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123-619: Mark Philip David Billingham (born 2 July 1961) is an English novelist, actor, television screenwriter and comedian known for the "Tom Thorne" crime novel series. Billingham was born in Solihull , Warwickshire and grew up in Moseley , Birmingham . He attended the King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in nearby King's Heath , and lived in that general area "right the way through university" while attending

246-451: A " whodunit " murder mystery with multiple plot twists . The story has detective fiction elements. Two other Arabian Nights stories, "The Merchant and the Thief" and "Ali Khwaja", contain two of the earliest fictional detectives , who uncover clues and present evidence to catch or convict a criminal, with the story unfolding in normal chronology and the criminal already being known to

369-431: A birthday, a locale (London), and a "love of country music both alt and cheesy". In talking about the creation and development of Thorne, Billingham details his difficulty in trying to create a character different from those in other, popular works: [You] worry that you will be entering that world of the strange cliche-ed cop, but you soon realise that you have to get comfortable in that world. You think "Hang on, some of

492-561: A change in American crime fiction. There was a shift into hard-boiled novels and their depictions of realism. Dashiell Hammett and his work, including Red Harvest (1929), offered a more realistic social perspective to crime fiction, referencing events such as the Great Depression . James M. Cain contributed The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934). This novel includes a married woman trying to murder her own husband with

615-668: A competitor to the cinema chains, through the launch of ITV . Bernstein bid for the North of England franchise, which he believed would not affect the company's largely southern-based cinema chain. In 1954, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) awarded Granada the North of England contract for Monday to Friday, with ABC Weekend TV serving the same area on weekends. The companies used the ITA's Winter Hill and Emley Moor transmitters , covering Lancashire and

738-582: A coveted London franchise. In contrast, Granada determined to develop a strong northern identity – northern voices, northern programmes, northern idents with phrases such as Granada from the north , From the north — Granada and Granadaland . Bernstein refused to employ anyone not prepared to live in or travel to Manchester and Jeremy Isaacs called him a "genial tyrant" as a result. I think that what Manchester sees today, London will see eventually. Bernstein decided to build new studios rather than hiring space or converting old buildings, an approach favoured by

861-419: A crime. Readers speak of crime fiction as a mode of escapism to cope with other aspects of their lives. Crime fiction provides distraction from readers' personal lives through a strong narrative at a comfortable distance. Forensic crime novels have been referred to as "distraction therapy", proposing that crime fiction can improve mental health and be considered as a form of treatment to prevent depression. In

984-491: A few seconds after the continuity before the programme, and continuity was rarely given over the symbol. On 1 September 1989, Granada Television launched a look featuring a translucent pointed G, which rotated into place in time to the music against a natural scene. When the first ITV generic look was launched, Granada Television refused to adopt it, because the Granada Television logo was incorrectly inserted into

1107-604: A forerunner of Arthur Conan Doyle 's Sherlock Holmes , appeared in works such as " The Murders in the Rue Morgue " (1841), " The Mystery of Marie Rogêt " (1842), and " The Purloined Letter " (1844). With his Dupin stories, Poe provided the framework for the classic detective story. The detective's unnamed companion is the narrator of the stories and a prototype for the character of Dr. Watson in later Sherlock Holmes stories. Wilkie Collins ' epistolary novel The Woman in White

1230-716: A gun or a knife. Also what happened to me in that hotel room fed directly into a sub-plot in Scaredy Cat with some very nasty crimes carried out in hotel rooms. Sky1's Thorne adaptation started broadcasting in October 2010, with actor David Morrissey starring as Tom Thorne. The first three episodes were an adaptation of Sleepyhead and were directed by Stephen Hopkins ( 24 , Californication , The Life and Death of Peter Sellers ). The final three episodes were an adaptation of Scaredy Cat , and guest-starred Canadian actress Sandra Oh . His standalone novel In The Dark

1353-527: A heavy locked chest along the Tigris River, and he sells it to the Abbasid Caliph , Harun al-Rashid , who then has the chest broken open, only to find inside it the dead body of a young woman who was cut into pieces. Harun orders his vizier , Ja'far ibn Yahya , to solve the crime and find the murderer within three days, or be executed if he fails his assignment. The story has been described as

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1476-560: A much-loved movie entitled The Lady Vanishes (1938), and Ira Levin 's (born 1929) science-fiction thriller The Boys from Brazil (1976), which was filmed in 1978 . Older novels can often be retrieved from the ever-growing Project Gutenberg database. Granada TV ITV Granada , formerly known as Granada Television , is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both

1599-510: A novelisation. He claims to be less interested in scriptwriting than novel writing. In 2002, he was "in the middle of writing a screenplay for an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and about to write a screenplay for a cult children's show," a sci-fi drama for the BBC, but turned to writing novels. In 2001, Billingham's first crime novel, Sleepyhead , was published in the UK by Little, Brown and Company . He

1722-442: A series in 1999 entitled "Pan Classic Crime", which includes a handful of novels by Eric Ambler , but also American Hillary Waugh 's Last Seen Wearing ... . In 2000, Edinburgh -based Canongate Books started a series called "Canongate Crime Classics" —both whodunnits and roman noir about amnesia and insanity —and other novels. However, books brought out by smaller publishers such as Canongate Books are usually not stocked by

1845-519: A series of films featuring flags with its logo against various scenes in the region, accompanied by the slogan 'Setting the Standard'. These introduced local programming, Granada Reports , or promotions. On 2 January 1995, the stripe theme was modified; the pointed "G" was larger on the blue stripe against a computer generated multicoloured background and the "G" was created by filming a large perspex "G" with motion control photography . This ident

