The production company behind the hit Manchester-based BBC crime series The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime has confirmed it will be making its return to our screens in 2022.
Filmed over the course of two years, it’s fair to say that the hugely-popular documentary series had the nation gripped when it first aired back in March 2021, as it explored real instances of organised crime in Manchester, and the team of detectives trying to put a stop to it, with each episode covering cases as they happen.
What set the show apart from other similar series’ was its exceptional coverage of live police investigations.
It really was an unprecedented access to the Greater Manchester Police.
Millions of viewers tuned into the first episode of the series, which saw police receive a call after a man was taken from his home by an armed gang in front of his wife and children, before being held hostage, tortured, and only released after a £34,000 ransom was paid, and then millions more caught the second episode too, which documented an incident and spate of criminal activity covered multiple times in the national press back in 2018 and 2019.
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Yet despite the success of those first two episodes, without any prior warning, the series suddenly disappeared from TV guides, and when the next week rolled around on the day the show usually aired, many people were wondering where it had gone.
More recently, the existing episodes were also removed from BBC iPlayer.
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The first episode of The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime / Credit: BBCThe second episode of The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime / Credit: BBC
The reason for the show disappearing off air wasn’t something the BBC seemed massively keen to talk about, despite many people asking, but in an answer to someone’s inquisitive question on Twitter back in May 2021, BBC iPlayer did reveal that: “The first two episodes were self-contained narratives [and] there are three remaining episodes that are planned later in the summer which follow one complete story.”
The summer may have passed, but now, the show’s producers have finally confirmed it will be making its long-anticipated return in 2022.
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Minnow Pictures explained in two separate tweet replies: “It will return this year [2022], date TBC, and we do need to wait for stories to conclude.”
They also added that “there are delays due to ongoing investigations.”
It will return next year, date TBC. We do need to wait for stories to conclude
The subject and storylines for the upcoming episodes are currently unconfirmed.
There have been rumours that the show’s second run will focus on grooming gangs in Rochdale, although the BBC are yet to shed any light on whether this is true, or when exactly it is that thw series will air.
The broadcaster has been simply asking people to “keep an eye on the programme page for dates nearer the time.”
Featured Image – BBC
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Drinks prices revealed as Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub opens inside T2
Emily Sergeant
It’s official… Manchester Airport’s first-ever JD Wetherspoon pub has officially opened its doors inside Terminal 2.
The 300-seater pub – which welcomed its first customers earlier this week – is named The Belle Vue after Manchester’s historic showground.
Throughout the pub, you’ll spot design features that nod to the city’s sporting heritage – including vintage event posters and memorabilia, a ‘locker wall’ hosting trophies and other sporting exhibits, and a cricket-themed design in the carpets and bar panels.
Creating around 150 jobs in the process, The Belle Vue is the final planned new eatery to open in the airport’s redeveloped Terminal 2, marking one of the final steps in the super-terminal’s decade-long, £1.5bn transformation.
Manchester Airport’s first-ever Wetherspoons pub has opened inside Terminal 2 / Credit: Supplied
According to the MEN, pints are priced from £6.20 for Carling and Coors lager, £6.45 for Budweiser, £6.60 for Guinness, and £6.70 for Poretti and 1664 Biere.
Prosecco is £9.20 for 175ml glass and £37.10 for the full bottle, while spirts and mixers are £6.80 for singles and £10.20 for doubles.
There’s also the classic Wetherspoons tea and coffee machines, where you can refill as many times as you like for just £3.60.
“It’s a proud moment to see the final new retail unit opening in our new-look Terminal 2,” commented Richard Jackson, who is the Retail Director at Manchester Airport.
“To be rounding off this 10-year programme by adding such an iconic name as Wetherspoon to the terminal is particularly special and we know that it will prove extremely popular with passengers. We think they’ll love the nods to Manchester’s heritage in the décor and design – and of course the name.”
The Belle Vue will be open from the first flight to the final flight each day, and food will be served from opening until 10pm.
Featured Image – Supplied
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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.
Emily Sergeant -
27th January 2022 
