Culture Digest 28.11.25
A round up of the arts and culture stories which caught our attention over the past week or so...
North East productions shortlisted for major TV Awards
Two high-profile North East-made shows have been shortlisted for the Broadcast Now Awards 2026, with nominees announced this week.
Middlesbrough-set sitcom Smoggie Queens is in the running for two categories: Best Comedy Programme and Best Original Programme. In the comedy line-up it faces Here We Go, Juice, Mr Bigstuff, Pushers and Such Brave Girls. For Best Original Programme, it competes with Adolescence, Code of Silence, The Assembly, The Donald Trump Show and Underdogs.
The series, created by and starring Phil Dunning, recently wrapped filming on its second season, due to air on BBC Three and iPlayer next year. The first series earned a North East RTS Award and secured three BAFTA nominations, cementing its reputation as one of the region’s standout small screen successes.
Sheridan Smith drama I Fought the Law - which told the remarkable true story of Ann Ming’s decades-long battle for justice for her daughter Julie Hogg whose killer initially walked free under the double jeopardy rule - is nominated for Best New Drama. It will be up against the BBC’s Mr Loverman, Disney+ titles Rivals and A Thousand Blows, and Netflix’s Adolescence.
Both productions were filmed in the region and supported by the North East Production Fund, administered by North East Screen.
Also flying the flag for the region in the shortlists are Ant and Dec’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! for Best Reality Programme, while Slow Horses - based on the novels of Newcastle-born Mick Herron - is shortlisted for Best Returning Drama.
The awards will take place in London in February.
Which books made the Gordon Burn Prize 2026 longlist?
Twelve books are included on the longlist for the £10,000 Gordon Burn Prize 2026, it has been announced.
The prestigious prize commemorates the Newcastle-born writer (1948-2009) of fiction and non-fiction whose books include Somebody’s Father, Somebody’s Son (1984) and Alma Cogan (1991).
It was founded in 2012 by New Writing North, Faber and the Gordon Burn Trust to recognise exceptional writing which has an unconventional perspective, style or subject matter and defies easy categorisation.
This year’s winner was Scottish writer Jenni Fagan for Ootlin, her memoir about growing up in the care system.
Green light for ‘world-class’ Newcastle music studios
A major new music development on Newcastle’s Quayside has cleared its final planning hurdle, paving the way for a multi-million-pound recording complex inside the Grade II-listed Coronation Buildings.
The project, led by music development agency Generator, will create state-of-the-art recording studios, editing suites, podcasting rooms and collaborative spaces.
While Newcastle has enjoyed a high-profile year with headline moments such as hosting the MOBO Awards in February and the Mercury Prize Awards in September, the new studios represent something different: a permanent, purpose-built centre for music production intended to anchor and grow the city’s creative economy for decades to come.
The Edwardian building, used as offices until this summer, will be transformed into a permanent space for musicians and creatives at all stages of their careers.
Mick Ross, chief executive of Generator, said: “Through Generator’s longstanding partnership with Warner Music, we’re now developing a world-class studio right here on the Quayside – exactly the kind of infrastructure the region has needed for decades.
The £1.8m development is funded by the North East Combined Authority with support from Newcastle City Council. Councillor Karen Kilgour said the studios will “provide our up-and-coming talent with the very latest music technology… Artists will no longer need to go to Manchester or London for the best facilities.”
The application was submitted by North East Theatre Trust Ltd (Live Theatre), whose chief executive Jacqui Kell said the project “opens the door for new talent to thrive.” The studios are due to open in April 2026.
Silence of the Lambs to make a noise in the North East
A new stage adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs will make its world premiere in 2026 before heading out on a major UK and Ireland tour - including stops at both Newcastle Theatre Royal and Sunderland Empire.
Artificial Intelligence to help save heritage before it disappears forever
Top North East heritage sites are to play a key role in enabling Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help transform how the UK protects its undiscovered archaeology - before it is lost forever.
Vindolanda fort, near Bardon Mill in Northumberland, is internationally recognised for its unparalleled preservation of Roman archaeology.
Its oxygen-free sub-soil has acted as a natural time capsule, protecting an extraordinary range of organic remains - from 5,000 leather shoes including those of women and children, to leather boxing gloves, a wooden toilet seat, and the world-famous Vindolanda writing tablets, which reveal intimate details of life at Rome’s northern frontier.