1968-479: A similar kind of [misdirection] technique." Billingham also writes comedy scripts for television. He and David Lloyd wrote and acted in the children's TV series Harry's Mad , based on the book by Dick King-Smith ), and wrote and presented two series of BBC's What's That Noise? . Between 1997 and 1998, he and friend Peter Cocks wrote and co-starred in Granada TV 's Knight School , for which they also produced

2091-566: A simple progression from 5-minute, unpaid "try-out" spots to 10-, 20- and 30-minute paid slots. Billingham has headlined at the Comedy Store , where he also appears regularly as a Master of Ceremonies . Billingham was the human face on the puppet-representation-of-celebrities series Spitting Image , and "the taller half" of the top double act the "Tracy Brothers" with Mike Mole from Bread & Circuses days (now guitarist with British comedy punk band Punks Not Dad ), appearing regularly on

2214-465: A steamy sex scene between Sharon Stone and William Baldwin straight from the 1993 movie , and again, Bret Easton Ellis 's American Psycho (1991). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC , though, have launched what they call "Bloomsbury Film Classics"—a series of original novels on which feature films were based. This series includes, for example, Ethel Lina White 's novel The Wheel Spins (1936), which Alfred Hitchcock —before he went to Hollywood—turned into

2337-412: A still from the movie on the front cover and the film credits on the back cover of the book—yet another marketing strategy aimed at those cinemagoers who may want to do both: first read the book and then watch the film (or vice versa). Recent examples include Patricia Highsmith 's The Talented Mr. Ripley (originally published in 1955), Ira Levin 's Sliver (1991), with the cover photograph depicting

2460-513: A story forward in order to unravel mysteries. Likewise, the feature of detectives was popularized by Edgar Allan Poe and Conan Doyle . Hard-boiled detective stories attracted a decent amount of attention to the genre in America and France as well. Within crime fiction, it can also be common to use dark themes from real life, such as slavery , organized crime , and more. Aside from general themes, referencing instances of crime in real life

2583-402: A trio of masked men who robbed them. Billingham recalls being terrified by the audacity of the criminals, and later used the event as inspiration for his second Thorne novel, Scaredy Cat . The general theme of Scaredy Cat is really the power of fear, and that fear is a very powerful weapon, and if you are prepared to instil it, you have a very powerful weapon that is every bit as dangerous as

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2706-534: A variety of "bad guy roles such as a soccer hooligan, drug addict, a nasty copper, a racist copper or a bent copper", he claimed that he had become disenchanted with acting and that the emphasis was not on talent, but on looks. Around 1987 he decided to pursue a career in comedy, stating:"[The] one great advantage of stand-up comedy [is that] nobody gives a stuff about what you look like – as long as you're funny, and if you can do it, and people laugh, then you'll get bookings." Billingham cites his breaking into stand-up as

2829-399: A whole, as they use "the same 'Tricks'... [in particular] a strong opening." He also cites the big ending, and "pullback and reveal", whereby the audience or reader is led along a specific path and lulled into thinking that they can guess the twist, before "boom! it hits them from over there". In comedy, he says, it is a punchline; in crime "something a whole lot darker... [but] essentially it's

2952-487: Is Agatha Christie , whose texts, originally published between 1920 and her death in 1976, are available in UK and US editions in all English-speaking nations. Christie's works, particularly featuring detectives Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple , have given her the title the Queen of Crime, and made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the genre. Her most famous novels include Murder on

3075-491: Is Florida -based author Carl Hiaasen , who has been publishing books since 1981, all of which are readily available. From time to time, publishing houses decide, for commercial purposes, to revive long-forgotten authors, and reprint one or two of their more commercially successful novels. Apart from Penguin Books , which for this purpose have resorted to their old green cover and dug out some of their vintage authors. Pan started

3198-446: Is a self-confessed fan of crime fiction , "as well as a really serious collector" and has stated that the expense of collecting books inspired him to get into interviewing and reviewing books, partly for the complimentary copies. Starting with a local newspaper, he progressed to providing reviews and interviews for SHOTS , and then to magazines, including Time Out , where he interviewed Michael Connelly and others. Billingham became

3321-514: Is also common in several works of crime fiction. These reflections of reality can be expressed in many ways. For instance, crime fiction in Spain expressed grievances with authority, which was opposite to the instances in Japan that credited the government's functionality. Espionage is another prominent inclusion in many works of crime fiction. It includes the use of political intrigue, morality, and

3444-529: Is from 1827 ; another early full-length short story in the genre is The Rector of Veilbye by Danish author Steen Steensen Blicher , published in 1829. A further example of crime detection can be found in Letitia Elizabeth Landon 's story The Knife , published in 1832, although here the truth remains in doubt at the end. Better known are the earlier dark works of Edgar Allan Poe . His brilliant and eccentric detective C. Auguste Dupin ,

3567-521: Is only referenced onscreen during regional news bulletins and the weeknight regional news magazine; ITV Broadcasting Limited operates the service with national ITV branding and continuity. The North West region is regarded as ITV's most successful franchise. Nine Granada programmes were listed in the BFI TV 100 in 2000. Some of its most notable programmes include Sherlock Holmes , Coronation Street , Seven Up! , The Royle Family , The Jewel in

3690-471: Is the only surviving franchisee of the original four Independent Television Authority franchisees from 1954. It covers Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, and parts of Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Cumbria, and North Yorkshire. In 2009, the Isle of Man was transferred to Granada from ITV Border . Broadcasting by Granada Television began on 3 May 1956 under the North of England weekday franchise,

3813-439: Is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as historical fiction and science fiction , but the boundaries are indistinct. Crime fiction has several subgenres , including detective fiction (such as the whodunit ), courtroom drama , hard-boiled fiction, and legal thrillers . Proto-science and crime fictions have been composed across history, and in this category can be placed texts as varied as

