coffee, and the GRUB bar for the parents to enjoy.
The event will run from 1pm-4pm, with GRUB remaining open afterwards, and tickets are £3 per child, but adults do not need a ticket.
Featured Image – Science Museum Group | GRUB | National Trust
Kids & Family
10 of the very best British Christmas specials and episodes to watch on TV this holiday season
Danny Jones
‘Tis the season to sit on your backside and do nothing but gorge on mountains of food and watch TV for hours on end as you make your way through all the Christmas specials and best of British telly you can muster.
Now, there’s nothing worse than when it feels like there’s nothing on you’re stranded in that spot on the sofa that’s too comfy to vacate, so that’s where we come in.
Along with all the usual stuff you’ll find in the TV guide at this time of year, we thought we’d round up some of the very best British Christmas specials to have ever aired – that way you’ll have a steady supply of festive viewing and barely need to move an inch.
In no particular order, let’s get stuck into it, shall we?
The best British Christmas TV specials of all time
Where else to start than with the pride of Wales and a series that millions watch from start to finish every year? Gavin & Stacey. Still revered as one of the most beloved comedies to ever come out of the UK, their two festive specials are also part and parcel (pardon the pun) of many Brits’ Christmas.
It still feels a bit weird going back and watching Corden as Smithy before the days of American fame, that first Nessa entrance; Uncle Bryn being, well, Bryn – even the soundtrack takes us back, but with a third special and ultimate ‘Finale’ airing at 9pm on BBC One on 25 December, it’s time to do it all over again.
‘OH! What’s occurin’?…’
9. The Office – ‘Christmas Special’ (Part 1 and 2)
Next up is not only this particular telephile’s ultimate Christmas TV event but possibly one of the very best episodes of British telly in history. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant broke new ground with this genre-defining comedy and while they fine-tuned cringe throughout the series, this was pure heart.
Rom-com juggernaut Richard Curtis dubbed this two-part Christmas special spread across just 96 minutes as the culmination of what he believed to be “one of the great romantic stories of all time” between Tim and Dawn, and the perfect end to a “masterpiece”. You’ll hear no arguments from us (me).
Is it the best Christmas special in British TV history?
8. The Royle Family – Christmas Specials (1999, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012)
Another classic not only British but fundamentally Manc comedy, The Royle Family might just be one of the best things Greater Manchester ever produced – and that’s saying something – and perfectly captures the comfortable monotony of sitting in the front of the telly for hours on end.
That goes doubly so for the multiple Christmas specials, of which there are many and while they all do a great job of creating that familiar feeling of a Northern front room that the series was so good at throughout its entire run, but the 1999 Christmas with the Royle Family special where the late great Caroline Aherne’s water breaks and that tear-jerking scene with Ricky Tomlinson… it gets us every time.
Set just down the road in Wythenshawe, it still has us weeping just as much now as it did back in the day.
7. Peep Show – ‘Seasonal Beatings’
Cauliflower may or may not be traditional but one thing we can agree on is that watching Peep Show‘s hilariously miserable, ill-mannered, tense ever-awkward and bloody brilliant Christmas episode from 2010 is very much part of our annual holiday ritual.
The fifth episode of the seventh season – which many would rightly champion as peak-era Peep Show – may only last less than half an hour but it feels like an eternity of familiar festive agony and walking on egg-shells before the fantastic crescendo that is Mark pouring gravy into a shredder. Merry ChrisMark!
If you don’t think Peep Show’s Christmas special/festive episode is one of the best in British TV history, you’re just wrong, sorry.
6. Ted Lasso – ‘Carol of the Bells’
Approaching the halfway mark and we’re going to be somewhat controversial and introduce not only a very contemporary pick but one that isn’t technically a UK production, but the show is set entirely in England and there’s one thing it has tried to be since the start it’s very overly British.
Now, we’re going to qualify that we have a weird relationship with Ted Lasso; it’s by no means the funniest thing we’ve ever seen and the broad-strokes American look at football is frustrating at times, but one thing this show does do well is being incredibly sincere and never more so that in its Christmas special. Plus, you get to hear Hannah Waddingham sing her pipes off – what’s not to like?
Christmas is about reminding your loved ones how much they mean – regardless of what you make of the show, this episode nails that.
5. Extras – Christmas Special (Part 1 and 2)
Our penultimate pick is also our second Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant creation: the Extras Christmas special, which aired back 2007 and still has some of the funniest gags in the history of British TV as far as we’re concerned.
Managing to rope in even more big names for this equally cringeworthy and even painful to watch at times conclusion to the show which also ran for just two series like The Office, the frustrating arc of Gervais’ main character Andy Millman is such a great payoff when all is said and done. Only an hour and a half in total, well worth sticking on if you’ve never seen it before.
Just look at how many famous faces they managed to rope in for this fantastic two-parter. (Credit: Press Image via BBC)
4. Doctor Who – ‘End of Time’ (Part 1 and 2)
From a David Tennant cameo to him in arguably one of his greatest-ever performances in his final full-time appearance as the space-travelling Time Lord in what we are officially declaring the best Doctor Who Christmas special to date and some of Russell T. Davies’ very best work.
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 15 whole years since the national treasure said goodbye to the role in the gut-wrenching two-parter which also saw the return of John Simm as ‘The Master’ but we’re still confident that there hasn’t been a better Xmas/New Year’s Day special pairing since this one. Here’s hoping RTD’s recent return will mean this year’s is back up to his very high standards.
That delivery of ‘I don’t wanna go’ still makes us well up.
