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
Beloved Manc butty shop Bada Bing set for a sensational return to the city centre
Danny Jones
Sandwich lovers rejoice because one of the finest butty shops to ever grace Manchester is returning: that’s right, Bada Bing is bada-back!
The Sopranos-inspired deli and sandwich shop that took its name from one of the central locations featured in the iconic US drama (yes, the strip club), was a huge success when it first opened in Manchester a few short years ago, so it was a huge blow when it closed in February 2022.
Starting out by serving sandwiches out of a window at The B Lounge pub on Paton Street near Piccadilly, before moving to a small kitchen on Radium Street and eventually setting up their stall inside Ancoats General Store, they would regularly have lines around the block every lunchtime.
These Italian-American sarnies were so popular you’d often struggle to get your claws on one – and believe us, they really are a two-handed task – as they’d sell out on what felt like most days. But now, whether you were a regular or someone who missed out, there is hope once again:
Announcing their sensational return to a new site over in the Northern Quarter, which will now mark the fourth premises they’ve popped up at, Bada Bing is back with a bang and, as you can, they dropped the news with one of the best reveal videos we’ve ever seen.
If you know, you know…
Set to take over 125 Oldham Street, owners Sam Gormally and Meg Lingenfelter haven’t yet graced us with an opening date but the new unit should hopefully be open sooner rather than later.
The duo, who previously worked at fellow NQ favourite Another Heart to Feed, came up with the concept during lockdown and it didn’t take long for the idea to take off, nor for them to earn their spot amongst the very best sandwich places in Manchester.
Seriously, these things were so big and unwieldy (in the best way possible) that they even used to come with eating instructions: both hands and the trademark Tony Soprano hunch recommended, though the slightly stained wife-beater, boxer shorts and open dressing gown look is optional.
From slices of provolone cheese, all the thinly sliced Italian meats you could think of and the closest thing to actual ‘gabagool‘ as you’ll find in Greater Manchester, the menu was fitting of being served up to the iconic characters that once sat outside Satriale’s and a big approving grin from the man himself.
Simply put, we cannot wait and we will certainly keep you posted when we find out exactly when Bada Bing confirms their official reopening date.
Will Mellor’s new BBC documentary about real-life Post Office scandal victims airs tonight
Emily Sergeant
A new BBC documentary about real-life victims from the Post Office scandal fronted by Will Mellor is hitting TV screens tonight.
As the country finally starts to wake up to the full scale of the Post Office scandal – which involved the British postal service pursuing thousands of innocent subpostmasters for apparent financial shortfalls caused by faults in an accounting software system between 1999 and 2015 – actor Will Mellor is on a mission to find out what happened to the real-life sub-postmasters in this new BBC documentary.
The Stockport-born actor famously played the part of Lee Castleton in the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, and says he feels a “real affinity” will the families he spoke to for the programme.
For the new documentary and accompanying five-part BBC Sounds podcast series – which is titled Surviving the Post Office – Will actually speaks to Mr Castleton himself, as well as four other affected people and their families whose lives have been “torn apart”.
Will Mellor has fronted a new BBC documentary about real-life Post Office scandal victims / Credit: ITV
Surviving the Post Office ventures to all four corners of England, including East Yorkshire, County Durham, Lincolnshire, West Sussex, and Cornwall, as Will discovers that many of the sub-postmasters want to “take back control of their lives”.
According to the BBC, for some facing the past, that proves to be a “troubling experience”, while for others, it ends up being a “liberating” step forwards.
As well as exploring the financial losses for many, including the people featured in the documentary and podcast series, Will also gets to find out how they are coping with their emotions, trying to move on from the whole ordeal, and how the victims are finding support in unexpected ways.
📢 Actor Will Mellor meets the real-life victims of the Post Office scandal in a brand new documentary from BBC Local
Surviving The Post Office is coming to @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer tonight at 8.30pm. The podcast series is on @BBCSounds now
“I feel a real affinity with these families, so it was a privilege to hear their stories for this documentary and podcast,” Will said ahead of the documentary airing on BBC One.
“What shocked me the most after meeting so many sub-postmasters is just how far the impact and trauma has spread – the effect it’s had on people’s health, their children, and their whole communities has been massive.”
Emily Sergeant -
23rd July 2021 