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3936-502: The Sunday Times "Top Ten Bestseller" list. In December 2009 it was listed as one of the 100 novels that shaped the decade and was chosen as one of the titles for World Book Night in 2011. Billingham offers the first chapter of each Tom Thorne book on his website. In 1997, Billingham and his writing partner Peter Cocks were kidnapped and held hostage in a Manchester hotel room. The two were bound and gagged in their hotel room by

4059-485: The 1958 Rochdale by-election , the first election to be covered on television in Britain. Granada's coverage was broad in scope, and it also broadcast two candidate debates. Over 50 years later, Granada Studios hosted the first General Election debate among the leaders of the three main political parties. Granada's boldness was seen in ambitious documentaries such as Seven Up! , which premiered in 1964. The programme

4182-687: The Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia , the Mahabharata from ancient India , the Book of Tobit , Urashima Tarō from ancient Japan , the One Thousand and One Nights ( Arabian Nights ), and more. One example of a story of this genre is the medieval Arabic tale of " The Three Apples ", one of the tales narrated by Scheherazade in the Arabian Nights . In this tale, a fisherman discovers

4305-599: The Father Brown short stories, and Henry Christopher Bailey . The Golden Age also had roots in the US. As used by S. S. Van Dine , fictional character Philo Vance also took advantage of an inflated personality and a high-class background in a plethora of novels. In 1929, Father Ronald Knox wrote the ‘Detective Story Decalogue,’ mentioning some conditions of the era. Early foreshadowing and functioning roles for characters were discussed, as well as other items. Ellery Queen

4428-564: The Isle of Man . Parts of North Wales can receive only the Winter Hill transmissions (i.e. Granada) rather than HTV . Granada retained its franchise in the 1980 franchise review, and invested in multimillion-pound dramatic serial productions such as The Jewel in the Crown and Brideshead Revisited . By the late 1990s the UK commercial broadcasters were considered too small to compete in

4551-914: The Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2004 and he won the same award in 2009 for his novel Death Message . In The Dark was nominated for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards . In 2011, Billingham was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Billingham was shortlisted for the 2015 Dagger in the Library UK Crime Writers' Association award for an author's body of work in British libraries. He

4674-465: The West and East Ridings of Yorkshire , including the major conurbations around Liverpool , Manchester, Leeds , Bradford , Sheffield , York and Doncaster . The north and London were the two biggest regions. Granada preferred the north because of its tradition of home-grown culture, and because it offered a chance to start a new creative industry away from the metropolitan atmosphere of London …

4797-652: The "Grand Master" of 20th-century Chinese detective fiction, translated Sherlock Holmes into classical and vernacular Chinese. In the late 1910s, Cheng began writing his own detective fiction series, Sherlock in Shanghai , mimicking Conan Doyle's style, but relating better to a Chinese audience. During the Mao era , crime fiction was suppressed and mainly Soviet-styled and anticapitalist. In the post-Mao era, crime fiction in China focused on corruption and harsh living conditions during

4920-408: The "V" segment of the logo, with the line connecting the "G" and the arrow not being added entirely. The company used a version with its translucent logo shown at the beginning, before continuing with the generic ident and ending with the generic ITV logo. On 4 June 1990, Granada Television, in the run-up to the 1990 franchise round, relaunched its on-screen branding to a blue stripe descending from

5043-549: The 'quality threshold' applied by the Independent Television Commission . This requirement disadvantaged companies with no previous franchise experience. Granada owned popular television series such as Coronation Street , which it threatened to sell to satellite TV if the franchise was lost. The government responded by relaxing the regulatory regime, so that ITV contractors could take over other companies, and Granada bought several companies. Some at

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5166-555: The 19th century was crucial in popularising crime fiction and related genres. Literary 'variety' magazines, such as Strand , McClure's , and Harper's , quickly became central to the overall structure and function of popular fiction in society, providing a mass-produced medium that offered cheap, illustrated publications that were essentially disposable. Like the works of many other important fiction writers of his day—e.g. Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens —Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories first appeared in serial form in

5289-411: The 2009 ITV regional news cutbacks, Granada was one of three regions unaffected by changes, except for extending its coverage area to include the Isle of Man , which had previously been served by ITV Border. ITV is obliged by UK communications regulator Ofcom to produce 50% of its programmes outside London, something it failed to achieve in 2007 and 2008. With this obligation, retaining Manchester as

5412-463: The BBC in 1994 but still produced by Granada. The company produced The Krypton Factor between 1977 and 1995 (revived by ITV in 2009). One of Granada's longest-running programmes, What The Papers Say , was broadcast by Granada in 1956, was taken over by the BBC in the early 1990s, and later by Channel 4 . The programme introduced the idea of discussing what the newspapers were reporting, continued by Sunday Supplement and The Wright Stuff . In

5535-629: The Crown , Brideshead Revisited , World in Action , University Challenge , Stars in Their Eyes and The Krypton Factor . Notable employees have included Paul Greengrass , Michael Apted , Mike Newell , Jeremy Isaacs , Andy Harries , Russell T Davies , Leslie Woodhead , Tony Wilson , Roland Joffe , Brian Cosgrove , Mark Hall , Brian Trueman , Michael Parkinson , Derek Granger , Gordon McDougall and Dan Walker . Granada originated as Granada Theatres Ltd, which owned cinemas in

5658-532: The Dark . Each episode includes a discussion on a particular theme from crime fiction and crime drama, and has featured guests including David Morrissey , Val McDermid , Michael Connelly and Ann Cleeves . Billingham lives in North London with his wife Claire and their two children. He supports Wolverhampton Wanderers , although his protagonist Thorne supports Tottenham Hotspur . Crime fiction It