As we gradually approach the end of our list, we want to give so much deserved love to what we think isn’t just the underdog of British telly but an unsung hero when it comes to spotlighting friendship, positive male relationships and downright fraternal love. It’s Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Finishing – the festive editions. We know we’re biased but we really love the one with Paul Heaton.
If you’ve ever sat down to watch an episode of this laid-back laughter-filled show, you’ll know that these two can often achieve that warm, heartfelt and cosy feeling regardless of whether it’s Christmas or not. It’s also a great antidote to any latent toxic masculinity left on screen and with some serious emotion being laid bare in these Christmas specials episodes especially, for us, this is what reality TV should be.
Ok, we promise this is the last Merchant mention on this list as we’re intensely aware of some bias on our end, but this straight-to-TV BBC short film really took us by surprise when we first saw it and is well worth setting aside a nice round hour to enjoy.
Not only does the core premise feel like a very relatable scenario for many parents rushing to sort out everyone’s Christmas presents in time but it’s a touching tale of family, kindness and sparing that extra bit of patience during what can be a tough time of year for lots of people. You’ll love it.
1. Only Fools & Horses – ‘Heroes and Villians’
And finally, what better place to round off this list than with only the series consistently voted the greatest British comedy of all time but the episode that is widely considered its best-ever Christmas special? It can only be Del Boy and Rodney dressed up as Batman and Robin in ‘Heroes and Villians’.
Now, there is a whopping total of 18 Only Fools Christmas specials and we’re sure everyone has their own personal favourite, but surely there isn’t a single one more iconic than the first episode of the legendary 1996 festive trilogy. It also sets up events for ‘Time on Our Hands’, one of the most moving scripts they ever wrote, but it all starts with the much-loved duo plodding through the mist in capes.
It’s still regarded as the best British comedy ever, but where does it rank on the list of all-time greatest Christmas TV specials?
A very Christmas special mention…
Father Ted – ‘A Christmassy Ted’
Not technically British we know but the cult Irish hit remains one of the funniest comedies to ever come out of our corner of the world and if you’ve never seen Ted, Dougal and a bunch of other clergymen get stuck in a women’s lingerie section like it’s a warzone, you’re seriously missing out.
Mrs Doyle is her usual quick-witted self and Father Jack can be found making the occasional outburst from his chair as usual and overall, ‘A Christmassy Ted’ is a very funny bit of seasonal telly.
Not strictly British but still one of the best Christmas specials in TV history if you ask us.
Come on, you have to agree – we absolutely smashed that.
Some old, some new, some maybe a little bit out of left field but all absolutely guaranteed to keep you entertained this festive period.
If you think we’ve made the cardinal sin of missing an all-time TV great then please feel free to give it to us in the comments and educate on the best British Christmas specials.
In fact, one of our other writers, Emily, has forced me to add a line about The Vicar of Dibley Christmas Specials too… so here’s the line.
The all-new Cirque Wicked Wizard of Oz is coming to the AO Arena in 2025
Danny Jones
Something Wicked comes this way but not as you know because a high-flying twist on the Wizard of Oz lands in Manchester next year – only this time, make it Cirque!
That’s right, AO Arena is set to welcome the Cirque Wicked Wizard of Oz: an acrobatic take on the classic children’s story and much-loved 1939 film starring Judy Garland.
With Wicked fever having taken over the global zeitgeist following the release of this year’s feature-length adaption and even more people, theatre fans or not, going along to see the long-hailed theatre production that inspired it, it seems there’s no better time to announce this latest entry into the universe.
Set to embark on its inaugural tour in 2025, the experience is being described as ‘cirque meets panto’ and is set to deliver a magical retelling of the iconic tale like never before.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NOW ON SALE!⚡ CIRQUE WICKED WIZARD OF OZ!<br><br>Panto meets Cirque... Be amazed by a brand-new, breath-taking, Cirque staging… of the Wicked Wizard of Oz, coming to the AO Arena next year on Tuesday 23rd December 2025! 💫✨ <br><br>Buy tickets now: <a href="https://t.co/uQTPa3YJqW">https://t.co/uQTPa3YJqW</a> <a href="https://t.co/kTctGVXZIn">pic.twitter.com/kTctGVXZIn</a></p>— AO Arena (@AOArena) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOArena/status/1870046804659568980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Turning the Emerald City into the Emerald Circus, World’s Biggest Productions (the same team behind Elf: The Musical, Peter Pan and many other pantomime hits) are bringing this new concept to the masses starting in Autumn 2025, with a Manchester date pencilled in for the following winter.
Featuring a cast of more than 60, including already familiar audience favourites like Jordan Conway, Kelly Banlaki and Kev Orkian in starring roles, anyone who has seen one of their productions before will know how big and bold an affair they are.
Combine that with one of the most well-known stories on the planet and what do you get? Well, what we can only expect to be a supremely energetic, colourful and heartfelt spectacle on a huge scale.
Promising aerial stunts, amazing special effects and the big-budget perks of an arena as legendary as the AO, this is not one you’ll want to miss if you’re a musical theatre fan.
It’s also not the show the theatre company are bringing to the stage next year either, as their hugely successful run of Elf will be returning alongside Scrooge – yes, another circus spin, only this time on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Most importantly, all of these shows are fundamentally family-friendly, meaning not only can they be enjoyed by people of all ages but they’ll make for a perfect day out come the festive period.
Cirque Wicked Wizard of Oz comes to Manchester for one night only on Tuesday, 23 December 2025 with the fun starting from 7pm.
In the meantime, if you’re still in need of a musical theatre of fantasy fix, you can read all about what we made of the most recent showings of Wicked at the Palace Theatre down below.
Emily Sergeant -
18th February 2023 
