Harry Herring

In the 1830's in northern England, Riah Millican, a widow with three children, takes a job as housekeeper to a reclusive former teacher, Percival Miller. Miller makes Riah the gift of a black velvet gown, and even educates her children. But when Riah discovers the reason behind Miller's gifts, she vows to leave his house, but Miller has a hold on her, even after his death, when he leaves his house to her on the condition that she never marry. Riah's daughter, Biddy, grows up and becomes a laundress in a large house where her education keeps her from fitting in and makes her a target. But it also catches the eye of a son of the house, and with Miller's legacies, Biddy may yet find her way to happiness.

Set in working class Newcastle, the Stott family fight their private battles against the backdrop of the conflict of World War II. Helen Stott, over thirty and with a limp, is resigned to being left on the shelf until she meets and falls in love with Norman, a serviceman from London. In contrast, her younger sister Joyce has quite a way with men, and finds herself a little too popular with the troops, especially when her husband pops up on leave from his regiment.

Incendiary 1981 Play for Today, written by Jim Allen and directed by Roland Joffé that tells the story of a group of housing estate residents who attempt to organise against persistent rent rises.

An experimental mix of thriller and documentary exploring the scandal centred on the one-time Newcastle Council Leader, aka The Mouth of the Tyne, who was sentenced to six years imprisonment in 1974 for corruption. A dynamic and visionary politician, Smith collaborated closely as Amber unpicked the story of a leftwing group of ex-war resisters who took control of the city council in 1960, the socialist and civic ambitions and the betrayals; the claims of MI5 involvement, of ministerial cover-ups and the unseen role of the Privy Council. With Smith appearing as himself and filmmakers Murray Martin and Steve Trafford as two journalists, the film interrogates the interviews and archive footage, weaving them together with a fictional scandal unfolding on the streets around them…

Highlights from the BAFTA-winning comedy programme. Presented by Harry Hill, the show takes a satirical look at TV programmes from the previous week and features extracts from the shows, sketches, voice-overs, and guest appearances.

An old, bedridden man plays games that have a hint of the sinister about them.

Like many women active during the miners' strike, May Murton (Charlie Hardwick) has been left to clean up the mess. The closure of the pit, a failed marriage and the community’s disintegration have shattered both her personal and political beliefs. Her teenage children (Darren Bell and Katja Roberts) are out of control. Her estranged husband (Brian Hogg) has taken up residence in the allotments. At a dance, the night before the Durham Miners’ Gala, May meets Roy Cotton (Bill Speed) the recently arrived manager of an open cast mine.

A magical realist feature drama exploring the lives of a women’s darts team on North Shields’ Meadow Well Estate.

Herne the Hunter picks Robin of Loxley as his successor in his mission to support the oppressed. Robin builds his army and leads a guerrilla attack to suppress the exploited's Norman tormentors.

The big-collared comic gives his own spin on TV clips from recent programmes, plus contributions from a set of regular characters

John Thaw dons the silks as barrister James Kavanagh Q.C., one of the most highly respected criminal advocates in London, commanding admiration from colleagues and opponents alike. However, all this has come at a price as his dedication to work has taken its toll on his private life… Going beyond traditional courtroom dramas, “Kavanagh Q.C.” uncovers the pressures of legal battles and the problems of defining the truth, providing a compelling representation of the euphoric ups and costly downs of success and failure in the legal world.

Over the course of four decades, the personal lives of a quartet of Newcastle friends—Nicky, Geordie, Mary, and Tosker—intertwine with various political machinations, often for the worse: slum housing projects, police corruption, the rise of Thatcherism, political sleaze, and specific events like the 1984 Miners' Strike.

Adapted from Forrest Wilson's books, the children's programme revolves around a grandmother with super powers and her arch nemesis, The Scunner Campbell.

Turning Year Tales is a British television drama anthology series produced by the BBC, which originally premiered in the United Kingdom on June 24, 1979. The show consisted of a single season with seven distinct episodes, blending localized stories with British cultural and historical settings.

During the Second World War, a group of youth in the Northeast England town of Garmouth regularly suffer from bomb attacks by the German forces. One of the children raids a crashed German aircraft and takes a fully operational machine gun, intending to set up their own fortress. Playing with it causes a German plane to crash-land; the kids befriend the pilot, who is unaware that they had caused him to crash.