The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
Interview with Catherine Cookson
The best-selling author Catherine Cookson explains why she will always be 'a child of the Tyne'.
From the collection of:
Overview
On her return to Tyneside in the 60s, the most popular British author of her age, Catherine Cookson, talks to reporter Marion Foster about the Geordie character and her nostalgia for home. "The northerner … we're a different species." Raised as Katie McMullen, the writer's own tough childhood as a poor, illegitimate Jarrow waif shaped her gritty stories about class and economic hardship on the industrial Tyne, and of rural County Durham, that sold in their millions.
Considered by one historian as the missing link between Dickens and Irvine Welsh, by her critics as refined Mills and Boon, Cookson's literature is rooted in her dark early life, born in South Shields in 1906, and brought up in the slums of East Jarrow. In 1930, J B Priestley thought the town 'looked as if it had entered a perpetual penniless bleak Sabbath'. Cookson wrote about the great, polluted mud flat at Jarrow Slake known as The Gut, the 'slime-dripping' arches of Tyne Dock, the cranes of Palmers Shipyard, the built-up riverside of Temple Town and Holborn and its prostitutes, and the collieries of Harton and Whitburn. In her own words, Cookson was 'a child of the Tyne' but she escaped to Hastings in 1929.
Related
Watch for free
The Big Country The Big Country
Promotional 1970 16 mins Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Tuning into the biggest consumer market for television advertising in Britain with Trident TV.
Watch for free
Son of Plain - Advertising Man's Guide to Tyne Tees Television Son of Plain - Advertising Man's Guide to Tyne Tees Television
Promotional 1964 11 mins Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Is comedian Clive Dunn the Don Draper of the British advertising world? Watch this imaginative Tyne Tees TV marketing film and decide.
Watch for free
Andrews Liver Salts: Little Andy Andrews Liver Salts: Little Andy
Advert 1957 1 mins Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Little Andy takes the speedy way to sparkling good health in a zippy 50s cartoon advertisement for Andrews Liver Salts.
Watch for free
Military Sunday in Newcastle Military Sunday in Newcastle
Non-Fiction 1900 1 mins Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
A marching band leads the parades with the Boer War still raging
Watch for free
Town Moor Fair Scenes Town Moor Fair Scenes
Non-Fiction 1898 1 mins Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
All the fun of the fair in this Victorian film, made in the early years of Newcastle's famous Hoppings
Watch for free
Percy Hedley School Percy Hedley School
News 1970 17 mins Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Being wheelchair users is not a barrier to these children doing slaloms or throwing javelins, gaining confidence and changing perceptions.
Watch for free
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
Watch for free
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Watch for free
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Watch for free
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.
Watch for free
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
Watch for free
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.