The UK’s first transgender comedy series, filmed in the North-East, will be screened this year. Gavin Havery spoke to BBC chief Peter Salmon about how the area has benefitted from a decision to move to a new base in Salford

FOR the first time in its history, more staff now work outside London than in the capital, a target the broadcaster set itself ten years when the move was first announced.

BBC England director Peter Salmon says the relocation of 2,000 posts to the North-West has also opened doors for people in this region.

Now staff are based in the north, it has become far easier for crews to mobilise their equipment and scout for locations across the country.

Mr Salmon, 58, who was born in Burnley, says: “We have really changed things and gone up a gear and that has been generated by our northern HQ in Salford, which is for the whole of the north of England.

“There has been a real increase in activity since the move and I think the North-East has benefitted quite a lot from that.

“Because we are in the north of England in large numbers we are much more active and there is a lot more work and jobs and output in the region.”

The corporation has said that 49 per cent of its staff still work in London, some 8,169 full-time roles based on the 16,672 employees given in the most recent annual report, for the 12 months to the end of March.

The proportion has fallen from 58 per cent in 2007 following the opening of the MediaCityUK near Manchester in 2011.

The BEEB has moved London-based departments including parts of Radio 5 Live, BBC Sport, Children’s, Learning and BBC Breakfast to the new centre.

Mr Salmon says: “The BBC, for the first time in its history, has now got more people working outside London than in it.

“You might think that is obvious because there are more people living outside London, but it was not like that in the past. We have made a conscious shift.

“The BBC has moved a lot of people outside London in the last ten years and Salford is only one part of it.

“We are the British Broadcasting Corporation, we do not want to be the London Broadcasting Corporation.”

Recent years have seen the filming of shows such as Inspector George Gently on location in County Durham, the comedy Hebburn on Tyneside as well as a handful of children’s dramas including Tracy Beaker, The Dumping Ground and Wolfblood in the area.

Mr Salmon says: “We have tried to act as a bit of a magnet for talent from all over the UK for people who want to work with us.

“Look at the children’s drama sector that we have grown in the North-East and say that the region is not the hotspot for children’s drama in the UK.

“There is a real cluster of teen drama, building on the skills that have been there for years from Byker Grove onwards.”

Two of the most successful recent dramas have been filmed in Yorkshire, written by Sally Wainwright and star Mr Salmon’s wife Sarah Lancashire.

Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax have proved a hit with viewers and both shows are expected to return to screens as soon as the York University graduate can pen the scripts.

Mr Salmon says: “Sally Wainwright is writing Happy Valley now and they are going to make that in Yorkshire in the summer.

“We are just trying really hard to make more programmes in and around the region because we know that stuff matters to a lot of viewers and listeners.”

The challenge is that it is the same writer for both shows and incredible as she is, she is just one woman with ideas bursting out.

“As she has just polished off a wonderful series of Last Tango, the notion is she is going to put all of her energies into the next series of Happy Valley.”

The filming of Boy Meets Girl, the transgender sit com, was announced in Edinburgh last year is filming is underway in Newcastle and Manchester.

Created by Elliott Kerrigan and written by Kerrigan, Simon Carlyle and Andrew Mettam, the comedy was discovered through the Trans Comedy Award, a BBC talent search.

The BBC Writers Room offered aspiring writers up to £5,000 for the best script that promoted a positive portrayal of transgender characters.

The cast includes Harry Hepple (Misfits, Hustle) who plays Leo, Rebecca Root (Normal) who plays Judy and County Durham actress Denise Welch (Waterloo Road, Benidorm) who plays Pam, Leo’s mother.

Mr Salmon says: “The new series is a lovely warm North-East based sitcom. It is a bit off beat and a lovely piece of work.

“We are really keen that we look and feel like an organisation that is really inclusive.”