A selection of performances by Manchester-based acts culled from the BBC archives.
Social & External
Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.
A documentary made for television that looks back on the development and rapid rise of Oasis from being a band practicing nightly in the Boardwalk to one the biggest British bands of the last thirty years. Building from the formation of the band (with Liam apparently just fed up waiting for other bands to release records and decides to do something himself), the film uses contributions from key people really well to tell the story in an engaging way.
Demon Days: Live at the Manchester Opera House is a Grammy Award nominated live DVD by Gorillaz, It compiles live performances by the band from the 1st through the 5th of November 2005 at the Manchester Opera House that recreated the Demon Days Studio album.
How could a German Wehrmacht soldier become a celebrated soccer idol of the Britons in the post-war period? The documentary by Radio Bremen shows the moving life story of the soccer star of the 1950s in a torn Europe and how an enemy became a friend. With his legendary appearance in the English Cup Final 1956, in which he played until the end despite a broken neck, Bert Trautmann set up a memorial for himself in the history of sport. Already in the same year, he is chosen as England’s footballer of the year, and by his club Manchester City even as best player of all times. Bernhard “Bert” Trautmann is one of the most popular and best-known soccer players in England.
Live coverage of the concert set up by Ariana Grande at Old Trafford cricket ground to benefit those affected by the May 2017 Manchester bomb attack. Performers include Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Take That, Pharrell Williams, Niall Horan, Miley Cyrus, Usher, Robbie Williams, Little Mix and The Black Eyed Peas.
Beginning at the industrial revolution of the ‘great north’, Jenn Nkiru draws lines between peoples, cities, countries, buildings, movements, bodies and spaces(s) using a mixture of archive materials and new footage. There is little stillness as we are pushed and pulled through Black histories and communities across the city of Manchester and beyond. Nkiru has termed this filmmaking process “cosmic archeology”, and it is grounded in Afro-surrealism, experimental film and the Black arts movement.
Teenage musicians travel to England's Spike Island in the hope of attending an outdoor performance by their favorite band, the Stone Roses.
Documentary looking at the career to date of Peter Kay, from Bolton schoolboy to award-winning, record-breaking comic, actor, writer and director.
A look at the life and legend of Sir Alex Ferguson, from his working-class roots in Glasgow through to his career as one of the greatest football managers of all time. While recovering from a traumatic brain haemorrhage in 2018, Sir Alex intimately recounts vivid details of his life and career to his son, including his legendary 26-year tenure as manager of Manchester United.
Toyoda Toshiaki went to Sado Island and filmed musician Koshiro Hino and Kodo, the local Taiko Performing Arts Ensemble, while they performed music composed especially for Shiver.
A documentary about The Smiths.
Carol Morley returns to Manchester, where in the early 1980s, five years of her life were lost in an alcoholic blur. The Alcohol Years is a poetic retrieval of that time, in which rediscovered friends and acquaintances recount tales of her drunken and promiscuous behavior. In Morley’s search for her lost self, conflicting memories and viewpoints weave in and out, revealing a portrait of the city, its pop culture, and the people who lived it.
Revealing details about how Manchester City Football Club is trying to dodge UEFA and PL fair play regulations and how the corruption suspicions around the club's owners and UEFA unfolds, leaving the UK as last option of conviction.
1. Siren Song 2. Ship Of Fools 3. Chorus 4. Breath Of Life 5. Chains Of Love 6. Love To Hate You 7. Joan 8. Voulez Vous 9. Take A Chance On Me 10. S.O.S. 11. Lay All Your Love On Me 12. Am I Right? 13. Oh L'Amour 14. Waiting For The Day 15. Heart Of Stone 16. Stop! 17. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly 18. Who Needs Love Like That 19. Stand By Your Man 20. The Soldier's Return 21. Turns The Love To Anger 22. Star 23. Blue Savannah 24. Over The Rainbow 25. Love Is A Loser 26. A Little Respect 27. Home 28. Perfect Stranger 29. Sometimes British synthpop legends Erasure perform live at the Manchester Apollo on 8 June 1992, as part of their Phantasmagorical Entertainment Tour.
A documentary on the events when a bomb went off at the Ariana Grande concert.
A look back at Manchester United's unprecedented run to the three most prestigious club trophies an English team can win — the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League.
Documentary about the selling off of remnants from legendary Manchester nightclub The Hacienda.
A look at the number of canal deaths in the Manchester Region.
A look at the homeless problem in Manchester
Terrific portrait of Bobby and Jackie Charlton, pillars of football history, at the height of their playing careers.
We're working on finding the perfect movies for you. Check back soon!