Smoggie Queens – a fabulous comedy for BBC Three and iPlayer – launched late last year. It was filmed and set in Teesside, and we celebrated the launch with a spectacular “pink carpet” screening in Middlesbrough – surrounded by the local people who made the show a glamorous reality.

Written by and starring the amazing Phil Dunning, a Middlesbrough native, and with the outstanding acting talents of Mark Benton, Alexandra Mardell, Patsy Lowe and Elijah Young, Smoggie Queens is as fierce and inventive an idea as you can get. It tells the story of a group of friends who are hugely proud of their north-eastern roots and their small pocket of the LGBTQ+ community.

This unique perspective was a thrill to bring to the screen. Phil describes it as a “camp, silly, queer gang show set in the North East that follows a group of five friends as they navigate life, love and wigs. It’s essentially an out-and-out slapstick sitcom with a big old gay heart.”

It’s the first BBC Comedy to be made in Middlesbrough, so I hope viewers enjoy it and notice all the nuances and tributes to the area. We certainly enjoyed making it.

This programme shows the power of homegrown storytelling and the BBC’s commitment to supporting the North East. In 2021, the broadcaster made a landmark commitment to spend at least £25m in the region as part of our North East Screen Partnership, set up to develop the region’s TV production sector. Four years on, we’re on track to exceed this rate of spend by 2026 and have already created nearly 300 local jobs. We are projected to create a £50m-a-year production sector by 2027. Smoggie Queens was a direct product of this.

The Dumping Ground [see our interview with Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer] has filmed all 13 series in our region, and that’s not all. The BBC has commissioned several programmes from North East-based companies. The brand-new The Big Idea Works is made by the Gateshead-based company Twenty Six 03. This sees Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies open a “one-stop ideas workshop” in the North East for aspiring inventors to transform their ideas into ingenious working prototypes.

Smoggie Queens is an an out-and- out slapstick sitcom with a big old gay heart

Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes, returning for a third series, is also made and produced in the North East – by Signpost Entertainment and Rivers Meet Productions. Robson will again explore our wonderful coast and countryside, joined this time by presenter Helen Skelton, former world champion boxer and Olympic gold medallist Nicola Adams and comedian Rosie Jones.

Both these shows are due to be broadcast this month. What a start to the new year! This again demonstrates our commitment to the North East – a region that is also integral to the BBC’s mission to pursue the truth in news coverage.

Journalists across the North East continually deliver trusted local news for local services, including for BBC Radio Newcastle and Tees. BBC Look North, our dedicated TV news programme, reaches more than 1 million people every week.

The region is now at the forefront of the national conversation, with big cultural moments that bring people together. Last July, for example, BBC Proms returned to Gateshead for a weekend-long residency.

Telling stories like Smoggie Queens and supporting local creatives is the bedrock of what the BBC does and will continue to do.