Everybody wants to be in the Martyrs……even the cast & crew of Britain's No.1 Soap - Coronation Street.

Early 2004, the location manager for Coronation Street - Naomi Sloyan - came to the Parish Centre and advised that an appropriate story line involving Jamie meeting his natural mother had been written and that she felt the centre was an ideal location for shooting the appropriate scenes.

The filming took place in early April and on the day of the shoot the crew of approximately 25 plus including actors, extras, directors, technicians, make up, security and camera men arrived just after 7.00am.
They took over the entire car park with various equipment including mobile generators, prop and lighting vehicles, catering and dining units, changing rooms etc.

It took a while to set up the centre with lighting, props and camera equipment and after several hours the shoot was completed.

There was great attention to detail including various props ranging from drum kits and musical equipment on the stage right down to post cards behind the bar and Newton & Riddley stickers fixed over some of our more visible Theakstons beer pumps.

For ever the practical joker , our Steward - John Kilmartin - deliberately left these stickers in place after the shoot had finished and that evening asked some of the regulars if they would like to try the new "guest beer" of Newton & Riddley. Upon trying sampling a pint or two, a number of regulars commented that the pint wasn't as good as the Theakstons!

Naomi Sloyan from Granada was very pleased with how things went on the day and advised that they would strongly consider the centre for future use not only for Coronation Street but also for other productions.

A couple of photos are available. Click here to view them