It’s been another busy year on the Prolific North website, with thousands of stories once again attesting to the vibrant state of both the creative sector and the North as a region.
But which of our stories were clicked the most? We reveal all..
He Man, LADbible and Janice Long: The 10 best-read stories on Prolific North in 2017
-
by
David Prior
10. Thousands of Wifi users accidentally sign up for 1000 hours of community service
More than 22,000 people accidentally agreed to scrub festive toilets, clean up dog waste and manually relieve sewer blockages in exchange for free WiFi.
It was because Manchester’s Purple added a spoof clause into its terms and conditions for a fortnight, just to see if people read it.
The Community Service Clause, said that “the user may be required, at Purple’s discretion to carry out 1000 hours of community service.”
9. Watch: He-Man and Skeletor recreate Dirty Dancing in latest Moneysupermarket.com spot
Moneysupermarket.com unveiled its latest spot featuring Masters of the Universe characters He-Man and Skeletor.
Created by London agency Mother, the ad digged even deeper into iconic 80s culture by partnering the characters in a dance tribute to Dirty Dancing.
8. Granada’s historic studios will produce entertainment shows again
The Granada Television studios on Quay Street will once again be home to entertainment productions, we reported in March.
“They are as good now as the day they were built, akin to the set-up at London Studios, which is hardly surprising considering they were built by ITV to produce light entertainment shows,” explained founder and former managing director of Wimbledon Film & TV Studios Piers Read, who will head up ALL Studios.
7. The next big thing for 2017? We asked 17 senior industry figures for their predictions
Our round-up of what senior industry figures thought would be the next big thing in 2017 proved to be a popular read – were they right?
6. Tributes paid to Degree 53’s ‘phenomenal’ Rich Bannister
Tragic news in September with the passing of Rich Bannister, the commercial director of digital agency Degree 53, following a five-month battle with cancer.
“It’s a cliche that the good die young, but it really is true of him. He was one of those people that was good at everything and everyone loved him,” said MD Andrew Daniels.
5. ITV relocates Safe House to Anglesey for second series of hit crime drama
Crime drama Safe House returned to ITV in September with a new series filmed on Anglesey.
Produced by Eleventh Hour Films, filming also took place in Manchester and Liverpool.
4. Jimmy McGovern on new BBC drama Broken
Jimmy McGovern told us more about his new BBC One drama, starring Sean Bean and Anna Friel and made by Liverpool’s LA Productions.
“The idea dates back to around 1982, when I was working on Brookside and kept pushing for a Catholic priest character,” explained McGovern.
“After I left Brookside in 1989 I kept coming back to the idea, but when I couldn’t get it made as a drama series it became the script for my feature film Priest. There was still so much to cover that the idea then stayed with me over the years.”
3. LADbible creating 40 new jobs as it embarks on global expansion
Back in February, TheLADbible Group announced plans to add 40 positions to its UK team.
The new roles took the company’s total workforce to 160, working across its London and Manchester offices.
1. Janice Long show axed as part of BBC Radio 2 cost-cutting drive
News that BBC Radio 2 was to axe its After Midnight shows – including the midnight to 3am slot presented by Liverpool-born Janice Long – did not go down well with readers and was indeed the best read story on our site this year.