5781-565: The Emley Moor transmitter. The weekend programme service was provided by ABC Television covering both the North and Midlands regions. Following the 1968 franchise awards, Granada Television provided the programme service from Winter Hill for all seven days of the week but lost the seven-day service from Emley Moor to Yorkshire Television . With the national launch of the UHF 625 line colour television service for both BBC1 and ITV on 15 November 1969,

5904-550: The ITA commenced broadcasts of Granada Television on UHF channel 59 from Winter Hill, with high power relays subsequently put into service at Pendle Forest (channel 25 on 2 August 1971, the first UHF relay service to be operated by the ITA), Lancaster (channel 24 on 26 June 1972), Storeton (channel 25 in September 1979), and Saddleworth (channel 49 on 28 June 1984). Most ITV franchisees viewed their territories as stopgaps before winning

6027-788: The ITV merger in 2004, the possibility of selling the Quay Street site was considered, with staff, studios and offices moved into the adjacent bonded warehouse building. ITV anticipated the BBC would buy the land but the BBC opted to move to the Peel Group 's MediaCityUK development in Salford Quays . ITV considered relocating to Trafford Wharf across the Manchester Ship Canal from the BBC at MediaCityUK. Discussions continued for several years and an agreement in principle

6150-575: The Mao era (such as the Cultural Revolution ). The Golden Age, which spanned from the 1920s to 1954, was a period of time featuring the creation of renowned works by several authors. Many of these authors were British. Agatha Christie wrote The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) and The Murder at the Vicarage (1930). These novels commonly prioritized the allure of exploring mysteries in

6273-524: The Orient Express (1934), Death on the Nile (1937), and the world's best-selling mystery And Then There Were None (1939). Other less successful, contemporary authors who are still writing have seen reprints of their earlier works, due to current overwhelming popularity of crime fiction texts among audiences. One example is Val McDermid , whose first book appeared as far back as 1987; another

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6396-543: The Royal Family's tax loophole in 1991. The programme led a campaign to prove the innocence of the Birmingham Six in 1985 when researcher Chris Mullin questioned the convictions; by 1991 the men had been released from prison. The classic northern working-class soap opera, Coronation Street , began a thirteen-week, twice weekly regional run of half-hour episodes on 9 December 1960. It is still produced at

6519-672: The TV series Most Haunted seem to be the only sources for this claim in 2009. Twelve maps from between 1772 and 1960 show no evidence of a cemetery and buildings are shown on the bull china site from 1807. Part of the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal , which linked the River Irwell to the Rochdale Canal from 1839 to 1922, ran in a tunnel underneath the site. The studios pre-dated BBC Television Centre by four years and were

6642-604: The United Nations. Granada Television was received in what is now Greater Manchester , Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire , the south of what is now Cumbria (then Lancashire, and smaller parts of Westmorland and Yorkshire) around Barrow-in-Furness , the High Peak district of Derbyshire ( Glossop , Buxton ), the Staffordshire Moorlands district of Staffordshire ( Biddulph and Leek ) and

6765-576: The assistance of a potential suitor. This theme extends to his other work, Double Indemnity (1934). Such elements of the book were a reference to the Gray and Snyder trial. Raymond Chandler was a significant author who managed to see some works made into films. In 1944, he argued for the genre to be seen critically in his essay from ‘ The Simple Art of Murder .’ Crime fiction provides unique psychological impacts on readers and enables them to become mediated witnesses through identifying with eyewitnesses of

6888-399: The audience. The latter involves a climax where titular detective protagonist Ali Khwaja presents evidence from expert witnesses in a court. " The Hunchback's Tale " is another early courtroom drama , presented as a suspenseful comedy. The earliest known modern crime fiction is E. T. A. Hoffmann 's 1819 novella "Mademoiselle de Scudéri". Also, Thomas Skinner Surr 's anonymous Richmond

7011-504: The brand of the unified in-house production arm but on 21 September 2005, it was announced that Granada's name would no longer appear at the end of programmes. The in-house production arm was renamed ITV Productions . The change on 16 January 2006 coincided with a relaunch of ITV's on-screen graphics . Granada's name and logo were still used at the end of programmes made for other networks, such as University Challenge for BBC Two , and old programmes shown on BSkyB channels Sky One , and

7134-463: The clichés are part of that territory". It would like writing a Western and going "Oh no I've given him a horse! What a terrible cliché!" It's not a cliché – It's part and parcel of the genre – cowboys have six-guns, horses and stetsons and detectives have [a] past... problems [and] flaws, because if they don't, then there is nothing to read about. Sleepyhead was released in August 2001 and made it onto

7257-404: The comic-crime work of Carl Hiaasen and other authors, he attempted to use his experience as a stand-up comedian and crime fan to write a similarly comic novel. Ultimately he abandoned the unfinished novel and the comic-crime genre to focus on another book that would become Sleepyhead . Billingham has stated in interviews that he treats comedy, and stand-up in particular, and writing as parts of

7380-480: The company bought for £82,000. The opening night featured Meet The People hosted by Quentin Reynolds and comedian Arthur Askey . Reynolds became inebriated before the broadcast and had to sober up. Granada Television was broadcast by the ITA on VHF Channel 9 (405 lines, monochrome) from the Winter Hill transmitter starting on 3 May 1956, and from 3 November 1956 on VHF channel 10 (405 lines, monochrome) from

7503-492: The company considered ITV could survive only as a single merged entity to have sufficient resources to produce big-budget programmes, a concern that increased when BSkyB began to take ITV's viewing share, leading to less advertising revenue , the source of ITV's income. David Plowright , who had worked at Granada since 1957, resigned in 1992, citing the arrival of Gerry Robinson , who had tightened departmental budgets with an uncompromising business approach. Plowright had been