Yet only around 25% of the site has been excavated, and at the current pace it may take more than 150 years to uncover the rest.
Climate change is now rapidly accelerating the loss of these buried layers. Rapid swings between drought and saturation are destabilising the fragile conditions that have preserved Vindolanda’s archaeology for nearly two millennia.
Predicting where damage is occurring, and where it will strike next, is becoming critical for deciding what must be excavated before it disappears forever.
Now a new pilot project by the Vindolanda Trust, Kassandra and the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) will use AI to turn millions of data points into real-time insights about what is happening beneath the ground.
Peter Capaldi to launch UK music tour in Newcastle
Peter Capaldi - best known as the Twelfth Doctor, The Thick of It’s Malcolm Tucker and one of the UK’s most recognisable screen talents – is returning to his punk-rock roots with a new nationwide tour, kicking off in Newcastle next year.
More than 40 years after forming his student band The Dreamboys, the 67-year-old has rekindled his early musical ambitions, releasing his debut album St. Christopher in 2021 followed by this year’s Sweet Illusions.
Following a surprise appearance on Glastonbury’s Other Stage with fellow Glaswegians Franz Ferdinand, he is now taking his music on the road.
Capaldi’s sound mixes dark synths, distorted guitars and a moody, romantic edge. Speaking to NME about Sweet Illusions, he described it as having “quite a nostalgic feeling about it… It’s a bit art studenty, Glasgow, 1978.”
Reflecting on his journey, he said: “I was in a band at art school, fired up by the punk explosion… but I never lost my love for music. And in recent years have produced two albums of original songs… Recording is one thing, playing live is another, but I wanted to see if I could go out after all of these years and play live in front of an audience.”
The eight-date UK tour will open at The Cluny on February 24, 2026. Tickets are on sale now.
Enchanted City adds cosmic dimension to festivities
Tradition is important in the run-up to Christmas but a little novelty never goes amiss and some of the region’s most talented creatives are primed to deliver.
Their mission is to put the enchantment into Enchanted City, a new addition to Newcastle’s festive programme on which high hopes are pinned.
Funded by the city council and the North East Combined Authority, it will see Northumbria University’s city campus, a short walk from the top of Northumberland Street, transformed into an after-dark winter attraction.
The university are certainly up for it.
Dan Monnery, pro vice-chancellor for external affairs, said: “This is an important new cultural event for the region and we look forward to welcoming families and visitors to our campus to see some fantastic performances and installations.”
Emmylou Harris to play final North East show in Sunderland
One of the most influential voices in American music will return to the North East next spring as Emmylou Harris brings her farewell tour to Sunderland Empire.
The 14-time Grammy winner and Billboard Century Award recipient - a defining figure in folk, country and Americana - is set for what is likely to be one of the region’s stand out events for 2026.
The show on May 18 is being presented by The Fire Station, Sunderland, but it has been transferred “over the road” to the Empire to meet exceptional demand.
Review: Aladdin at Newcastle Theatre Royal
If stars were given here on Cultured North East, there would be five at the top of this review.
Textile map threads together stories of North Shields
Sixty people have poured their memories and feelings into the creation of a textile map of a Tyneside town.
The map of North Shields, the size of a double bed cover, takes the viewer on a journey from the banks of the Tyne to the Fish Quay and on to the upper town.
The detailed artwork, involving hundreds of hours of work, depicts North Shields people and landmarks, including shops, Old Low Lights tavern, historic and civic buildings to the town centre library, Christ Church, and the Linskill Centre Community Hub.
The project was led by Cullercoats artist Gaynor Devaney as a legacy of the North Shields 800th anniversary celebrations, with people turning up to contribute ideas and stitching sessions across 12 community events.
The map will go on show on December 9 at the Old Low Light heritage centre on the Fish Quay where the community events were held. The project was backed by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
Muhammad Ali’s Tyneside visit remembered as wedding invite goes to auction
Almost half a century on, a wedding invitation from Muhammad Ali and his wife Veronica is set to go under the hammer.
Three-times world heavyweight champion Ali and Veronica came to South Shields in the summer of 1977, attracting huge crowds.
The couple’s visit included having their recent marriage blessed on Sunday July 17 1977 at the Al Azhar Mosque on Laygate Lane in South Shields, which drew a crowd of 7,000 well-wishers.
