Chubby cheer

WHEN the chance came to pay tribute to the North-East's comics, Stocktonborn producer/director Zoe Thorman was determined to take charge when BBC2's Comedy Map Of Great Britain moved onto home ground...

and top of her list were names like Bobby Thompson and Chubby Brown.

Asked how Teessider Brown fits into a TV map when his act is deemed too unsuitable for mainstream audiences, she laughs and says: "Well he is on TV this time and we do manage to feature part of his act, blooming 'eck. It's a post-programme watershed so we did. I'm waiting for the phones to start ringing.

"He showed us around Grangetown and also where he made the biggest career decisions of his life. The comedy map is about taking people back to seminal moments of their career. Chubby Brown made a major decision in the Magnet Hotel in Grangetown which affected his career for the rest of his life. We explored that." "He's probably one of the biggest stars in our region at the moment but he decided against taking the same journey as 20,000 other comedians and go for blue comedy. I still think he has a lot to offer. But there will be a warning."

The programme opens with the McDonald brothers, famous for Newcastle-based Viz magazine, talking about comedy before the focus shifts from Tyneside right down to Leeds as the viewers relive the great moments of laughtermakers like Ian la Frenais' Likely Lads, The Tube and Vic Reeves, Ant and Dec and Rowan Atkinson.

Talking about the show's highlights, Thorman says she enjoyed touring Newcastle with Ian la Frenais, looking at the sights of the 1970s hit series he created with Dick Clement. "We did all the Newcastle suburbs where it was filmed and it was a total nostalgia trip for him and we were really lucky he was back in the country (la Frenais is based in Los Angeles) and he's obviously really proud of the Likely Lads."

Ant and Dec, that's Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, are under a golden handcuffs deal with ITV which meant that Thorman couldn't talk to them directly. "We got their blessing and talked to their closest cast friends from Byker Grove and we also went back to their first recording studio. "You can't knock their career path because they've done everything right. I think they're a great asset to our area," says Thorman.

Vic Reeves and Rowan Atkinson were unable to co-operate with the BBC filming, but Thorman took time to read Reeves' recent autobiography and followed up his Darlington links which led to a friendship with the owner of the town's Guru shop. "Vic was tied up with his Brainiac series on Sky, but we did go back to his days on The Tube and interviewed Jools Holland about Vic's first appearance on TV."

Planning and research took four months and the starting point for Thorman was "well, what makes me laugh" which led to a Bobby Thompson tribute via Redcarborn stand-up comic Patrick Monaghan and Bobby's son Keith.

"Patrick is based in London now, but he's done most of the North-East clubs and everyone asked him if he'd heard of Bobby Thompson and he checked him out." The programme shows Bobby Thompson clips and his famous entrance on Terry Wogan's chatshow where he takes about five minutes to walk on.

"Only Bobby Thompson could do that to Wogan," she laughs.

"What I couldn't believe is there was so much nostalgia for Bobby in the area. I grew up knowing of him and my dad would say his catchphrases. But it's the affection when you talk to people in the street and when you see the effect of pulling his archive together.

"The series was the idea of Matt O'Casey who put together the project of going all over the country and I fought to do the North-East one," says Manchester-based Thorman, who has worked for the BBC for nine years, having started out as a work experience youngster.

"I've been a runner, researcher and assistant producer before this. I love working in Manchester but I wish there was a big entertainment media unit in Newcastle because I think its the best city in the country. Manchester is putting a lot of effort into building a media city, so I'm hopeful it will pull much more focus to the North and have a ripple effect for the rest of the North. Out of about seven programmes I've produced, about four were based in the North-East."

Previously she's worked on Honey We're Killing The Kids for BBC3 in Chester-le-Street and Bank Of Mum And Dad for BBC2 in Newcastle and Hartlepool. Next is a BBC4 documentary series which is going to feature the Leyburn department store, Milners, as it battles for survival against bigger traders.

"They are fighting to keep their place on the High Street and its really fascinating and we've spent six months with three shops as they fight to stay among the big boys. It's due to air in late summer or September."