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7626-636: The company's driving force, producing programmes such as World in Action and Coronation Street , and promoting the Granada Studios Tour . His departure angered well-known media-industry figures; John Cleese sent Robinson a fax using "vitriolic language" that called him an "upstart caterer" (a reference to his past employment). John Birt , Harold Pinter and Alan Bennett all supported Plowright for his quality programming. The so-called " Big Five " ITV franchisees, Thames , LWT , Central , Granada, and Yorkshire were expected to take over

7749-465: The country. The Spanish writers emphasized the corruption and ineptitude of the police, and depicted the authorities and the wealthy in very negative terms. In China, crime fiction is a major literary tradition, with works dating to the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. Modern Chinese crime fiction emerged from the 1890s, and was also influenced by translations of foreign works. Cheng Xiaoqing , considered

7872-470: The crimes are usually unsolved, and clues are left for the reader to decipher. Famous writers include Leonardo Sciascia , Umberto Eco , and Carlo Emilio Gadda . In Spain, The Nail and Other Tales of Mystery and Crime was published by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón in 1853. Crime fiction in Spain (also curtailed in Francoist Spain ) took on some special characteristics that reflected the culture of

7995-503: The early days, the pointed G logo was used on two other subsidiary businesses. Firstly came the Red Arrow Television Rental chain. During the days when many families preferred to rent their TV sets to offset poor reliability and changing fashions, and due to the high price of television receivers, this company fared well alongside the established "heavy hitters" such as Radio Rentals . The company's opening promotion

8118-716: The end of its own programmes until 31 October 2004. Granada was permitted by the government to merge with Carlton on 2 February 2004 to form ITV plc . The move was a takeover by Granada, whose market capitalisation was double that of Carlton, at nearly £2 billion. Granada owned 68% of the shares and Carlton 32%; chairman designate Michael Green was ousted by shareholders and the majority of new board members originated from Granada. Carlton employees were subsumed in Granada operations or made redundant, with three out of four new departments led by Granada staff. From 1 November 2004, Granada productions were credited "Granada Manchester",

8241-542: The existence of spies. Prior media used the Cold War for inspiration and provided commentary on such events. Examples include numerous works by John le Carré and Gorky Park (1981), which was written by Martin Cruz Smith . Inspiration can be drawn from the legal system around the world, with varying degrees of realism. In these cases, a sense of morality and the more dubious parts of society are explored based on

8364-415: The fifth franchise to go to air. It was marked by a distinctive northern identity and used a stylised letter "G" logo forming an arrow pointing north, often with the tagline "Granada: from the North". Granada plc merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc in 2004 after a duopoly had developed over the previous decade. The Granada name, as with those of the other former regional licence holders,

8487-572: The first crime writer to win the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award twice when his novel Death Message won in 2009, against Reginald Hill , Val McDermid , Ian Rankin and Lee Child . Billingham's detective character Inspector Tom Thorne first appeared in his 2001 debut novel Sleepyhead . The character has since appeared in the majority of his works, except In the Dark , Rush of Blood , and Die of Shame (May 2016), in which Thorne has minor roles. Billingham claims to have imbued Thorne with many of his own characteristics, such as

8610-665: The first episode of series 4, "Tunnel Vision". Robinson, Lloyd and Billingham remain friends, and Robinson is partially credited for Billingham's literary career on the DVD release of Maid Marian (Series 3), in which the three discuss writing for the series and in general. The trio announced in 2018 that they were working on a stage production of Maid Marian and her Merry Men . From an early age, Billingham wrote often "funny" stories for popularity and enjoyment. As his interests moved towards crime fiction, he set an early novel (the unpublished The Mechanic ) in his native Birmingham. Inspired by

8733-478: The first half of 1969, the famous pointed "G" logo, incorporating the upward/Northward facing arrow used previously into a letter "G" was introduced. This was to be the corporate logo for the Granada Group as a whole (also seen as the logo for Granada's TV rentals firm), so it was introduced to their ITV franchise as a matter of course rather than the ITV franchise choosing to adopt the new branding. This logo

8856-488: The first purpose-built television studios in the United Kingdom. Bernstein exaggerated the scale of the studios, to make Granada appear a rival to the BBC, and gave the studios only even numbers so that it appeared there were twelve despite there only being six. The studios were operated by 3sixtymedia , ITV Studios' joint-venture company with BBC Resources Ltd from 2000. The studios later hosted shows displaced by

8979-401: The former Sky Two (now Sky Replay) and Sky Three (now Sky Mix), until 2009. On 13 November 2006, Granada lost its on-air identity when regional programming voiced ITV1 or ITV1 Granada over a generic ident. Local news coverage was branded Granada News except for the main 18.00 Granada Reports bulletin. Granada Reports ' main rival is BBC North West Tonight , broadcast to roughly

9102-460: The genre was baptized with the term libri gialli or yellow books. The genre was outlawed by the Fascists during WWII , but exploded in popularity after the war, especially influenced by the American hard-boiled school of crime fiction. A group of mainstream Italian writers emerged, who used the detective format to create an antidetective or postmodern novel in which the detectives are imperfect,

9225-517: The genre. Many stories often begin when the crime has already occurred. Such fiction also tends to draw from the cultural aspects in which the work originated, whether from recent events or from a general consensus and viewpoints. The use of serial killers and unreliable narrators exists in a decent variety of crime fiction as well. The plot-puzzle formula, which was frequent in the Golden Age, makes use of potential hints and solutions to drive

9348-472: The global market, and the ITV franchises began to consolidate with the aim of creating a single company with a larger budget. The Broadcasting Act of 1990 instigated the 1991 franchise auction round, in which companies had to bid for the regions. Mersey Television , a company producing the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside , bid £35m compared to Granada's £9m but Granada won as Mersey's package did not meet

