Day trip to Newcastle? Check out these star-studded showbiz locations

Are you planning to visit Newcastle for a quick urban staycation? Are you a film buff or telly addict?

Whether you prefer a trip to the flicks or a comforting box set, you'll find somewhere to geek out while you're in town. Newcastle is packed with familiar locations from both blockbusters and indie classics.

The Figgis factor

If crime thrillers are your thing, why not indulge in a double bill?

Mike Figgis' revolutionary 1971 gangster film Get Carter was the iconic Newcastle film, cementing the city's image in the popular imagination for decades to come. It captured the post-war industrial city, with its tenements and docks – many of which have now been demolished and replaced by more palatable sights.

But several locations on and around the Tyne itself have hardly changed. The High Level Bridge plays a key role: bona fide star Michael Caine's Jack Carter meets a woman there – and ends up fleeing down the nearby Long Stairs when she betrays him. The Swing Bridge also makes an appearance, and it's worth a trip up to the Tyne Bridge too. That's where Figgis put the camera for several shots, so you can get a real director's-eye view.

Figgis, who grew up in Newcastle, returned to make his atmospheric 1988 noir thriller, Stormy Monday. The film starred Tommy Lee Jones, Sean Bean, Melanie Griffith and local hero Sting, and featured the High Level Bridge on the poster.

The story centred on an underworld jazz club in Dean Street, run by Sting's character – and you can still pop in for a pint today. The Akenside Traders is a family-friendly gastropub these days. But while it might be better lit, the architecture hasn't changed much.

You could actually squeeze an entire evening's entertainment out of venues that feature in this classic. Stormy Monday crawl, anyone?

Starting on the Tyne Bridge, head to The Bridge Tavern, which was rocked by an explosion in the film. Then wander down the Side to get dinner at Bangrak Thai, before moving around the corner to the Akenside Traders and BrewDog Newcastle. Finally, head to the stunning Royal Station Hotel to re-watch the film and dream you were in it!

Football flicks

Newcastle's cinematic history isn't all about crime. The city has also played host to a rich vein of football films, reflecting its people's passion for the beautiful game.

Five hundred Newcastle United fans turned up to St James' Park stadium at the crack of dawn to be extras in the 2006 hit Goal!, while footie flicks The One and Only and Purely Belter were also filmed here.

Loach vs Bay

If you enjoyed Michael Bay's Transformers: The Last Knight, you can relive its memorable high-octane car chase in historical Grainger Town. But if moving social commentary's more up your street, why not visit the actual streets walked by the lead character in Ken Loach's Palme d'Or winner, I, Daniel Blake? This 2016 drama was shot on location in the city, with Benwell Grove and John Dobson Street making appearances.

Small-screen spectacles

So much outstanding TV drama's been shot in Newcastle that the city's architecture has become synonymous with high-quality storytelling. 

1970s sitcom Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads might have been penned by kings of UK comedy Clement & La Frenais, but critics praised its deft observation of the everyday troubles of working-class folk. The show filmed extensively around the city centre and stands as a valuable document of a time when the city's geography was in flux, as its industrial past was replaced by a shiny new future. As local writer La Frenais commented, "The area became important. It became a character."

Jarrow-born writer Peter Flannery was also inspired by the city's social history to pen the epic 1990s drama Our Friends In The North. The show, which launched the careers of Christopher Eccleston and Daniel Craig, was filmed in Wallsend, Quayside and Byker.

Of course, that inner-city area was also glorified in another 1990s classic, Byker Grove, which launched its own enduring stars: Ant and Dec! But while Byker locations like the Metro station and the Byker Wall were featured, the eponymous youth club was actually The Mitre in Benwell.

The other side of the thin blue line

Like Mike Figgis, La Frenais couldn't resist the lure of his home Toon. He returned for his second collaboration with Geordie star Jimmy Nail, police procedural Spender. Nail's enigmatic detective lived in a flat overlooking the Tyne Bridge, and much of the show was shot on location in the city centre, around Quayside, Grainger Town and Ouseburn.

Spender kick-started a rich tradition of detective shows filming in the region. In 2002, Wire In The Blood started shooting in Newcastle, with star Robson Green's clinical psychologist strutting his stuff at locations like Newcastle Arena and the old Bank of England building in Pilgrim Street.

Recent hits Vera and Inspector George Gently both weave the rural beauty of Northumbria and County Durham together with Newcastle's handsome cityscape. Inspector George Gently is a nostalgic trip down memory lane, harkening back to the Newcastle inhabited by the likely lads. It stars Martin Shaw as the grieving hero and North-East heartthrob Lee Ingleby as his hapless sergeant.

Meanwhile, Scandi-noir-inspired Vera is based on the Vera Stanhope series of novels by local writer Ann Cleeves. The series features Brenda Blethyn as a grumpy DCI with a bumbling manner and an unmistakable floppy hat. It also showcases several striking city-centre locations, such as the Millennium Bridge and the 200-year-old Grainger Market. There are even guided Vera tours available, in case you'd like to see more of the series' spectacular landscapes.

If you prefer to make your own way, why not set off in search of more scenes from the show in Blyth, Gateshead, Whitley Bay, North Shields, Bamburgh, and Alnwick? At Metro Vehicle Hire, we provide a range of minibuses, SUVs and cars for hire in Newcastle. So whatever you're investigating, get in touch today!