Coded Warning, a major new five-part BBC Radio Manchester commission presented by Joel Mitchell to mark the 30th anniversary of the Manchester IRA bombing on 15th June 1996, has launched on the station and BBC Sounds today.
At the heart of the series is Mitchell’s personal journey. He wasn’t alive when the bomb went off but now lives and works in the local community that was shaped by it.
In Coded Warning, he sets out to understand the truth of what really happened that day in depth, and how its legacy still defines Manchester now.
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BBC Radio Manchester is rooted in local communities, many of whom experienced the event as it unfolded. Blending immersive storytelling, archive audio and powerful first-hand testimony, the series reconstructs the events of that sunny Saturday morning in real time.
More than 80,000 people filled the city centre, unaware that a coded warning had just triggered one of the largest peacetime evacuations in UK history.
At 9.20am, a van carrying 3,000lb of explosive was parked on Corporation Street. Just 23 minutes later, a warning was phoned in using a recognised IRA codeword.
What followed was a race against time: police, security guards and emergency services worked urgently to clear the city before the bomb detonated.
Guided by Mitchell, Coded Warning unfolds minute by minute across five episodes:
- From the ordinary, sunlit start to a busy weekend
- A growing realisation this was no hoax
- The devastating explosion at the heart of the city
- An aftermath that would reshape Manchester forever
- The rebuilding of the city since
Along the way, Joel hears from the people who lived through that morning; a bride on her way to her wedding; a young family caught in the chaos; shop workers; first responders and eyewitnesses – all to piece together a story he never experienced himself.
Despite the scale of destruction, with a third of the city centre damaged and £700 million in losses, the Manchester IRA bombing remains extraordinary for one defining reason: no one was killed.
Through Joel’s eyes, Coded Warning explores what this moment means to a generation with no memory of it. This series is more than a retelling, it’s a personal attempt to connect with a past Joel never lived through, and to understand the resilience that continues to define the city he calls home.
Images: Jennifer Boyer / Terry Whalebone / Creative Commons
