Murder in the Cathedral

Interesting story about the Sony Playstation game that's partly set in Manchester Cathedral. Obviously everyone from T.S. Eliot down could have told you that murders and cathedrals weren't necessarily unnatural bedfellows, and I'm pretty sure it was chosen as a suitable venue after the endless crime novels and Hollywood movies that have used similar baroque backdrops. Obviously with the North West having such a vibrant games industry we can only hope that it was a local graphic artist who thought that Manchester Cathedral would be a good setting for the game. Perhaps the church has only itself to blame, after all, most people have probably forgot that cathedrals are working religious buildings rather than tourist destinations. And, I can imagine there's a bit of head scratching down south "Manchester? You mean its got a cathedral! Heavens!" I'm actually a great fan of the building itself, and can see why it might have been chosen as a model - and though I'm sure there wouldn't have been half the fuss if it had just been in a book rather than a video game, I do have some sympathy for the church. After all Sony Corporation probably wouldn't take kindly to a shoot-'em-up in Sony Towers (pictured on the left)it might given people ideas, remember), and, probably the clincher, can you envisage any scenario where they'd have dared have use a synagogue, a temple or a mosque? And, to offer a slightly more sober perspective on all of this, there were two teenagers shot in Moss Side last night, for real. Not, I may add, for the first time.