On TV

SOME documentaries uplift and inspire. Others offer so little hope that they plunge you into a spiral of despair. Country Strife, the latest addition to the "it's grim up North" catalogue, belonged firmly in the latter category.

It followed two people living in "the beautiful English countryside of Consett", in the village of Leadgate, although we were warned this wasn't the countryside you see on the tourist maps.

The idea was firmly planted that this wouldn't be a jolly, isn't life wonderful? excursion but a trip into a world of unemployment, drugs and poverty. The really depressing thing was that by the end of the hour, things hadn't changed very much for the two protagonists.

Andrew "Arthur" Daley is a 23-year-old who wants to break the cycle of crime in his life. Anita is a 25-year-old ex-shoplifter and single mother trying to raise her family. He lives on his wits, she lives on the dole.

Twenty years after the closure of the steelworks, unemployment is double the national average in Consett. The town is in the top ten per cent of the most deprived areas of Britain. It's difficult to see how either of them can rise above their current circumstances.

Andrew earned the name Arthur, after Minder's wheeler-dealer Arthur Daley, for his reputation for being able to get anything you want. He sleeps on friends' sofas and warns: "If I don't get a job, I'm going to do something really naughty".

Anita's lot is no better. She's already had to give up one son for adoption and now has two young children and a boyfriend whom she hits. By the end of the programme, he'd moved out. The final straw was her hitting him with a pressure cooker.

She has the phrase: "Every passing second is a chance to change," tattooed on her arm but her violence, unwillingness to take help from social services and a liking for drink make change difficult. Her anti-social behaviour was put down to the loss of her son for adoption.

The reputation of Anita and her friend Emma, newly released from prison, goes before them. They are "well-known to the police and CCTV cameras" in the town, so shopping can be a problem. "It's like we're totally untrustworthy," said Anita. Consett used to be easy to shoplift from, she added. "If it wasn't nailed down, I'd keep it."

Consett was "a pretty crap town" but she'd rather she was there than in Middlesbrough or York. Having seen her behaviour, residents of those two cities probably sighed with relief that she was staying put.

And so it went on, an unrelieved catalogue of doom and gloom. At the end, Anita had started a new relationship and announced she was getting married this year. Arthur was still saying he was going to turn his life around. Life carried on much the same.

Green Day, Metroradio Arena, Newcastle

MORE than ten years of touring has turned Green Day into the kings of pop punk. But the Californian threesome seem far from keen to brighten up their act, with most songs being a re-run of the 2002 visit to Newcastle, complete with a take-off of Lulu's hit Shout.

Billy Joe Armstrong on vocals/guitar, bassist Mike Dirnt (Mike Pritchard) and drummer Tre Cool (Frank Edwin Wright III) can probably be excused this tardiness because a sell-out teenage audience enjoyed every repeat performance in this arm-waving, singalong, near sell-out extravaganza.

The boys from Berkeley opened with their first single from current chart album American Idiot and a surging mass of young females added some Westlife-style bouncing and screaming to the rift-thumping routines.

A band-inspired safety ban on moshing and crowd surfing proved particularly pointless, which made an interesting challenge when every ballad also produced a wave of lighters held aloft.

The best-known songs such as Warning, Minority and Welcome To Paradise were the particular crowd pleasers, although newest release Boulevard Of Broken Dreams sent everyone home happy.

Armstrong, who spent part of the night cavorting around in a crown and cape, attempted to forge better North-East links by claiming the band's backing trumpet was originally from Newcastle. A night on the Toon was certainly had by all.

Viv Hardwick

The Gentle Hook,

Darlington Civic Theatre

ALTHOUGH written more than 20 years ago, this thriller has stood the test of time. In typical Francis Durbridge style, it combines the familiar with the Machiavellian and murky to produce a play which is both witty and thrilling.

In the circles of London's upper middle class art and antiques dealers, interior designer Stacey Harrison (Deborah Grant) is accused of having an affair with a mystery man she kills as an intruder. Aided by her estranged barrister husband, Philip (Gareth Hunt), Stacey sets out to clear her name. But is she telling the truth?

Although in a peripheral role, Tony Scannell as the archetypal toff Gerald Waddington steals the show, raising a laugh from the audience almost every time he opens his mouth.

There is good interaction between Scannell and Hunt, with Hunt's dry manner complementing Scannell's more obvious humour. Chris Ellison is well-suited to the role of Inspector Lennox, the suspicious Met policeman.

The production is professional and an enjoyable evening out, but had one or two first night teething problems, such as noticeable feedback from the microphones. The audience was also greatly amused to see the corpse of the murdered man sitting in a chair when the curtain was mistakenly pulled up between scenes.

However, it was generally a production of high quality, with actors who did a witty and intelligent plot justice. Like all good old-fashioned murder mysteries, it will keep you guessing until the end.

l Runs until Saturday. Box Office: (01325) 486555

Lauren Pyrah