My favourite story of Sidney…tell me if Helen McMurray’s told you this. She was working in Globe & Simpson, which was the building opposite Granada, which, colloquially, used to be known as Pearl & Dean. And we were making a show called Reports Action, with Bob Greaves, first of the local kind of telethon. We…
Read MoreTim Sullivan biography
Tim Sullivan joined Granada TV in 1981 as a researcher initially working on local programmes before move to light entertainment. He became a director in 1984, later specialising in drama and left the company ten years later to direct the film Jack and Sarah.
Read MoreTim Sullivan describes how he joined Granada
The first person that I met from Granada was a chap called Gerry Hagan, who was head of Scripts. He was one of Plowright’s performance appointments. He was head of Scripts in London. I directed a play at university, which we took to Edinburgh in my second year, and I was asked to go for…
Read MoreTim Sullivan describes his early days at Granada
So I came up to Manchester. I knew a couple of people up here already, which didn’t make it any easier. But anyway, so we then went through the induction, then we were put onto Granada Reports, which I just found the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to me. I just couldn’t understand…
Read MoreTim Sullivan on Granada’s regional identity
I thought I had it great identity. Of course, it had two of the worst football clubs in the world. But aside from that, it took a while to get used to because it’s like going to a new school, isn’t it? Before I made friends, I didn’t really understand it. So I would pootle…
Read MoreTim Sullivan on his role as a researcher on Alfresco
I know what happened at the end of entertainment. Some chums of mine from university came up to do a show called Alfresco. And I was the researcher on it, which was very odd because they were a year or so junior to me at Cambridge, but I’d worked with some of them and I…
Read MoreTim Sullivan on his training as a director
I became a director. Did the director’s course, which was fabulous. And then Granada were brilliant because you went through everything. You did live TV with Granada Reports, or a chat show, and then we started in children’s TV, both with Spencer Campbell and myself. He was the other director, trainee director. And then we…
Read MoreTim Sullivan on rejecting the opportunity to produce Coronation Street
I was very sorry to leave it. In fact, when I left – again, this is a classic example of Granada, the paternalism of Granada – after my last week on the Street, I was called up to Morrison’s office, who by now was the director of programmes. And sat down, and he said, “Look,…
Read MoreTim Sullivan on the male-dominated world at Granada
The one thing it wasn’t any good at was women, I think. I’ve written about this actually in this week’s In The Can thing I do, but I think you’ve read it. The great thing about being a trainee director was you got different crews who would come in. You had a real problem and…
Read MoreTim Sullivan remembers directing Coronation Street
Do you want to talk a bit about directing Coronation Street? Oh, wonderful. In the old days there used to be a thing called weekly rep in the theatres where they would do a different play every week, with the same cast. They’d learn, before the advent of great television and stuff. And Corrie are…
Read MoreTim Sullivan’s thoughts on Granada as a company
It was a really good company. It was an innovative company, but it made its mind up about you in a way. It categorised you. Yes, it did. And as I say, rightly or wrongly, I would’ve left Granada after that directors’ board, because what it meant was, it wasn’t that they weren’t giving it…
Read MoreTim Sullivan describes his relationship with Mike Scott
Mike didn’t like me. I never knew why. Probably the pink hair. I think it was also the relationship with Granada. I hear at some point he’d said to someone, “What’s going on? Is he sleeping with him or what?” Because it was quite a homophobic place in those times, I think. Yes, Scott didn’t…
Read MoreTim Sullivan on leaving Granada in 1994
And then really my Granada career came to an end. I was very upset because I left sort of unofficially. When you left, there was this great tradition at Granada. Someone in graphics would do a fantastic picture for you and then someone would go around with a tatty brown, internal envelope and collect about…
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