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TV boost for Tyneside

TV drama has continued its resurgence in the North East after confirmation that ITV Studios will make a series of feature length episodes of Vera from their base at the former Swan Hunter shipyard in North Tyneside this summer.

Dubbed ‘the new Frost’ by ITV director of television Peter Fincham and director of drama Laura Mackie, a £30,000 Northern Film & Media (NFM) investment in the initial pilot helped secure an extended 3x 120 minutes run for the eagerly anticipated show.

Starring BAFTA winner Gina McKee and Brenda Blethyn OBE, Blethyn leads as an obsessive, workaholic detective called Vera Stanhope.

Each installment will see her fight personal demons and tackle a new crime in modern-day Northumberland and Newcastle.

The move is a significant boost to the North East TV drama industry, once the home of household titles such as Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Spender and Byker Grove.

The region was left with no network output after ITV chose not to re-commission Coastal Productions’ Wire in the Blood in 2009. Hit BBC children’s drama Tracy Beaker was the first returnable TV brand to bring production to the North East post Wire in the Blood.

Filming of the new series will return to the former La Sagesse convent school in Newcastle this summer.

Company Pictures’ Inspector George Gently starring Martin Shaw ended the BBC show’s long exile in Northern Ireland to return to the North East, where the screenplay was always set, after £150,000 investment from the agency earlier this year.

Kevin Whately and Robson Green were later reunited in the North East thanks to a £60,000 investment from NFM in Mammoth Screen’s Joe Maddison’s War. The drama single will be shown on ITV this autumn. A 4x120 minute series of Vera including the original pilot will be shown on ITV1 earlier next year.

Laura Mackie, director of drama commissioning, ITV**,** said:“With the demise of A Touch of Frost we are keen to introduce new crime dramas into the mix and to create the iconic detectives of the future. Brenda’s portrayal of the sharp but shambolic Vera Stanhope is a wonderful addition to our slate.”

NFM CEO Tom Harvey said:“TV and film production is annually worth about £7m to the North East. Major drama’s like Vera provide vital work for our crews and facilities and a significant boost to the wider economy. They also provide a fantastic opportunity for our locations and people to be seen across the UK and beyond. The recovery of the North East TV sector is wonderful news for the region as senior BBC and ITV executives put their faith in our locations and talent**.”**

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .