8:15 from Manchester is a Saturday morning children's magazine show broadcast on BBC1

BBC One

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 when Going Live!

Going Live!

Going Live! was a Saturday morning magazine show, broadcast on BBC1 between 1987 and 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene.Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Peter Simon, Emma Forbes, and puppet Gordon the Gopher....

was between series.

Broadcasting from Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, it was presented by Ross King

Ross King (presenter)

Ross King, real name Derek Ross King , is a Scottish television presenter, actor and writer. He formerly presented shows on Radio Clyde from America and various local LA shows...

 and Charlotte Hindle. The first edition was broadcast on 21 April 1990. It was produced by Martyn Day. BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 (and now BBC North West

BBC North West

BBC North West is the BBC English Region serving Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Walsden in West Yorkshire, the Isle of Man , north-west Derbyshire, the Yorkshire Dales including Settle and Ribblesdale, and southern Cumbria.BBC North West television output is also broadcast in...

) weathergirl Dianne Oxberry

Dianne Oxberry

Dianne Oxberry is an English weather forecaster and presents the weather forecasts on BBC North West Tonight. She joined the BBC working as a personal assistant at Radio 2....

 joined for the second series, which began on 28 April 1991.

The format was very similar to Going Live!, with imported cartoons (Rude Dog and the Dweebs

Rude Dog

Rude Dog is a fictional white cartoon dog originally created by artist Brad McMahon while under contract to Sun Sportswear in the 1980s as part of a line of surfing- and skateboarding-related clothing.-Sun Sportswear Projects:...

, The Jetsons

The Jetsons

The Jetsons is a animated American sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera, originally airing in prime-time from 1962–1963 and again from 1985–1987...

and Defenders of the Earth

Defenders of the Earth

Defenders of the Earth is an animated television series produced in 1986, narrated by Corey Burton and featuring characters from three comic strips distributed by King Features Syndicate—Flash Gordon, the Phantom, and Mandrake the Magician—battling the Flash Gordon villain Ming the Merciless in the...

) punctuating items, such as games, music performances and interviews. A weekly drama was shown, in which the short episode ended in a dilemma of some sort (e.g. should x tell her sister that y has been cheating on her). Two endings had been filmed and viewers telephoned to vote which ending would be shown.

It also incorporated a repeat run of Rentaghost

Rentaghost

Rentaghost is a British children's television comedy show, broadcast by the BBC between 6 January 1976 and 6 November 1984. The show's plot centred on the antics of a number of ghosts who worked for a firm called Rentaghost, which rented out the ghosts for various tasks.-Background:The company,...

, though all the pre-1980 episodes were omitted and the end-credits rarely seen. Later, episodes of Grandad

Grandad (song)

"Grandad" is a popular song by Clive Dunn.While starring in the long-running BBC situation comedy Dad's Army, Dunn met bassist Herbie Flowers at a party and on learning he was a songwriter challenged him to write a song for him...

, starring Clive Dunn

Clive Dunn

Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn OBE is a retired English actor, comedian and author, best known for his role as Lance-Corporal Jack Jones in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army.-Early life:...

, were also shown.

The theme tune was by Inspiral Carpets

Inspiral Carpets

Inspiral Carpets are an alternative rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt in 1983. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate...

: a rewrite of their single "Find Out Why". An early edition had a feature of how the theme was recorded.

The first series came out of studio C in BBC Manchester

BBC North West

BBC North West is the BBC English Region serving Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Walsden in West Yorkshire, the Isle of Man , north-west Derbyshire, the Yorkshire Dales including Settle and Ribblesdale, and southern Cumbria.BBC North West television output is also broadcast in...

 (on Oxford Road), which was really the scene dock between the main network studio (A), and the regional studio (B). On Thursday evening all the scenery and sets were wheeled out into studio B and everyone moved into the space left to rehearse on Friday mornings. Studio A was eventually used for the second series.

External links

• SatKids
• UK Game Shows - about the Wetter the Better segment
• Ross King Official website
• 8:15 from Manchester theme tune - a rewritten version of Find Out Why by Inspiral Carpets
  Inspiral Carpets
  Inspiral Carpets are an alternative rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt in 1983. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate...