Alan Durband pounds by means of innovative seven-year tax-free covenants for the conversion of the building. It was a popular theatre specialising in local Liverpool settings & political subjects which gave opportunities to new playwrights – most famous of whom is probably Willy Russell (to whom Durband lent his Welsh cottage to write 'Educating Rita') and to actors such as: Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Jonathan Pryce & Julie Walters who joined the Theatre company around 1975. To mark this era, Willy Russell unveiled a plaque in memory of Alan Durband at the theatre in 1998 in the company of actor Pete Postlethwaite
Educating... and "Educating Yorkshire" what they would have told their younger selves. However, the series was cancelled after one series. Educating... Educating... is a British documentary reality television programme on Channel 4 which first aired on 22 September 2011 and has run for five series. It uses a fly on the wall format to show the everyday lives of the staff and pupils of secondary schools all over the UK, each series is filmed in a different school. Channel 4 confirmed in January 2018 that the "Educating" programme was renewed for two further series, set to air in 2018 and 2019.