Now the framed wedding invitation signed by Ali and Veronica is on offer at Northamptonshire-based Budds auction on December 2, with an estimate of £500-£800.
REVIEW: Fiddler on the Roof at Sunderland Empire
The latest big musical on stage at the theatre that styles itself ‘The West End of the North East’ has no problem filling it.
With its mighty cast of actors, and with the musicians lined up at the back, it’s a populous affair – and will be playing, judging by Tuesday’s first night, to suitably large audiences.
But it begins, in accordance with its title, with full focus on the fiddler, a lean and rakishly attired country bumpkin, waist-high in grasses.
As he draws the first evocative notes from his violin, the scene rises so floor becomes roof… and so begins the epic story that’s to unfold, with Tevye, the village milkman, stepping forward to address us, and also the fiddler and God, with whom he will engage in one-sided banter throughout.
New Farne Islands count shows sharp contrasts in seabird recovery
The annual birdlife count on the Farne Islands has revealed a picture of winners and losers.
This year’s count on the National Trust’s Northumberland islands, an internationally significant sanctuary for the 200,000 seabirds that return each summer to breed, was vitally important given the islands’ three seasons of closure between 2020 and 2024.
New life for Sycamore Gap as Tree of Hope saplings planted across the region
A list of locations in the North East have been chosen to share in the first of the 49 Sycamore Gap tree saplings given by the National Trust to individuals, community groups, and organisations across the UK.
The plantings, which mark National Tree Week, are the result of the ‘Trees of Hope’ initiative launched by the charity last September to find sites for the saplings grown from the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.
Nearly 500 applications were received for the 49 saplings – one to represent each foot in height of the tree when it was felled.
The saplings, now between four and six feet tall, were grown from the seeds and material rescued from the felled tree and have been nurtured at the National Trust’s Plant Conservation Centre.
Newcastle Piano Festival names patron
Newcastle-based pianist, composer and teacher Steve Luck has been appointed a Patron of Newcastle Piano Festival, the fast-growing event founded in 2023 by artistic director Annie Ball.
The festival, which will return in March 2026, champions creative programming and community engagement, offering recitals, masterclasses and a mentorship scheme for pianists under 25.
Steve has been an active figure in the region’s music scene for more than three decades. His modern classical works have earned over four million streams and featured in more than 100 media projects worldwide.
Annie Ball said: “We are delighted to welcome Steve Luck as a Patron… He will be a real inspiration to the young pianists we work with.”
Steve added: “It’s a real honour… This festival is all about opening opportunities, inspiring the next generation, and celebrating our local music community.”
Tickets for the festival, which takes place from March 20-22 are available here.
North East Culture - and those who make it - celebrated
The North East Culture Awards 2025 were held at The Globe, Stockton on Thursday night (November 27), rewarding the region’s cultural sector across 15 categories.
A thoroughly lovely night on Teesside, hundreds of people gathered inside the impressive venue to celebrate another year of creativity - as well as being treated to live performances from Finn Forster, Umar Butt, Tees Dance and Isabel Maria.
You can find a full rundown of the winners below - Dave (Whetstone) and I were delighted to present Ruth Raynor with the award for Writer of the Year for her play Grounded - a production created with people bereaved during the Covid-19 pandemic which premiered at Alphabetti Theatre in Newcastle.
Newcomer of the Year: County Durham theatre company, Ensemble ‘84
Visual Artist of the Year: Narbi Price
Writer of the Year: Ruth Raynor
Heritage Award: The Ballad of the Crocodile and the Underpass Project
Off Stage Creative of the Year: Helen Green
Special Award for Young Achievement: The Young Producers
Best Arts & Education Partnership: Cap-a-Pie and various school partnerships
Best Event or Exhibition: Between the Tides Festival
The Arts Council England Award: Ensemble ‘84
Best Museum or Cultural Venue: Gosforth Civic Theatre
Best Arts & Business Partnership: Navigator North, TransPennine Express and Middlesbrough Council
Performing Artist of the Year: Micky Cochrane
Performance of the Year: Ensemble ‘84 and Isango Ensemble: Mother Courage and Her Children
Special Award: Professor Simon James
Outstanding Contribution Award: Adam Collerton and Graham Anderson - Jumpin’ Hot Club
Well done everyone!
