It's 50 years since Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? first appeared on our television screens.
The classic BBC1 sitcom would tell of the mid-life exploits of old pals Terry Collier and Bob Ferris, as famously played by James Bolam and Rodney Bewes. If the original 1960s black and white depiction of the Likely Lads had been set in some generic, unspecified Northern location, the all-colour, much-improved 1970s sequel 'Whatever Happened To...' was very deliberately set in Newcastle.
As one half of the writing team, Tyneside-born Ian La Frenais, would say years later: "I wanted to put my home town on the map." The first episode of 'Whatever Happened To...' was broadcast on BBC1 on January 9, 1973. Strangers On A Train saw Terry and Bob travelling separately by rail to Newcastle and meeting up by accident following Terry's five-year stint in the Army. There would be two series - with the last ever episode being shown on Christmas Eve, 1974.
