2025 IN REVIEW

As 2025 draws to a close and we all look forward to 2026, here at Space Studios Manchester, we’re feeling in a celebratory mood. Steven Knight’s, 8-part drama, House of Guinness is one of the biggest and most exciting projects we’ve hosted, and it aired to critical acclaim this year. Working with Kudos and Netflix on House of Guinness was a real highlight for the team and we hosted the cast and crew over 35 weeks, with the show launching on 25th September 2025.

Producer Cahal Bannon paid tribute to us for our facilities and support over the duration of the shoot: “Space is the place to be if you are shooting in the north-west of England. Great stages, great people with an abundance of fabulous locations within an hour of its doors. What’s not to like?”

Other high-end TV shows we’re proud to have hosted that are now airing, include Talamasca: The Secret Order for AMC which stars Nicholas Denton, Celine Buckens and Elizabeth McGovern; which you can now stream on Netflix, and Prime Video’s Lazarus starring Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy and Alexandra Roach.

Daddy Issues starring David Morrissey and Aimee Lou Wood returned to us for a second season, and we also played host to Channel 4’s TipToe, the new show from Russell T Davis and supported the production of Netflix’s Run Away (airing New Years Day) and After the Flood (season 2).

2025 has also been a year where we’ve welcomed a host of major commercials for brands such as Nike, Puma, Pepsi, BT  Dominic O’Riordan : BT on Vimeo

Production company Equinox filmed its latest Samsung commercial with us - Samsung – Equinox and creative agency, Chief shot their recent Jet commercial at Space – watch it here.

Manchester City FC also chose Space for its kit launch campaign.  PROJECTS – Hifen Studios and Nike and Erling Harland paid us a visit through Shoot Europe for one of their new campaigns, you can watch it here

For the final season of Brassic, we saw a suspenseful coach scene return to the studios and supported with unit bases but the series mainly shot over at The Sharp Project, our sister site where it had been bases since season 1 in 2018.

Tom Rothwell, Operation Manager at The Sharp Project says: “One of the highlights for this year was hosting the final season of Brassic. Over the years the team have built strong relationships with the team who have made Brassic for the previous 7 series so to see them all working together for the final time was great to be a part of. It was great working with this team and to see all the cast and crew using the facilities & communal spaces across the site, building our sense of community.”

Our MD, Rob Page is already feeling positive about 2026, “I think we can finally see the green shoots appearing in the film and TV industry after a tough period for everyone. The calibre of projects and talent we’re now attracting is testament to what SPACE and Manchester as a city can offer. Along with Screen Manchester, we’re proud to be a growing, first-class destination for filming here in the UK. We have the crews, we have the infrastructure and we have a welcoming attitude – that’s why more filmmakers are saying yes to Manchester for their next project. We’re ready for 2026 and look forward to working with old and new clients.”

Part of the attraction is the friendly, approachable, knowledgeable team at Space and Screen Manchester and they look back on their own personal highlights of 2025 here…

Dean Sinacola our Studio Manager says “2024 was going to take some beating in terms of the amount of bookings we handled. Despite 2025 being quieter for everyone there were some real shining lights for us. With the success of House of Guinness, Lazarus and Talamasca there was a point when the productions we supported were in the top 10 most streamed content in the UK across 3 different streaming platforms.

However the true highlight for me this year is the work we’ve done internally. With new members joining our small team and a fresh outlook on where Space is going in the future, building off the success we’ve had in the last ten years. It has really helped re-light that spark and get me really excited for what’s to come. Roll on 2026”

Nikki Leigh Rogers, Studio Co-Ordinator,  -  “There are many highlights for me this year but I think my favourite is the return of Russell T Davis and his new show TipToe. Russell is such an advocate for Manchester and the stories he writes are always relevant to any generation. The last time he was here in 2022  was for Nolly which was another great show. I can’t wait to see the stories we help to tell in 2026”