Welcome back to Cultured. On Sunday - our weekend home for longer reads, thoughtful recommendations and a slightly slower take on arts and culture in the North East.
Take a slow scroll through and you’ll find features to enjoy with a cuppa, ideas for things to watch, read and see, guest voices (writing, not singing), the odd serving of foodie stuff and who knows what else.
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Thanks very much to everyone who has sent nice messages about our debut edition last week - puffed us right up!
Hope your Sunday is smashing one
Sam (Wonfor) and Dave (Whetstone) Possibly sitting down, but still thinking about culture
In a series of recollections, Sam Wonfor is sharing her rather special back catalogue of memories of and personal connection to the iconic 1980s music show, The Tube and other telly treasures.*
*First published during Cultured. North East’s time as the arts and culture section for the region’s subscription platform, The QT.
When The Tube served up some Fine Young Cannibals
When it comes to enduring stories about The Tube, the bands which got their big break on a Friday teatime via Channel Four’s groundbreaking music show are among the most retold.
It wasn’t long before fellow waiting patients were being treated to a retelling of his experience making a film with the then-unknown band, the Fine Young Cannibals in Birmingham at the end of 1984/beginning of 1985.
And yes, some tribute band-style singing was involved (it won’t surprise anyone who knew Father Wonfor that it wasn’t me doing the singing).
A few weeks later, the lead singer of that band, Roland Gift, was calling me from Newcastle City Hall to say how sorry he was to hear my incredible Dad had died.
They had stayed in touch throughout the four decades which had passed since The Tube crew captured the iconic track Johnny Come Home - often bumping into each other backstage at gigs, usually involving Jools Holland, who presented the show with Paula Yates from 1982-87.
Fittingly, Roland was special guesting on Jools’ tour date in Newcastle when he called me… and when I contacted him to see if he was up for a chat about his memories of The Tube, he continued his reputation in our house for being an all-round smashing fella and said he’d love to talk.
Vic Watson is the organiser of Bay Tales Crime Fiction Festival, held at Whitley Bay Playhouse every year. Ahead of this year’s festival, Vic has been treated to an early read of one of this year’s biggest debuts: How to Get Away with Murder by County Durham native, Rebecca Philipson.
After a six-month absence due to a traumatic incident, DI Samantha Hansen returns to work and is drawn into a complex case following the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl.
A copy of a book titled How to Get Away with Murder by Denver Brady is discovered at the crime scene.
Brady claims to be the most successful serial killer of all time and the book includes details of his previous victims and methods as well as explaining how he evades justice, creating a terrifying narrative that runs alongside Sam’s investigation.
Rebecca Philipson strikes the perfect balance between the book within a book and the more traditional murder investigation.
Although there are sections of the book that are very dark, with the consequences of violence and trauma being sensitively explored, Philipson still manages to inject plenty of sardonic wit.
How to Get Away with Murder is credible, compelling and desperately clever.
If you like police procedurals with a little something extra, this is the book for you!
How to Get Away with Murder is due to be released on March 12 but early copies will be available at Bay Tales, Whitley Bay Playhouse, February 28.
Michael Telfer – aka Mike TV – is brimming with ideas for your next box set binge. This week’s selection is a hidden comedy gem from the depths of the Netflix and ITVX catalogues
If you like television, there are few greater pleasures than discovering a new show you love, and then finding there are multiple seasons waiting for you to get your eyeballs into.
This happened to me last month, when my sisters recommended FISK, an Australian sitcom on Netflix and ITVX I’d never heard of. Having watched a lot of films and meaty dramas over Christmas I was in the just the mood for a bit of irreverent fun, it turned out to be just what the probate lawyer ordered.
FISK invites us into the world of Helen Tudor Fisk (Kitty Flanagan), a recently divorced lawyer who makes the unglamorous move from a big Sydney law firm to Gruber and Gruber, a small family business on the outskirts of Melbourne specialising in wills and probate.
Drawing on his own experience with his own band, Field Music, David Brewis looks at the real-world barriers facing young musicians today - and how forces for good like the Young Musicians Project are helping to break them down, one song, one rehearsal and one act of belief at a time.
Last week, Ethan Stayman, one of the members of We Make Culture’s Young Musicians Project released his debut single. He recorded the song at home in Pelton, County Durham on an iPad, using Garageband (which, if you don’t know, is software which comes free with iPads and Macs) and a USB microphone. It’s a brilliant track and he’s both delighted and shocked that this personal, almost-private creation is now out in the world.
In fact, it’s been an extremely busy start to 2026 for our young musicians, several of whom have just released music for the first time. The process - which has involved scraping together studio time, stitching together press releases, coaxing, cajoling and a great deal of love and care - has brought home some of the barriers which young musicians face, and which the team at We Make Culture are always trying to find ways to combat.
And that’s partly because all of the music leaders at the project have faced some combination of those same barriers through our own careers.
We’ve been asking North East photographers to open up their archives and select a double handful of images which encapsulate life as they’ve captured it.
John Millard, 52 is a former climbing instructor and professional editorial photographer of more than 25 years.
He was introduced to the joy of capturing the world by his dad who was an ‘avid amateur and very talented‘ photographer but while he can remember taking the first photo he ever took, he never actually saw it.
“I was climbing in the lakes, my dad had given me a camera for my birthday so I took photos of the climb, my climbing partner dropped it off the side of the mountain so I never saw the results.”
A documentary on press photography prompted a 26-year-old John to ‘leg it’ around to the News Guardian offices in Whitley Bay.
“I drove the editor Ross Weeks insane begging for a job,” says John. “I got one.”
Note: The My Life Through a Lens feature series began during Cultured. North East’s time as the arts and culture section of regional subscription platform, The QT (Feb to Jul 2024)
In the midst of lockdown, lifelong vegan Ami Deane set up an Instagram account as somewhere to record her weight loss journey and keep herself on track. Five years, 66lbs and 640k followers later, Broccoli Mum* is influencing the world from her North East kitchen.
*Full disclosure, Ami is Sam’s niece, so was more than happy to share one of her favourite ‘dump and bake’ dishes, which always goes down well on a busy weekend.
Lazy Mexican-inspired Rice
If you’re looking for a hearty, savoury dish without the fuss of hours spent stirring, this recipe is your answer! Just toss everything into a baking tray and let the oven work its magic. I love making a big batch to freeze portions for the week - super handy - or if you’ve got a full table for lunch or dinner, this is a great one that everyone can dive into. Loaded with beans, packed with veggies, and bursting with flavours, it’s properly delicious and satisfying too.
Ingredients
2 cups basmati rice 2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes 1 400g tin of black beans, drained 1 cup sweetcorn (tinned or frozen is fine) 1 packet of vegan and oil free fajitas seasoning 2 courgettes (zucchini), grated 1/2 a white cabbage, grated 1/2 a huge white onion 2 cups of water Salt as desired
