I knew it was Manchester in 1973, but I wasn't entirely certain that Sam was in Manchester in 2006, due to my "all of England is London" view. Also, I may have thought Manchester was just a part of London, like Manhattan is just a part of New York.
So what makes Manchester a unique setting for the show? What is so pivotal about it?
Oh, man. So much. The attitude is entirely different, the city culture is different. The way the city is made, the way it grew up. I'm not even sure I can begin to delineate the differences between Manchester and London--there are so many.
But the important thing to realise about Manchester is that it is, by and large, a very working class city. It pervades every part of life there, from the way the city is laid out to what people do and to the kind of people stay here.
The buildings are different, made of different materials, and with only a handful of tall buildings compared to London; but it's probably the most city-like city in the North. It's got a vibrant central part of town, which immediately spreads out into a ton of small neighborhood areas that, like many cities, come to define the people who live in them.
I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm quantifying this well. But the differences in tone, texture, culture, layout, people, everything about the city is so different from London that I am astonished that other people don't see it. but I am definitely skewed in my perspective, having lived in both places as an ex-pat.