CO-CREATOR of Sherlock and Dr Who writer Mark Gatiss visited the region yesterday – and called on the authorities to protect the arts in the North-East.

Mr Gatiss, born in the North-East and brought up in School Aycliffe, first made his name as the writer of the subversive comedy series League of Gentlemen.

He returned to his roots yesterday when he hosted a question and answer session at Carmel College in Darlington.

Prior to the event, he spoke about his love for the region, recalling fond memories of taking to the stage for the first time at Darlington’s Civic Theatre and spending his youth at the now closed Arts Centre.

He said: “I was very sorry about the Arts Centre where I did all of my early writing and performing.

“It was a brilliant place to hang out and I wonder what the college kids do now.

“We live in strained times and the first thing to go is always the arts – though it was great to hear about the Civic’s grant.

“Churchill said consumption of culture shot up during the war. They wanted to divert funds from the arts but he said no - without culture, what are we fighting for?

“There’s now a war of culture and the softest option is to slash the arts – when they suggested slashing 100 per cent of funding in Newcastle, it was terrifying.

“The authorities should be careful about cutting arts funding – it’s a foolish person who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.”

Mr Gatiss credits the support of teachers and family with his remarkable success, which has seen him pay homage to characters he grew up worshipping.

He said: “Dr Who and Sherlock were my favourites as a child so making shows out of them is a fantastic job – I always try to do passion projects and won’t do things just for the sake of it.”

The future will see further episodes of Sherlock, with Mr Gatiss tantalisingly saying he is “in talks” about The League of Gentlemen, while confessing one character in the cult show was inspired by a Darlington man.

Mr Gatiss makes frequent returns to the region, usually spending Christmas with his family and friends, where tradition dictates a trip to Durham Cathedral, a pint in The Shakespeare and the telling of ghost stories.

In Conversation with Mark Gatiss was organised by Darlington mayor Councillor Gerald Lee to raise money for the Butterwick Hospice and the Phoenix Recovery Centre.