9471-417: The high quality of its drama and documentaries. In its prime as an independent franchisee, prior to its parent company merging with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc, it was the largest Independent Television producer in the UK, accounting for 25% of the total broadcasting output of the ITV network. Granada Television was founded by Sidney Bernstein at Granada Studios on Quay Street in Manchester and

9594-425: The history of crime fiction, some authors have been reluctant to publish their novels under their real names. More recently, some publish pseudonymously because of the belief that since the large booksellers are aware of their historical sales figures, and command a certain degree of influence over publishers, the only way to "break out" of their current advance numbers is to publish as someone with no track record. In

9717-537: The huge popularity of this genre. A precursor was Paul Féval , whose series Les Habits Noirs (1862–67) features Scotland Yard detectives and criminal conspiracies. The best-selling crime novel of the 19th century was Fergus Hume 's The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886), set in Melbourne, Australia. The evolution of the print mass media in the United Kingdom and the United States in the latter half of

9840-426: The increase in income, Granada tried to renegotiate the contract; Associated-Rediffusion refused, souring relations for many years. The deal was worth over £8m to Rediffusion. By the early 1960s Granada was established and its soap opera Coronation Street quickly became popular, as did inexpensive game shows such as Criss Cross Quiz and University Challenge . In the 1968 franchise round, Granada's contract

9963-437: The larger bookshops and overseas booksellers. The British Library has also (since 2012) started republishing "lost" crime classics, with the collection referred to on their website as the "British Library Crime Classics series". Sometimes, older crime novels are revived by screenwriters and directors rather than publishing houses. In many such cases, publishers then follow suit and release a so-called "film tie-in" edition showing

10086-663: The late 1930s and 1940s, British County Court Judge Arthur Alexander Gordon Clark (1900–1958) published a number of detective novels under the alias Cyril Hare , in which he made use of his profoundly extensive knowledge of the English legal system. When he was still young and unknown, award-winning British novelist Julian Barnes (born 1946) published some crime novels under the alias Dan Kavanagh. Other authors take delight in cherishing their alter egos ; Ruth Rendell (1930–2015) wrote one sort of crime novels as Ruth Rendell and another type as Barbara Vine ; John Dickson Carr also used

10209-570: The lowest profits of the quartet. Granada sought the help of Associated-Rediffusion , the London weekday station, which agreed to underwrite Granada's debts in exchange for a percentage of its profits, without the consent of the ITA, who would have blocked it. Granada accepted the deal, but the popularity of ITV increased and profitability followed. Analysts questioned how Associated-Rediffusion, ABC and ATV were making annual profits of up to £2.7m by 1959 and yet Granada's profits were under £1m. With

10332-514: The monthly Strand in the United Kingdom. The series quickly attracted a wide and passionate following on both sides of the Atlantic, and when Doyle killed off Holmes in " The Final Problem ", the public outcry was so great, and the publishing offers for more stories so attractive, that he was reluctantly forced to resurrect him. In Italy, early translations of English and American stories and local works were published in cheap yellow covers, thus

10455-411: The multi-award-winning Disappearing World series (between 1969 and 1993) and, from 1984, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Jewel in the Crown for an international audience. These shows were sold overseas by Granada Television International . Another flagship programme, the long-running quiz show , University Challenge was originally aired between 1962 and 1987. It was revived by

10578-602: The nearby University of Birmingham. After graduating with a degree in drama from the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, he helped form a socialist theatre company, Bread & Circuses, in Birmingham. Bread & Circuses toured with shows in schools, colleges, arts centres and the street. In the mid-1980s he moved to London as a "jobbing actor", taking minor roles in episodes of TV shows Dempsey and Makepeace , Juliet Bravo , Boon , and The Bill . After playing

10701-468: The north is a closely knit, indigenous, industrial society; a homogeneous cultural group with a good record for music, theatre, literature and newspapers, not found elsewhere in this island, except perhaps in Scotland. Compare this with London and its suburbs — full of displaced persons. And, of course, if you look at a map of the concentration of population in the north and a rainfall map, you will see that

10824-407: The north is an ideal place for television". Bernstein selected a base from Leeds and Manchester. Granada executive Victor Peers believed Manchester was the preferred choice even before executives toured the region to find a suitable site. Granada Studios , designed by architect Ralph Tubbs , was built on a site on Quay Street in Manchester city centre belonging to Manchester City Council , which

10947-422: The north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its weekend counterpart. Granada's parent company Granada plc later bought several other regional ITV stations and, in 2004, merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc . Granada Television was particularly noted by critics for the distinctive northern and "social realism" character of many of its network programmes, as well as

11070-505: The northern hub, and an £80m move to MediaCityUK on 25 March 2013, ITV appears to be committed to the Granada region for the foreseeable future. In the eighteen months between the award of the franchise and the start of transmission, Granada built a brand new studio complex on Quay Street . The site was reportedly previously a cemetery for pauper's graves , where 22,000 people were buried. An article in The Sun newspaper and an episode of

11193-470: The other ITV companies and by the BBC at its original Manchester studios . The investment in new studios in 1954 contributed to Granada struggling financially, and the company was close to insolvency by late 1956. All four ITA franchisees were expected to make losses in the first few years of operation, but Granada's was a significant sum of £175,000 (nearly £3.5m in 2011). When it first became profitable, it had

11316-574: The plot over in-depth character development. Dorothy L. Sayers contributed the Wimsey novels. Her work focused on the spectacle of crime deduction. She also displayed an exaggerated form of aristocratic society, straying from a more realistic story. Other novelists tapped into this setting, such as Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh ; Allingham, Christie, Marsh and Sayers are known as the Queens of Crime . Other British authors are G. K. Chesterton with

