I'm not really into having canon characters or events, either. 

Canon characters tend to overshadow PCs, when they don't feel wrong one reason or another. Meanwhile canon events aren't exactly done with roleplaying in mind, leaving very little wriggle room.

And, if you ask me, RPs set in an established settings in general should go against the expectations, otherwise it feels like we're just treading old ground.



However, since Manchester is an unexplored part of the Wormverse, or at least I think so, we should be fine.