When ABC Weekend TV upped-sticks and moved to London to become Thames Television, the famous studios at Didsbury were consigned to history.
Ironically, the last productions to be made at Didsbury were made by ABC on behalf of Yorkshire Television, who were had begun broadcasting from Leeds, reflecting the new geographical (as opposed to chronological) split in the north.
After production finally ceased at Didsbury - YTV having completed its Kirkstall Road studios - the building eventually ended up under control of a university, who used it for cinema and television studies.
All things end, and so it was with the Capitol Studios, pulled down to make room for senior citizens accommodation. One is left wondering if the new inhabitants are aware that they are sleeping, eating and socialising in the same space that once rang with the sound of Hughie Green offering opportunity a knock at someone’s door, Steed delivering a blow to an assailant, or even a man in a booth saying “ABC, your weekend television in the north”.
Photos courtesy of Kif Bowden-Smith, Tim Disney and Hector Hill