11439-518: The pointed G logo, made slightly thinner and placed in a box at the top of the screen. The dual branding of Granada Television and ITV lasted until 28 October 2002, when regional identities were dropped in favour of the new ITV1 channel brand. The celebrities ident package featured plain ITV1 idents for all national programmes, and Granada Television placed under the ITV1 logo for regional programmes. This practice continued until 16 January 2006, when no name

11562-568: The proposed closure of the Yorkshire Television studios in Leeds in 2009, including Channel 4's Countdown. In September 2010, the noted 1950s red landmark "Granada TV" sign on the roof and entrance of Granada Studios on Quay Street was removed for safety reasons after maintenance found it was badly corroded. The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) now owns the sign, deeming it important to Manchester's cultural heritage. After

11685-446: The pseudonym Carter Dickson . Author Evan Hunter (which itself was a pseudonym) wrote his crime fiction under the name of Ed McBain. As crime fiction has expanded, there have been many common tropes that emerge from this category of fiction. Such occurrences can appear in a variety of subgenres and media. While the format may vary across different forms of crime fiction, there are many elements that are generally consistent throughout

11808-532: The radio version of The Mary Whitehouse Experience . In 1988, he appeared in the children's comedy series News at Twelve . In Maid Marian and her Merry Men , Billingham played Gary, a dim-but-lovable guard in the employ of the Sheriff of Nottingham ( Tony Robinson ), as part of a double-act with Graeme ( David Lloyd ). After three award-winning series, Billingham and Lloyd helped creator-writer Robinson with plot and script ideas and gained co-writer credits on

11931-539: The rate of three one-hour peak-time episodes a week after over sixty years, and is the longest-running television soap opera in the world. Such set-pieces as Siege Week and the 2010 Tram Crash were filmed at the studio. The company also produced gritty drama series such as A Family at War (1970–72), set during the Second World War. Granada produced The Stars Look Down (1975), Laurence Olivier Presents (1976–78), Brideshead Revisited (1981),

12054-636: The remaining divisions passing to rival company Carlton due to competition laws. A year later, it acquired Border from Capital Radio Group. By 2002, Granada had established an effective duopoly of ITV with Carlton Television , owning all the ITV companies in England and Wales. The remaining franchises in Scotland, ( Scottish and Grampian ), UTV in Northern Ireland, and Channel in the Channel Islands , remained independent. Granada

12177-493: The rules that the work provides. Melville Davisson Post ’s Rudolph Mason: The Strange Schemes (1896) and Harper Lee ’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) are notable examples. Additionally, stories like Double Indemnity (1934) are based on cases from reality. Only a select few authors have achieved the status of "classics" for their published works. A classic is any text that can be received and accepted universally, because they transcend context. A popular, well-known example

12300-547: The same region. In 2009, ITV removed the Granada brand from all departments including its international production arm, Granada America which became ITV Studios America. End credits on programmes made at The Manchester Studios were credited to ITV Studios . ITV made cutbacks, dropping 600 jobs in 2009, which effectively closed the Yorkshire Television Leeds Studios; more redundancies were made in London, leaving Granada relatively unscathed. In

12423-430: The ship canal on Trafford Wharf. Planning permission was granted, and building work began on 6 September 2011 with the goal of completion in 2012. ITV Granada moved to MediaCityUK on 25 March 2013. Throughout its history, Granada Television used the logo of an arrow pointing northwards in idents, often accompanied by the tagline "from the North". Sidney Bernstein wanted to present a northern identity. Granada Television

12546-663: The south of England. It was founded in Dover in 1930 by Sidney Bernstein and his brother Cecil; it was named after the Spanish city of Granada , which Sidney had visited on a holiday. The company was incorporated as Granada Ltd in 1934 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1935; Granada Theatres Ltd became a subsidiary of the new company. In the 1950s, the Bernsteins became involved in commercial television,

12669-690: The ten smaller franchises. Granada wanted to consolidate with Yorkshire and Tyne Tees to "counter the potential dominance of the south east", and the prospect of being taken over by Thames. Granada made a hostile bid for LWT in December 1993, but LWT believed Granada had "little to offer" despite having three times the market capitalisation; Granada, however, completed the take-over in 1994. Granada continued to expand by acquiring Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television for £652m in 1997 and bought UNM 's television assets for £1.75 billion in 2000 – by which it acquired Anglia and Meridian and some divisions of HTV –

12792-421: The top of the screen, containing the pointed "G", against a plain white background accompanied by the same music as previously. Variations were seen from which the stripe formed from a falling feather or was backlit. On 2 May 1992, the stripe descended to reveal a rainbow of colours before becoming the usual blue and this ident stays on screen until 1 January 1995. On 3 January 1994, Granada Television introduced

12915-415: The word "GRANADA" between two horizontal lines was introduced, the channel used captions and animations featuring a thin arrow pointing upwards and Granada, in a stylised font, in boxes. The arrow pointed at the "n" in Granada, pointing north and sometimes animated revealing the slogan "From the North", before the Granada name. After the use of the word "GRANADA" between two horizontal lines was phased out in

13038-400: Was a computer-animated pointed "G" against a graded background and a cake covered in candles in the pointed G shape. On 1 September 1986, Granada Television reverted to using a caption featuring a gold or chrome 3D pointed "G" on a graded blue background. Granada Television used in-vision continuity featuring northern personalities giving messages. It was common for the logo to be seen for

13161-480: Was a social experiment which followed the lives of 14 British children aged seven. It tracked their lives at seven-year intervals to discover whether their hopes and aspirations had been achieved. The documentary was voted the greatest ever by esteemed filmmakers and its latest installment, 63 Up , premiered in 2019. Seven Up was part of the World in Action documentary series between 1963 and 1998, which won awards but

