Robson Green promotes Newcastle in new NE1 ad

Mar 10 2010 The Journal

He said his wife Vanya and son Taylor, who is nearly 10, loved visiting the North East, where Robson’s mother still lives. His father, also called Robson, died last year. The actor, who is 46, was talking not far from Live Theatre where his career started to take off in the late 1980s with plays such as In Blackberry Time and Your Home in the West.

Currently he is filming Joe Maddison’s War, playing a character called Harry Crawford alongside fellow North East actor Kevin Whately who has the title role of Joe.

“We’ve filmed in South Shields and all along the coastline and it’s been brilliant,” said Robson.

“Joe and Harry are not fit enough to go overseas in the Second World War so they join the Home Guard.

“There was a bit of a stigma attached to the Home Guard but I love the fact that these guys really did believe they were protecting the North East from invasion from German submarines.

“The film captures the mood of those days when people lived for the moment and love was easy to come by.”

Also starring in Joe Maddison’s War is Sir Derek Jacobi – “or DJ as I call him,” joked Robson. He plays a character called Major Simpson.

But Robson said what really attracted him to the project was the script by Alan Plater, famous for a string of stage, film and TV hits including Z Cars, The Beiderbecke Trilogy and A Very British Coup.

“I was asked if I wanted to be in a film with Kevin, who’s a great guy, but when they said the script was by Alan Plater I didn’t need to read it,” said Robson.

NE 1 chief executive Sean Bullick said the company, set up a year ago, had been well received by city businesses and boosted trade.

“We are getting fantastic feedback via the website,” he said.

Next target for the advertising campaign is Newcastle-born Cheryl Cole.

Duncan McEwan, director of Get into Newcastle, said he directed her in an ad for British Gas when she was six and he was optimistic she would eventually say yes.