Sunderland 'Til I Die and city students among winners at Royal Television Society Awards
Cast and crew of Black Cat docuseries Sunderland ‘Til I Die were among the winners at a regional TV awards.
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The RTS (Royal Television Society) North East and the Border Awards took place over the weekend at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead.
An annual industry event, the ceremony celebrates the work of programme makers who create TV and other content, showcasing their work and achievements.
Sunderland ‘Til I Die cast members including Peter Farrer, the Station Taxis driver who became a star of the show with his commentary on the highs and lows of being a Sunderland fan, as well as crew members from production company Fulwell 73 were at the event to collect the award for best Broadcast Factual programme.
The series ran for three series, with the last installment released on Netflix in early 2024.
Other Wearside winners on the night included students from the University of Sunderland who picked up the Entertainment award for One Foot Out The Door and the Factual Long Form prize for Fleece to Fabric.
The awards also saw the two women behind TV’s Vera honoured by the Royal Television Society.
Brenda Blethyn, who has played Vera Stanhope on ITV for 14 years and Ann Cleeves who created the character, were presented with Outstanding Contribution awards.
The Oscar-nominated actor and best-selling crime writer have become firm friends and are often seen together at book festivals.
And even though Brenda has stepped away from the role after more than 50 episodes, Ann says the character will feature in at least one more book to add to the eleven already published.
The audience at the RTS North East and the Border Awards heard the Vera phenomenon on TV and in publishing had sustained drama production in the North East for more than a decade and brought in thousands of visitors to see Vera’s iconic locations.
The feature length episodes and the books are also popular around the world. Brenda ended the night with two awards because she also won for Drama Performance.
TV and film production spend in the North East is increasing year on year and we have seen an 89% increase since 2022 according to figures from North East Screen.
And chief executive Alison Gwynn predicted there’s more to come.
The annual event is the region’s biggest creative industries gathering of the year and attracted a host of famous faces including actors Jill Halfpenny, David Leon and Riley Jones, comedy stars Danny Adams and Mick Potts, Dragon’s Den and The Big Idea Works star Sara Davies, boxer and commentator Glenn McCrory, North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and cast members from The Dumping Ground and Smoggie Queens.
Joanna Makepeace-Woods, the chair of the RTS in the North East and the Border said: "We are delighted our awards can provide a showcase for the talents of programme makers across our region.
"There were more than 400 people at the ceremony who work in or support creative industries in the area and they’re all optimistic this year’s increase in production will continue to grow.”