Victoria Baths is opening its new season with a brand new tour that will take visitors ‘Behind the Screens’, as Manchester’s Water Palace reveals its starring role in some of the most popular TV dramas of recent times. This will be a new addition to its regular weekly tour programme that takes place between April and October 2020.
Peaky Blinders, Houdini & Doyle, Cold Feet, Mrs Biggs, World on Fire and many more; the roll call is endless and the drama created unmissable. Victoria Baths has acted as a morgue, prison, hospital, fish market, auction house and even, on occasion, a swimming pool! All of which form part of the plot line for the Behind the Screens tour.
The action starts in some of the areas not usually accessible to the public and where some iconic TV moments have taken place. You’ll find yourself in the filter room where a famous Tom Hardy scene from Peaky Blinders took place and in the basement where a prison cell was built for Houdini & Doyle. There are original props to see, location photo opportunities and back stage secrets to be divulged.
As your tour guide takes you around the building, fascinating stories will be revealed and magic moments rekindled. Photographs will help to illuminate key scenes such as the beautifully staged book launch by the Cold Feet team in the Gala Pool and the horse auction in Peaky Blinders.
Elizabeth Sibbering, Operations Manager at Victoria Baths says, “We all love the excitement generated by the filming at Victoria Baths and appreciate the way production teams showcase the building. Victoria Baths has fueled the imagination of wonderfully creative and talented individuals and we want to share these stories and moments with visitors in our new Behind the Screens tour.”
Filming at Victoria Baths has not only helped to raise its profile, it has made an important financial contribution towards the running and maintenance costs of this historic building. Early film crews, such as Cracker (1993-5) and Prime Suspect (1996), used the building when it was in a derelict state, after it closed in 1993. Today’s film crews are welcomed to a much-loved building that is used as a heritage arts and events venue, supported by an enthusiastic team of staff and volunteers.
The new Behind the Screens tour will complement the popular weekly tours that take place every Wednesday at Victoria Baths between April and October. Doors open at 12:30pm, with the Gift Shop and Tea Room open before and after the tours. Tickets are £7 (free for Friends of Victoria Baths and under 16s) and can be booked via victoriabaths.eventbrite.com.
Full details will shortly be announced for a series of Wednesday Lates at Victoria Baths. Dates for the diary are Wednesday 20 May, Wednesday 8 July and Wednesday 14 October.
All the money raised from the events and activities held at Victoria Baths helps to keep this beautiful building open to the general public and supports the Trust’s long-term vision, to bring back into their original use some of the building’s historical features, including the Turkish Baths. For further information on Victoria Baths visit www.victoriabaths.org.uk
