An expert in the history of television broadcasting has joined the Manchester Centre for Regional History at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Stephen Kelly has been appointed Visiting Professor at the Centre, where he is working on the “Granadaland” project, documenting the early years of Granada Television.
Stephen said: “I’m very excited to have been appointed Visiting Professor. It’s a great honour and reflects the importance of our project to Manchester Met and the wider Manchester community, as well as recognising the support we have had from the Manchester Centre for Regional History who have always been enthusiastic, helpful and proactive – they realise the historical importance of this project to Manchester and the North West.

“Manchester Met is an appropriate place for this project to be housed and a lot of the people we’ve interviewed are reflected in the sort of courses taught at the University – for example film or fashion design – so we hope that Undergraduate and Postgraduate students will benefit from what we have done. Broadcast history is becoming an important subject and Manchester Met have seized the initiative.”

Stephen, along with fellow interviewer Judith Jones, has been speaking to a range of people who worked for Granada in its early years, including cameramen and technicians as well as producers and directors.

Stephen said: “That period in broadcast history is very interesting – it was very much ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ stuff. It’s important to capture those moments of how they managed that innovation.”

Professor Melanie Tebbutt, Head of the Manchester Centre for Regional History, said: “Stephen’s association with the Manchester Centre for Regional History is a tremendous opportunity to develop a significant regional research project. Granada’s pioneering programmes contributed much to the growth of the creative industries in the North West and it seems entirely appropriate to support the ‘Granadaland’ project at a time when the devolution agenda is so important. We hope will it make a significant contribution to the history of regional television and are delighted to welcome Stephen and Judith to the Centre.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here