13284-414: Was adapted as a miniseries of the same name by the BBC in 2017. An adaptation of another standalone novel, Rush of Blood , is being developed for US television. Billingham has received nominations and awards related to all aspects of his various careers. What's That Noise (which he wrote and presented) won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for "Best Entertainment Programme", while Knight School

13407-554: Was already suffering from competition with the internet. The failure of ITV Digital cost Granada and Carlton losses estimated at over £1 billion reducing the company's value from 2001 to 2003. On 28 October 2002, in a network-wide relaunch , Granada was rebranded as ITV1 Granada. The Granada name was shown before regional programmes, but this has ceased; its name has all but disappeared from screens, as have all other ITV regional identities. Since rebranding, all continuity announcements are made from London. The Granada logo appeared at

13530-515: Was apparent. Kenneth Clark , of the ITA , which let the franchise, remarked: "We did not quite foresee how much Granada Television would develop a character which distinguishes it most markedly from the other programmes companies and from the BBC." Peter Salmon , of the BBC said: "Granada Television made TV programmes in the north west; for northerners, reflecting northern culture and attitudes." From its launch in 1956 until 1968, when an ident featuring

13653-448: Was changed from weekdays across the northern England region to the whole week in the North West from Winter Hill transmitting station. Yorkshire was defined as a separate region and the contract awarded to Yorkshire Television , broadcasting from Emley Moor transmitting station; its transmissions could be received in parts of North Lincolnshire . Bernstein was angered by the decision to split "Granadaland", and claimed he would appeal to

13776-498: Was considered "bolder", " gritty " and more " Socialist " in its identity than the other more "sedate" and " Conservative " ITV franchisees and the BBC, and placed great emphasis displaying the northern style which distinguished it from them. Bernstein believed the north had "untapped creative energy" that needed cultivation. Granada was one of the few regions that did not play the national anthem at closedown . In 1958, two years after its launch, Granada Television's northern style

13899-492: Was controversial. It garnered a reputation for hard-hitting investigative journalism and its producer Gus Macdonald commented that the programme was "born brash". Paul Greengrass said that David Plowright told him, "don't forget, your job's to make trouble." World in Action demonstrated hard-hitting investigative journalism and explored issues such as police corruption at the Metropolitan Police in 1985 and

14022-410: Was featured in several novels written by Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee , serving as both a character and pen name. In such novels, clues may be analyzed by the protagonist in tandem with the viewer, generating the possibility of understanding the narrative before it is revealed in the book. Past the Golden Age, events such as the Great Depression and the transition between World Wars ushered in

14145-540: Was in a poor financial state and closed the Granada Studios Tour in 2001, citing decreasing visitor figures. The real reason was the decision to increase production of episodes for Coronation Street to five per week. Without access to that set, the highlight of the tour, the Granada Studios Tour venture was no longer viable. The company also closed Granada Film. The emergence of digital television cut ITV's viewing share, decreasing advertising revenue, which

14268-569: Was nominated for the RTS's "Best Children's Drama" award two years running. Scaredy Cat (2002) won the Sherlock Award for "Best Detective Novel Created by a UK Author", and was also nominated for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger for "Best Crime Novel of the Year". Lifeless (2005) was nominated for BCA "Crime Thriller of the Year" Award in 2006. Billingham's novel Lazybones won

14391-525: Was originally white on a grey background (although occasionally seen as black on a white background) but after the introduction of colour, grey was replaced with blue (after a short period of using white symbol/yellow lettering/purple background), with the GRANADA name in white and the G symbol in yellow. A colour emblem was used from the 1970s until it was replaced by a series of idents to celebrate Granada Television's 30th anniversary on 3 May 1986, when it

14514-419: Was published in 1860, while The Moonstone (1868) is often thought to be his masterpiece. French author Émile Gaboriau 's Monsieur Lecoq (1868) laid the groundwork for the methodical, scientifically minded detective. The evolution of locked-room mysteries was one of the landmarks in the history of crime fiction. The Sherlock Holmes mysteries of Doyle's are said to have been singularly responsible for

14637-640: Was reached in 2008. In March 2009, in the recession, Granada announced it would remain at Quay Street, but after a change of management, talks resumed in January 2010. Two years later, on 16 December 2010, Granada announced it would move to the Orange Building in MediaCityUK alongside the University of Salford . It planned to build a studio to produce Coronation Street on the opposite bank of

14760-520: Was shortlisted again in 2019 and won the award in 2022. In 2015, Billingham collaborated on a musical project called The Other Half with My Darling Clementine , reading an original story alongside a soundtrack by the Americana band. In September 2015 Billingham and co-host Michael Carlson released the six-part podcast The Crime Vault Live , with the last episode released in January 2016. Billingham currently hosts UKTV 's crime podcast A Stab in

14883-448: Was to give every new customer a small, Hiawatha-style figurine to stand on top of their new TV set. Upon its success, the name was later changed to Granada TV Rental. Based on the results of this company, Granada Television dipped its toes into the office furniture rental business, and carpet sales and fitting for larger business customers, with Black Arrow. This business was less successful. In 1958, Granada Television broadcast coverage of

15006-435: Was used, and Granada Productions was replaced with ITV Productions on programme end boards. The Granada Television logo continued on end boards until this date. The Granada name was used on announcements before local programming over a generic ITV1 ident until all non-news regional programming was scrapped. On 14 January 2013, ITV1 reverted to its original name of ITV , along with all other ITV plc-owned franchises. During

15129-447: Was used, from a variety of angles, until 7 November 1999, by which point additional idents based on surreal surroundings, such as a fish blowing a bubble with a G inside, which floated to the surface, or a camera zoom into the eye of a housewife to reveal the G in her eye, were introduced on 2 September 1996. All of the idents were replaced on 8 November 1999 when Granada Television took the generic hearts idents . Granada Television kept

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